"Once more I entreat your Excellency to recall these harsh measures. We
cannot possibly make the town responsible for the acts of a few
individuals."
"I too am of opinion that it is not necessary to proceed with such
rigour. It will not be difficult to trace out the guilty parties, and
to secure them."
"Your Excellency should not attach such importance to the affair. It
really does not deserve it."
The Governor, Baron von Raven, to whom all these remonstrances and
remarks were addressed, appeared but little moved by them. He answered
with cold politeness:
"I am exceedingly sorry, gentlemen, to find myself in such direct
opposition to you in this matter, but I have formed this resolution
after mature consideration; besides which, you know that I never recall
a measure once decided on. My instructions will be carried out."
The gentlemen assembled in the audience-room of the R----
Government-house seemed to have been engaged in a long and animated
conference. They were all more or less excited, with the sole exception
of the Baron himself, who leaned back in his chair with an air of
imperturbable calm.
"I should have thought that my voice, being that of the chief
magistrate of the town, would have carried some weight with it," said
he who had first spoken. "Particularly as on this occasion the
Superintendent of Police declares himself on our side."
"Certainly," assented the official alluded to; adding, however, with
prudent reserve, "but I have filled my present post too short a time to
be thoroughly acquainted with the local concerns. His Excellency is, no
doubt, better qualified to judge than I am."
"I only fear," began the third personage, who wore the uniform of a
colonel--"I only fear, Baron, that this severity may be misinterpreted,
that it may be construed into alarm for your own personal safety."
A contemptuous smile played about the Baron's lips.
"Make your mind easy," he replied. "They know me too well in R---- to
ascribe fear to me. That reproach will be spared me, I know, come what
may."
He rose, thereby giving the signal for the breaking up of the
conference.
Baron Arno von Raven, at six or seven and forty, might have been taken
as a type of mature and vigorous manhood. He was still in the plenitude
of his strength, physical and intellectual, and still, as was generally
admitted, of a most imposing presence. There was an air of command in
the very carriage of his tall and powerful form. His marked features,
on which haughtiness and an indomitable energy were plainly written,
could not now be styled handsome--they had indeed never been so--but
they were striking and characteristic in every line. The thick dark
hair was untinged with grey, except on the temples, where some silver
threads denoted that life's meridian was past. The dark eyes, so full
of fire, seemed, however, to tell another tale. They spoke of life in
all its pristine force and vigour; but there was a stern,
uncompromising look in them, and when they rested on any given object,
they seemed literally to transfix it. His bearing was one of quiet
dignity blended with proud reserve. Nothing in him betrayed a trace of
the parvenu. The man looked as though from his earliest years he had
had the habit of command.
"This is not a question of myself," he said. "So long as abuse and
menaces were conveyed to me in anonymous letters, I simply consigned
them to the waste-paper basket, and thought no more of them; but if
bills containing threatening and seditious language are, openly and
before the eyes of all the world, to be pasted up on the walls of the
Government-house, if attempts are to be made to insult me when I drive
out, while the more respectable citizens demonstratively refrain from
interfering, it becomes my duty to take some serious steps in the
matter. I hold the highest post in this province. If I suffer these
misdemeanours, if I tolerate these offences directed against my person,
I thereby endanger the authority of the Government, which it is my
office to represent, and which I am bound to uphold under all
circumstances. I repeat, Mr. Mayor, that I regret to be under the
necessity of ordering certain police-regulations which may prove
irksome and vexatious, but the town has only itself to thank for them."
"We know by experience that your Excellency does not allow any
considerations of public convenience to influence you in such cases,"
said the Burgomaster, sharply. "I can do no more, therefore, than leave
with you the entire responsibility of such harsh proceedings--and with
this, I think, our interview may come to an end."
The Baron bowed stiffly.
"I do not know that I have ever sought to evade the responsibility of
my official acts. I certainly shall not do so in this instance. Good
morning, gentlemen."
The Burgomaster and the Superintendent of Police left the room, and
walked together through the broad galleries towards the entrance-door.
The former, a grey-haired and somewhat choleric old gentleman, could
not help giving vent by the way to his long pent-up anger.
"So with all our prayers, our remonstrances, and representations, we
have obtained nothing but this sovereign dictum, 'My orders will be
carried out,'" said he to his companion. "This famous phrase, a
favourite with his Excellency, seems to have had its effect even upon
you. Your opposition was silenced by it in an instant."
The Superintendent of Police, a man much younger in years, with a keen,
cunning face and extremely polite manners, shrugged his shoulders, and
answered quietly:
"The Baron is at the head of the administration, and as he has declared
that in any contingency he will cover me from all responsibility,
I----"
"You do as he bids you," concluded the other. "After all, one cannot
wonder. It is not likely you should wish to share the fate of your
predecessor in office."
"In any case, I hope to show myself more competent to fulfil the duties
of my post than he was." The answer was courteous, but decided. "So far
as I know, my predecessor was removed on account of incapacity."
"You are much mistaken. He fell, because he was not agreeable to Baron
von Raven, because he occasionally took upon himself to have an
opposite opinion of his own. He had to give way, of course, before the
all-powerful will which has held arbitrary sway over us for so long.
The attitude assumed by our Governor to-day will have shown you better
than a month in office what the situation of affairs here really is,
and, if I am not mistaken, you have chosen your side already."
The last words were spoken in a very pointed manner, but the
Superintendent seemed not to remark it. He only smiled affably by way
of reply; and as they had now reached the door of exit, the two
gentlemen parted company.
Meanwhile the Baron and his third visitor had remained closeted
together. Colonel Wilten, commanding officer of the garrison stationed
at R----, was a man of right soldierly appearance, yet, notwithstanding
his natural advantages, enhanced as they were by his uniform and the
orders he wore, he could not bear comparison with the tall and stately
figure of his host in plain civilian attire.
"You really should not proceed with too great severity, Baron," the
Colonel remarked, taking up the thread of the conversation when the
others had left. "These perpetual conflicts with the respectable
citizens are looked on with great disfavour in high quarters."
"Do you suppose the conflicts are agreeable to me?" asked Raven. "But
in this case to forbear would be to show weakness, and that I hope,
will hardly be expected of me."
The other shook his head dubiously.
"You are aware that I have been absent, spending a few weeks in the
capital," he began anew. "During that time I mixed a good deal in
ministerial circles, and I must tell you, confidentially, that opinion
there is not favourable to you. You are in ill-odour."
"I know it," said Raven, coldly. "I have not shown myself docile
enough, subservient enough to them; and, besides this, they cannot
forgive me my plebeian origin. To stay and hinder me in my career was
beyond their power; but there has never been any real cordiality
towards me in those quarters."
"For which reason it behoves you to be prudent. Attempts are constantly
being made to undermine your position. There is talk of 'arbitrary
action,' of a 'tendency to encroachment;' and every measure adopted by
you is discussed and subjected to sharp, if not malignant criticism. Do
you apprehend no danger from all the intrigues which are being woven
against you?"
"No, for I am too necessary in high places, and shall take good care to
remain so, notwithstanding my 'arbitrary action' and 'tendency to
encroachment.' I, better than any one, can estimate the difficulties of
my position here. They will not so easily find another man equal to the
task of governing this province, and especially this rebellious,
opposition-loving city of R----. But I thank you for the warning,
nevertheless; it accords perfectly with the advices I have myself
received."
"Well, I thought I would give you a hint, at least," said the Colonel,
rising to go. "But now I must be leaving. You are expecting visitors
to-day, I hear."
"My sister-in-law, Baroness Harder, and her daughter," replied the
Governor, accompanying his visitor to the door. "They have been
spending a part of the summer in Switzerland, and are to arrive here
to-day. I am expecting them every minute."
"I had the pleasure of occasionally meeting the Baroness in the capital
some years ago," remarked the officer; "and I shall hope to renew the
acquaintance at an early date. Meanwhile, may I beg you to present my
best respects to the lady? Good-morning, Excellency."
Half an hour later, a carriage rolled up beneath the portico of the
Government-house, and Baron von Raven came down the main staircase to
receive his guests.
"My dear brother-in-law, what a pleasure it is to see you again at
last!" cried a lady seated in the carriage, stretching out her hand to
him with much animation and tender haste.
"I bid you welcome, Matilda," said Raven, with his customary cool
politeness, as he opened the door and helped her to alight. "Have you
had a pleasant journey? It was rather disagreeably warm for
travelling."
"Oh, terribly! The long drive has quite shattered my nerves. We had at
first intended to stay and rest a day in E----, but the longing to see
our dear uncle was so strong within us, we really _could_ not wait."
The "dear uncle" received the compliment with great indifference.
"You would have done wisely to make a halt at E----, certainly," he
said. "But where is the child Gabrielle?"
That young lady, in the act of springing lightly from the carriage
without waiting for his aid, flushed scarlet with indignation at this
most insulting question. The Baron himself gave a slight start of
astonishment, and looked long and curiously at the "child," whom he had
not seen for full three years, and whose appearance now evidently took
him by surprise. But his astonishment and Gabrielle's consequent
triumph were of short duration.
"I am glad to see you, Gabrielle," he said quietly, and, stooping,
touched her forehead with his lips. It was the same slight, formal
caress which he had formerly bestowed on the maiden of fourteen, and,
as he vouchsafed it, his stern, dark eyes rapidly surveyed her with one
single look, sharp and penetrating, as though he would at once read
the inmost workings of her mind. Then he offered his arm to his
sister-in-law to lead her upstairs, and left the young lady to follow
them.
The Baroness launched into a torrent of pretty speeches and
affectionate inquiries, which met with monosyllabic answers alone. Her
flow of words, however, was not to be checked; it only ceased on their
reaching the wing wherein were situated the rooms destined to the
ladies' use.
"These are your apartments, Matilda," said the Baron, pointing to the
open doors. "I hope they will be to your taste. This bell summons the
servants. Should anything be wanting to your comfort, I trust you will
let me know. I will now leave you for a while. You must both be
fatigued from your long journey, and require rest. We shall meet at
dinner."
He went, visibly relieved at having accomplished the awkward and
troublesome task of welcoming his guests. Hardly had the door closed
behind him, when the Baroness, hastily throwing off her travelling
wraps, began to inspect her surroundings. The four rooms appointed to
their use were fitted up with great elegance, and even with an amount
of splendour. The furniture was very handsome, the curtains and carpets
being of the thickest and richest materials. In all things the habits
and convenience of high-bred visitors had been consulted, and regard
had been had to their every possible requirement. In short, there was
no fault to be found; and Madame von Harder came back from her tour of
inspection in an eminently contented frame of mind.
Presently she noticed that her daughter was still standing in the
middle of the room they had first entered, not yet divested of her hat
and travelling-cloak.
"Will you not take your things off, Gabrielle?" she asked. "What do you
think of the rooms? There will be comforts about us here, thank
Heaven! such as one is accustomed to. We shall prize them after all the
hardships of our long Swiss exile."
Gabrielle paid no heed to the words.
"Mamma, I don't like Uncle Raven," said she suddenly, with the utmost
decision.
The tone was so unusual, in so sharp a contrast to the young lady's
habitual style, that her mother looked up in surprise.
"Why, child, you have hardly seen him!"
"Never mind, I don't like him. He treats us with an indifference, a
condescension which is absolutely offensive. I can't understand how you
could put up with such a reception!"
"Nonsense, dear," said the Baroness, soothingly. "It is my
brother-in-law's natural manner to be formal and chary of speech. You
will get accustomed to it when you know him better, and grow fond of
him."
"Never!" cried Gabrielle, vehemently. "How can you expect me ever to
grow fond of Uncle Arno, mamma? I have never heard anything but ill of
him. You always used to say he was a horrible tyrant; papa never spoke
of him except as a parvenu or adventurer, and yet neither of you
ventured to be anything but friendly to him, because----
"Hush, child!" interrupted her mother, looking round in alarm to see
that no one had overheard the treasonable words. "Have you forgotten
that we are quite dependent on your uncle's goodness? He is implacable
when he thinks himself insulted. You must never attempt to contradict
him."
"Why did you all show him so much deference if he was only an
adventurer?" persisted Gabrielle, obstinately. "Why did grandpapa let
him marry his daughter? Why has he always been considered the leading
personage of the family? I can't understand it."
"Nor I either!" exclaimed the Baroness, with a sigh. "The power that
man exercises has always been inexplicable to me, as was your
grandfather's predilection for him. He, with his plebeian name and his
position, at that time a very subordinate one, ought naturally to have
looked upon his admittance into our family as an immense privilege, as
an unmerited piece of good fortune, instead of which he took it exactly
as if it had been his due. No sooner had he established a footing in
our house than he began to govern every one in it, from my sister down
to the servants, who stood more in awe of him than of their own master.
He had my father so completely under his control that nothing was done
without his advice or assistance, and all the others he simply put down
extinguished. How he did it I cannot say--enough that it was so; and
not only in our family circle, in society and the political world he
rapidly gained surprising dominion. No one ventured to oppose or thwart
him."
"Well, he will not extinguish me," cried the girl, with a defiant toss
of the head. "Oh, he thought he should frighten me with his great
solemn eyes which seem to bore one through and through, as though they
would read the most secret thoughts of one's heart; but I am not a bit
afraid of him. We shall see whether he can bend me to his will, whether
he will find me as pliable as he has found other people."
The Baroness grew alarmed. She feared, with good reason, that this
exceedingly spoilt daughter, who ruled her mother in everything, and
was by no means accustomed to put a restraint on herself, would now
give the reins to her waywardness, and display it in her behaviour to
the Baron himself. She exhausted all her stock of arguments and
entreaties, but with no satisfactory result.
Miss Gabrielle seemed to take a peculiar pleasure in roundly expressing
her defiance of her guardian, and showed herself in no way disposed to
abandon the warlike attitude she had at once taken up towards him. But
her serious mood had already spent itself, having lasted a most unusual
length of time. The old petulant gaiety returned in full force.
"Mamma, I do believe you are in real earnest afraid of this old ogre of
an uncle," she cried, with a merry laugh. "Well, I am more valiant--I
shall beard the monster in his den, and I promise you he will not eat
me."