That evening perfect quiet and stillness reigned in Wilicza, in
contrast to the bustle and stir of the preceding day, when the whole
place had swarmed with guests. On the return from the hunt a great
supper had been served which lasted far on into the night, and most of
the guests had slept at the Castle, leaving early in the morning. Count
Morynski and Leo had gone away, too, on a visit to a neighbouring
chateau. They would not return for several days; but Wanda had remained
to keep her aunt company.
The two ladies were therefore on this evening alone in the
drawing-room. It was already lighted up, and the curtains had been
closely drawn; no sign was to be seen within these walls of the fierce
November storm raging without. The Princess was seated on a sofa; but
the young Countess had risen from her chair, pushing it hastily back as
though in annoyance, and was pacing uneasily up and down the room.
"Wanda, I do beg of you to spare me these Cassandra-like warnings,"
said the elder lady. "I tell you again, your judgment is warped by your
antipathy to Waldemar. Does it necessarily follow that he is our enemy,
because you choose to remain on a war-footing with him."
Wanda stopped in her walk, and looked darkly across at the speaker.
"You will one day regret having treated my warnings with ridicule,
aunt," she replied. "I persist in my opinion. You are mistaken in your
son. He is neither so blind nor so indifferent as you and every one
else believe."
"Instead of these vague prophecies, why not say clearly and distinctly
what it is you really fear?" said the Princess. "You know that in such
a case as this I do not care for people's views and fancies. I require
proofs. What has suggested to you this suspicion to which you cling so
obstinately? Tell me what Waldemar really said to you yesterday when
you met him at the forester's station."
Wanda was silent. That meeting by the forest lake--not at the station,
as she had thought fit to state to her aunt--had furnished her with no
actual proof for her assertions, for Waldemar had admitted nothing, and
no consideration would have induced her to repeat the details of her
conversation with him. She could only allege that strange instinct
which from the first had guided her in her appreciation of his
character, had led her to see clearly where even her aunt's penetration
was at fault; but she well knew that she could not cite her instincts
and presentiments without calling up a pitying smile on her aunt's
face.
"We said very little to each other," she replied at length; "but I
heard enough to convince me that he knows more than he ought."
"Very possibly," said the Princess, with perfect composure; "we must
have been prepared for that sooner or later. I doubt that Waldemar has
drawn inferences from any observations of his own; but over at the
manor-farm they are sure to have whispered enough in his ear to put him
on the alert. He has more to do with them than I like. He knows just
what the steward knows, and what is no secret to any one in L----,
namely, that we hold with our own people; but he has no deeper insight
than the others; we have taken our precautions to prevent that.
Besides, his whole conduct up to the present time tends to show that he
is indifferent on the subject, as indeed he can afford to be, seeing
that it does not concern him personally in the very least. In any case,
this son of mine possesses a sufficient sense of decorum to withhold
him from compromising his nearest relations. I put that to the test on
the subject of Frank's resignation. It was displeasing to him, I know,
and yet he did not hesitate to range himself on my side, because I had
gone too far for him to undo my work without openly disavowing me. I
shall take care that in more serious matters he shall find himself
equally fettered, should it ever occur to him to play the master, or
the German."
"You will not listen to me," said Wanda, resignedly. "Let the future
decide which of us two is right. But I have a request to make, dear
aunt. You will not object to my leaving early to-morrow morning?"
"So soon? but it was agreed that your father should come back here to
fetch you!"
"I only remained to have a little quiet talk with you on this subject.
Nothing else would have detained me at Wilicza. It was useless, I see;
so let me go now."
The Princess shrugged her shoulders. "You know, my dear, how glad I
always am to have you with me; but I frankly confess that after our
very disagreeable dinner to-day, I shall put no obstacle in the way of
your speedy departure. You and Waldemar hardly exchanged a word. I was
forced to keep up a conversation with Dr. Fabian the whole time, in
order to break the painful _gene_ of the situation. If you can exercise
no control over yourself in these inevitable meetings, it will be
really better that you should go."
In spite of the highly ungracious manner in which the permission was
granted, the young Countess drew a breath of relief, as though a load
were lifted from her.
"Well, then, I will send word to papa that he will find me at home at
Rakowicz, and that he need not make the round by Wilicza," said she,
quickly. "You will allow me to use your writing-table for a few
minutes?"
The Princess nodded assent. Truth to say, she had on this occasion no
objection to her niece's departure, for she was tired of standing
perpetually between her and Waldemar, on the watch to ward off a scene,
or a positive rupture. Wanda went into her aunt's study--which was
only separated from the drawing-room by a heavy portiere, half drawn
back--and sat down at the writing-table. She had hardly written the
first words when the door of the salon was quickly opened and a firm,
steady step, audible even on the soft carpet, made her pause in her
work. Immediately afterwards Waldemar's voice was heard in the next
room.
The Countess slowly dropped her pen. Here in the study she could not
possibly be seen, and she did not feel it incumbent on her to announce
her presence, so she sat motionless, leaning her head on her hand. Not
a word of what passed in the drawing-room escaped her.
The Princess, too, had looked up in surprise at her son's entrance; it
was not his custom to visit her at this hour. Waldemar always spent the
evenings in his own rooms with Dr. Fabian. It seemed, however, that an
exception was to be made to-day, for after a few words of greeting he
took a seat by his mother's side, and began to speak of yesterday's
hunt.
For some minutes the conversation turned on indifferent topics.
Waldemar had taken up an album of water-colour sketches which lay on
the table, and was turning over the pages, while the Princess leaned
back among the sofa cushions.
"Have you heard that your steward is intending to become a landed
proprietor?" she remarked, carelessly. "He is seriously occupied now,
looking out for a place in the neighbourhood. His situation at Wilicza
must have been a lucrative one, for so far as I know Frank had no
fortune when he came here."
"He has had an excellent income for the last twenty years," observed
Waldemar, without looking up from the pages. "With his quiet way of
living he can hardly have spent the half."
"Added to which, he has no doubt taken care of his own interests in all
things, great and small. But enough of this. I wanted to ask you if you
have thought of any one to replace him?"
"No."
"Well, then, I have a proposal to make to you. The tenant at Janowo
cannot keep on his farm; he has fallen into distress through no fault
of his own, and is obliged to take a dependent situation again. I think
he would be a most suitable person for the stewardship of Wilicza."
"I think not," said Waldemar, very quietly. "The man goes about drunk
the whole day long, and has ruined the place he has leased entirely by
his own had conduct. He has not a shadow of an excuse."
The Princess bit her lips. "Who told you so? The steward, I suppose."
The young man was silent. His mother went on in a tone of some
irritation.
"I do not, of course, wish to influence you in the choice of the
persons you employ; but, in your own interest, I must warn you not to
place such implicit faith in Frank's calumnies. The farmer would be an
inconvenient successor, that is why he intrigues against him."
"Hardly that," replied Waldemar, as calmly as before, "for he is
already aware that I do not intend to give him a successor. The two
German inspectors will amply suffice to look after all the details of
the concern, and as to the management in chief, I shall take that in
hand myself."
The Princess started. His words seemed to take her breath away.
"Yourself? That is new to me!"
"It should not be so. We have always looked forward to a time when I
should take possession of my estates. That time has been deferred,
owing to my stay at the University and my absence abroad; but the plan
has never been given up. I know enough of farming and forestry--my
guardian saw to that. I shall doubtless have some trouble in getting
used to the local customs and affairs, but Frank will be at hand to
help me till the spring."
He made these remarks in a nonchalant tone, as though he were saying
the most natural things in the world, and appeared so absorbed in his
study of the water-colour sketches that he did not notice his mother's
consternation. She had raised herself from her negligent attitude, and
was looking keenly and fixedly at him, but with no better success than
her niece had met with on the preceding day--nothing was to be read in
that countenance.
"It is strange that you have never let fall a hint of this resolve of
yours," she observed. "You led us all to believe that you were only
going to pay us a short visit."
"I only intended paying a short visit at first, but I see that the hand
of the master is wanted here. More than this," he went on after a
pause, "I have something to say to you, mother."
He shut the book, and threw it down on the table. Now for the first
time it occurred to the Princess that Wanda's instinct had, perhaps,
after all, seen more clearly in this case than her own penetrating and
usually unfailing glance. She felt the storm coming, but she at once
prepared to meet it, and the resolved expression of her face showed
beyond a doubt that, in any struggle with her, her son would have a
hard fight of it.
"Say on, then," she said, coldly. "I am ready to listen."
Waldemar had risen now and fixed his eyes sternly upon her. "When, four
years ago, I offered you Wilicza as a home, I felt bound to give my
mother a well-defined position as mistress of the Castle. The estates,
however, remained my property, I suppose?"
"Has any one ever disputed it?" asked the Princess. "I imagine no one
has ever raised a doubt as to your right to your estates."
"No, but I see the consequences now of leaving them for years in
Baratowski and Morynski hands."
The Princess rose now in her turn, and faced her son with great dignity
of demeanour.
"What is the meaning of this? Do you wish to make me responsible for
the administration of your affairs not being such as you would wish?
Blame your guardian, who for a quarter of a century allowed the
officials to run riot here in the most incredible manner. The evil
effects of their neglect have not escaped my notice; but you must
settle such accounts with the persons in your employ, my son, and not
with me."
"With the persons in _my_ employ?" cried Waldemar, bitterly. "I think
Frank is the only one who acknowledges me as master. The others, one
and all, are in your service; and though perhaps they would hardly
venture to refuse me obedience, I know well enough that any command of
mine would be met by a host of expedients and intrigues, by a secret
but active opposition, should you think proper to put your veto on it."
"You are dreaming, Waldemar," said the Princess, with a pitying and
superior smile. "I did not think you were so completely under the
steward's influence; but really, I must beg of you to set some bounds
to your credulity in matters relating to your mother."
"And I beg of you to give up the old attempt at stinging me into
compliance," interrupted her son. "Once, it is true, you were able to
mould me as you wished by setting before me fear of a foreign influence
which might assume control over my actions; but since I have really had
a will of my own, it has become immaterial to me whether I seem to
possess one or not. I have been silent for weeks, precisely because I
did not altogether put faith in the steward's reports. I wanted to see
with my own eyes--but now I ask you: Who has delivered over the farms,
which, four years ago were all in German hands, to countrymen of yours
on absurdly disadvantageous terms, without any guarantee, any security,
against the loss they have caused, the damage they have done the land?
Who has introduced into the woods and forests a set of men who may
render eminent services to your national interests, but who have cut
down my revenues by one half? Who has made the steward's position here
so unbearable that he has no choice but to go? Fortunately, he
possessed energy enough to call me to the rescue, or I should, in all
probability, have remained away much longer, and it was high time for
me to come. You have recklessly sacrificed everything to your family
traditions; my officials, my fortune, my position even, for people
naturally suppose that it has been done with my consent. The property
was badly managed in my guardian's time; but no permanent harm was
done, for the estates possess almost inexhaustible resources in
themselves; the last four years, however, under your rule, have brought
them to the very verge of ruin. You must have known it. You are acute
enough to see whither all this must finally lead, and energetic enough
to put a stop to it, if you had really wished to do so; but such
considerations could, of course, have no weight. You had only one aim
and object in view--to prepare Wilicza for the coming revolution."
The Princess had listened in silence, benumbed, as it were, by
amazement which grew with every minute, and was roused even more by her
son's manner than by what he said. It was not the first time such words
had been spoken within those walls. The late Herr Nordeck had often
enough reproached his wife with recklessly offering up all and
everything at the shrine of her family traditions; he had indeed
crushed in their birth many such schemes as those which were now ripe
for execution, but such a scene as the present could not have taken
place without the man's nature showing itself in all its brutality. He
would rage and storm, would pour forth a stream of wild threats and
abusive epithets, endeavouring so to assert his authority, but never
evoking from his proud, fearless wife any response other than a smile
of contempt. She knew that this "parvenu" possessed neither high
intelligence nor strength of character, that his hatred and
partisanship were alike based on the lowest motives; and, if anything
could equal her disdain of him, it was the indignation she felt that
such a husband should have been forced upon her. If Waldemar had
conducted himself in the same way, she would not have been in the least
surprised--the fact that he did not so conduct himself was what
confounded her. He stood before her in a calm, self-possessed attitude,
and coldly, but with telling emphasis, flung at her word after word,
proof upon proof. Yet she saw that passion was hot within him. The vein
on his temple stood out ominously swollen, and his hand buried itself
convulsively in the cushions of the chair by which he stood,--these
were the only symptoms of his inward excitement. His look and voice
betrayed nothing of it; they were completely under his control.
Some seconds passed before the Princess answered. Her pride would not
stoop to a denial or a prevarication; and, indeed, neither would have
availed. Waldemar evidently knew too much; she could no longer reckon
on his blindness, and was therefore compelled to take up a new
position.
"You exaggerate," she replied at last. "Are you so timid that you can
see a revolution brewing in your Wilicza, merely because I have
sometimes used my influence in favour of my protege's? I regret
it, if some among them have abused my confidence and wrought you
injury, instead of doing their duty by you; but these things happen
everywhere--you are at liberty to dismiss them. What, after all, is it
you reproach me with? When I came here, the estates were, to all
intents and purposes, without a master. You took no interest in them,
cared nothing for them; so I, as your mother, considered myself
justified in taking up the reins which had fallen from your hands. It
was certainly safer for me to hold them than to trust them with your
paid agents. I have governed in my own fashion, I admit; but you were
perfectly aware that I have always sided with my own family and my own
people. I have never made a secret of it. My whole life bears witness
to the fact, and to you, I should hope, I need offer no justification
of my conduct. You are my son, as you are your father's, and the blood
of the Morynskis runs also in your veins."
Waldemar seemed about vehemently to protest against the assertion; but
again his self-command triumphed.
"It is the first time in your life you have acknowledged my share in
that noble blood," he answered, ironically; "hitherto you have only
seen--and despised--the Nordeck in me. True, you have not declared so
much in words; but do you think I cannot interpret looks? I have seen
the expression of your eyes, as they turned from Leo and your brother
to me! You have put away from you the memory of your first marriage as
of some disgrace. Happy in your position as Prince Baratowski's wife,
satisfied with the love of your youngest-born, you never gave me a
thought; when, later on, circumstances forced you to draw nearer me, it
certainly was not I myself whom you sought. I do not reproach you with
this. My father may have sinned against you in much--in so much that
you can feel no affection for his son; but we must therefore leave
altogether out of account sentiments which, once for all, do not exist
between us. I shall shortly be obliged to prove to you that no drop of
the Morynski blood runs in my veins. You may have transmitted it to
Leo, but I am made of other stuff."
"I see it," said the Princess, in a low voice; "of other than I
thought. I have never really known you."
He took no notice of her words. "You will understand, then, how it is
that I now take the management of my affairs into my own hands," he
went on. "One more question. What is the meaning of those conferences
which were held in your apartments after supper yesterday evening, and
which lasted far on through the night?"
"Waldemar, that concerns me alone," his mother answered in frigid
self-assertion. "In my own rooms, at least, I will be mistress still."
"Absolute mistress in all that relates to your own affairs, but I will
no longer give over Wilicza to serve your party aims. You hold your
meetings here. Orders are issued from hence across the frontier, and
messages are sent from out yonder to you in return. The Castle cellars
are full of arms. You have got together a perfect arsenal below
stairs."
The Princess's face turned deadly pale at the last words, but she held
her ground, heavy as was the blow. Not a muscle of her face moved as
she replied, "And why do you come to me with all this? Why not rather
go to L----, where the account of your discoveries would be most gladly
received? You have shown such eminent talent as a spy, it could not be
so very repugnant to you to turn informer!"
"Mother!" burst from the young man's lips in accents of passionate
anger, and he struck his clenched hand violently on the back of the
chair. The old fierce temper was breaking forth again, bearing down
before it all the self-control acquired so laboriously during the last
few years. His whole frame was shaken with agitation, and he looked so
menacing in his wrath that his mother involuntarily laid her hand on
the bell to summon help. This movement of hers brought Waldemar to
himself. He turned away hastily and went up to the window.
Some minutes elapsed in painful silence. The Princess already felt that
she had allowed herself to be carried too far--she, who was coolness,
prudence itself! She saw how her son wrestled with his passion, and
what the struggle cost him; but she also saw that the man who, with
such an iron energy, could by sheer force of will subdue his natural
violence, that fatal inheritance from his father, was an adversary
worthy of her.
When Waldemar again turned towards her, the paroxysm was past. He had
crossed his arms on his breast as though, forcibly to still its
heavings. His lips still worked nervously, but he had regained full
command of his voice when he spoke.
"I did not think, when at that time at C---- you entrusted my brother's
future to my generosity and sense of honour--I did not then think that
I should be incurring contumely such as this. Spy! Because I presumed
to look into the secrets of my own Castle! I might retort with a word
which would have a still worse sound. Which of us enjoys the
hospitality of Wilicza, you or I? and which of us has abused it?"
The Princess looked down. Her face was sombre and very stern.
"We will not dispute about it. I have done what right and duty
dictated, but it would be useless to endeavour to convince you of it.
What do you intend to do?"
Waldemar was silent for a moment, then he said in a low tone, but
emphasising every word: "I shall leave this to-morrow. I have business
in P---- which will detain me for a week. In that time Wilicza will be
cleared of all the illicit stores it now contains; in that time all
existing connections will be broken off, so far as the Castle is
concerned. Transport your centre of operations to Rakowicz, or where
you will, but my land shall be free of them. Immediately on my return,
a second great hunt will take place here, at which the President and
the officers in garrison at L---- will be invited to attend. As
mistress of the house you will, no doubt, be so good as to put your
name with mine to the invitations."
"Never!" declared the Princess, energetically.
"Then I shall sign them alone. In any case the guests will be invited.
It is necessary that I should at last take up a position in this matter
which is agitating the whole province. It must be known in L---- on
which side I am to be found. You are at liberty to be ill on the day in
question, or to drive over to your brother's--but I leave you to
reflect whether it will be well to make the breach between us public,
and therefore irreparable. It is still possible for us to forget this
hour and this talk. I shall never remind you of it, when once I am
persuaded that my demands have been complied with. It is for you to
decide what you will do. I have waited until Leo should be absent,
because I know that his hot temper would ill brook such a scene, and
because I wish to spare him and Count Morynski the mortification of
hearing from my mouth that which it had become absolutely necessary for
me to say. They will take it better coming from you. It is not I who
wish for a rupture."
"And if I decline to comply with the tyrannical commands you think fit
to hurl at me," said the Princess, slowly; "if, to your recognised
right of inheritance, I oppose my right as your father's widow, whom an
unjust, unprecedented will alone banished from a place which should
have been her dower-house? I know that in a court of law I should not
be able to make good my claim; but the conviction of its justice makes
me feel that here, on this ground, I have no need to yield to you, and
yield I will not. The Princess Baratowska, after what she has just
heard from your lips, would have gone with her son, gone, never to
return; but the former mistress of Wilicza maintains her right. Beware,
Waldemar. I may one day place you in such a pass that you must either
recall the arbitrary words you have just spoken, or give up your mother
and brother to an evil fate."
"Try," said Waldemar, coldly; "but do not hold me responsible for what
may then happen."
They stood face to face, their eyes fixed on each other, and it was
strange that a resemblance which had hitherto escaped all those about
them, with one single exception, should now have stood out in strong
relief. "That brow with the singularly marked vein he has from you,"
Wanda had one day said to her aunt; and there, indeed, was the same
high arch, denoting power, the same peculiar line on the temple. In her
excitement the blue vein now showed distinctly on the Princess's
forehead; while on Waldemar's it swelled forth ominously, as though all
his blood in revolt were seeking vent that way. On both faces the same
expression was stamped, that of an unbending determination, an iron
will, prepared to carry through its purposes at any cost. Now that they
were declaring war to the death, the fact that these two were mother
and son became for the first time palpable, perhaps it now for the
first time impressed itself strongly on their minds.
Waldemar went close up to the Princess, and laid his hand firmly on her
arm.
"I have left a retreat open for my mother," he said, significantly;
"but I forbid the Princess Baratowska to pursue her party machinations
on my estates. If, notwithstanding what I have said, you still persist,
if you drive me to an extremity, I too shall resort to stronger
measures--yes, if I have to give you up, one and all ..."
Suddenly he stopped. His mother felt a thrill run through him, felt
that the hand which had held hers with such an iron grasp all at once
loosed its hold and fell powerless. In extreme surprise she followed
the direction of his eyes, which were fixed, as though spell-bound, on
the study doorway. There on the threshold stood Wanda. Unable longer to
control herself, she had stepped forward, and the hasty movement had
betrayed her presence.
A flash of triumph shot from the Princess's eyes. At last the
vulnerable spot in her son's heart was found. Although in the next
instant he recovered himself, and stood inflexible and unapproachable
as before, it was too late; that one unguarded moment had betrayed his
secret.
"Well, Waldemar?" she asked, and there was a slight sneer in her voice,
"you surely are not hurt to find that Wanda has overheard our
conversation? It, in a great measure, concerned her also. At any rate
you owe it now both to her and to me to finish your sentence. You would
give us up, one and all ..."
Waldemar had retreated a step. He now stood quite in shadow, so that
his face escaped all observation.
"As Countess Morynska has overheard our conversation, no explanation is
needed. I have nothing more to add." Then, turning to his mother, he
went on----"I shall leave to-morrow morning early. You have a week in
which to decide. So much is settled between us."
Then he bowed to the young Countess, constrainedly as usual, and went.
Wanda had stood all this while on the threshold, had not yet set foot
in the drawing-room; but now she came in and, going up to her aunt,
asked in a low, but strangely agitated voice--
"Do you believe me now?"
The Princess had sunk back on the sofa. Her eyes were still fixed on
the door through which her son had departed, dreamily, as though she
could not, would not, realise the scene which had just taken place.
"I have ever judged him by his father," said she, speaking, as it were,
to herself. "The error will be avenged on us all. He has shown me now
that he is not--not such as his father was."
"He has shown you more than that. You have always been so proud,
aunt, that Leo has your features. He has inherited little of your
character--for that you must look to his brother. It was your own
energy which faced you just now, your own inflexible will--your own
look and tone even. Waldemar is more like you than ever Leo was."
Something in the young Countess's voice aroused the Princess's
attention. "And who taught you to read this character with such
unerring sureness? Was it your animosity which made you see clearly
there where we were all at fault?"
"I do not know," replied Wanda, casting down her eyes. "It was more
instinct than observation which guided me; but from the first day I
felt that we had an enemy in him."
"No matter," declared the Princess, resolutely. "He is my son; there is
no escaping that fact. You are right. Today for the first time he has
proved that he really is akin to me; but, as his mother, I will show
myself equal to him."
"What will you do?" asked Wanda.
"Accept his challenge. Do you think I shall yield to his threats? We
shall see whether he will really proceed to extremities."
"He will, depend upon it. Do not speculate on any soft relenting in
this man. He would unsparingly offer up you, Leo, all of us, to that
which he calls right."
The Princess scanned her niece's face with a long scrutinising look.
"Leo and me, perhaps," she answered; "but I know now where his strength
will fail him. I know what he will not offer up, and it shall be my
care to bring him face to face with that at the decisive moment."
Wanda looked at her aunt without grasping her meaning. She had noticed
nothing more than Waldemar's abrupt pause, which her sudden appearance
sufficiently explained, had seen his stern repellant attitude towards
his mother and herself. She could not therefore guess to what these
words alluded, and the Princess gave her no time for meditation.
"We must take a resolution," she continued. "In the first place my
brother must be told. As Waldemar leaves us early to-morrow morning,
there is no longer any reason for hastening your return. You must stay
here, and summon your father and Leo back to Wilicza without a moment's
delay. No matter what they may have on hand, the most important
business lies here. I will have your letter sent off to-day by an
express, and to-morrow they may be with us."
The young Countess obeyed. She went back into the study, and sat down
at the writing-table, quite unsuspicious, at present, of the part she
was suddenly called on to play in her aunt's plans. The childish folly,
so long done with and forgotten, acquired an importance of its own, now
that it was discovered to be neither done with nor forgotten. The
Princess could not forgive her son for having repudiated the Morynski
blood. Well, he should find his plans wrecked through a Morynska,
though, possibly, his mother would not prove that rock on which he
should split.