The green slope of a hill, at the base of a southern spur of the
Pyrenees, presented, upon a spring night of the year 1837, a scene of
unusual life. The long grass, rarely pressed save by some errant
mountain-goat, or truant donkey from the plain, was now laid and
trodden beneath the feet and hoofs of a host of men and horses; the
young trees, neglected by the woodcutter in favour of maturer timber,
resounded beneath the blows of the foraging-hatchet. Up the centre of
the hill, an avenue, bare of wood, but not less grass-grown than the
other portions of the slope, communicated with the steep and rocky
path that zigzagged up the face of the superior mountain. On either
side of this road--if such the track might be called, that was only
marked by absence of trees--several squadrons of cavalry, hussars,
lancers, and light dragoons, had established their bivouac. There had
been hard fighting over that ground for the greater part of the
afternoon; but with this the horsemen had little to do. On the other
hand, the fragments of smoked paper strewing the grass showed that
musketeers had been busy, and many cartridges expended, amongst those
very trees, where the enemy had made a vigorous stand before he was
driven up and finally over the mountain by the Queen's troops. A
little higher, where less cover was to be had, dead bodies lay thick;
and there had been a very fair sprinkling of the same, in great part
despoiled of clothes by the retiring Carlists, upon the luxuriant
pasture the Christino cavalry now occupied. From the immediate
vicinity of the bivouac, however, these offensive objects had, for the
most part, been dragged away. The infantry were further in advance up
the mountain, and on the right and left. The enemy having vacated the
plain on the approach of a superior force, the cavalry had scarcely
got a charge, but had had, upon the other hand, a large amount of
trotting to and fro, of scrambling through rugged lanes, and toiling
over heavy fields. They had also had a pretty view of the fighting, in
which they were prevented taking a share, but which their brass bands
frequently encouraged by martial and patriotic melodies; and they had
received more than one thorough drenching from the heavy showers that
poured down at brief intervals from sunrise till evening. The sun had
set, however, in a clear blue sky; the stars shone brightly out; the
air was fresh rather than cold; and, but for the extreme wetness of
the grass, the night was by no means unfavourable for a bivouac. This
inconvenience the men obviated, in some measure, by cutting away the
long rank herbage with their sabres, in circles round the fires, made
with some difficulty out of the green moist branches of oak and
apple-trees; and which, for a while, gave out more smoke than flame,
more stench than warmth.
It chanced to be my turn for duty that night; and this prevented my
following the example of most of my brother-officers, who, after
eating their share of some Carlist sheep, (the lazy commissariat mules
were far behind,) wrapped themselves in their cloaks, with logs or
valises under their heads, and with the excellent resolution of making
but one nap of it from that moment till the reveillée sounded. I was
not prevented sleeping, certainly; but now and then I had to rouse
myself and go the round of the portion of the encampment occupied by
my regiment, to see that the horses were properly picketed, the
sentries at their posts, and that all was right and conformable to
regulation. Then I would lie down again and take a nap, sometimes at
one fire, sometimes at another. At last, a couple of hours before
daybreak, I was puzzled to find one to lie down at; for the bivouac
was buried in sleep, and the neglected fires had been allowed to die
out, or to become mere heaps of smouldering ashes. I betook myself to
the one that gave the greatest symptoms of warmth, and on which, just
as I reached it, a soldier threw an armful of small branches. Then,
falling on his knees and hands, and lowering his head till his chin
nearly touched the ground, he blew lustily upon the embers, which
glowed and sparkled, and finally blazed up, casting a red light upon
his brown and mustached countenance. I recognised a German belonging
to my troop. We had several Germans and Poles, and one or two Italians
and Frenchmen, in the regiment; some of them political refugees,
driven by want to a station below their breeding; others, scamps and
deserters from different services, but nearly all smart and daring
soldiers. This man, Heinzel by name, was rather one of the scampish
sort; not that he had ever suffered punishment beyond extra guards or
a night in the black hole, but he was reckless and unsteady, which
prevented his being made a sergeant, as he otherwise assuredly would
have been; for, in spite of a very ugly physiognomy of the true Tartar
type, he was a smart-looking soldier, a devil to fight, and a good
writer and accountant. He had been a corporal once, but had been
reduced for thrashing two Spanish peasants, whilst under the influence
of _aguardiente_. He said they had tried to make him desert; which was
likely enough, for they had certainly furnished him with the liquor
gratis,--an improbable act of generosity without an object. But he
could not prove the alleged inveiglement; the civil authorities, to
whom the boors had complained, pressed for satisfaction; and it was
necessary to punish even an appearance of excess on the part of
mercenary troops, often too much disposed to ill-treat the inoffensive
peasantry. I had a liking for Heinzel, whom I fancied above his
station. He spoke tolerable French; had rapidly picked up English in
our regiment; and expressed himself, in his own language, in terms
showing him to spring from a better class than that whence private
soldiers generally proceed. Moreover, he had a mellow voice, knew a
host of German songs, and although not a tithe of the squadron
understood the words, all listened with pleased attention when he sang
upon the march Arndt's dashing ditty in honour of Prince
Blucher,--every note of which has a sound of clashing steel and
clanging trumpet, Hauff's milder and more sentimental
"Steh' ich in finstrer Mitternacht,"
and other popular _Soldaten-lieder_. Not very frequently, however,
could he be prevailed upon to sing; for he was of humour taciturn, not
to say sullen. He would drink to excess when the chance was afforded
him; and although he could bear an immense deal either of wine or
brandy without its affecting his head, he was oftener the worse for
liquor than any other foreigner in the squadron, with the exception of
one infernal Pole, who seemed to enjoy the special protection of
Bacchus, and would find means to get drunk as the sow of Davy when the
rest of the regiment were reduced to the limpid element.
Having got up a respectable blaze, Heinzel produced from his schapska
a small wooden pipe and a bag of tobacco; filled the former, lit it at
the fire, and with an "_Erlauben Sie, Herr Lieutenant_," (he usually
spoke German to me,) seated himself at a respectful distance upon a
fallen tree-trunk, on one end of which I had taken my station.
"A cold morning, Heinzel," said I.
"Very cold, _Herr Lieutenant_; will you take a _schnapps_, sir?"
And from the breast of his jacket he pulled out a leather-covered
flask, more than half full, from which I willingly imbibed a dram of
very respectable Spanish brandy. Considering the absence of rations,
and our consequent reduction, since the preceding morning, from beef,
bread, and wine, to quivering mutton and spring water, I at first gave
Heinzel infinite credit for having husbanded this drop of comfort. But
I presently discovered that I was indebted for my morning glass to no
excess of sobriety on his part, but to his having fallen in with a
Spanish canteen-woman, whom he had beguiled of a flaskful in exchange
for two lawful reals of the realm.
The cordial had invigorated and refreshed me, and I no longer felt
inclined to sleep. Neither to all appearance did Heinzel, who sat in
an easy soldierly attitude upon his end of the log, gazing at the fire
and smoking in silence. It occurred to me as a good opportunity to
learn if my suspicions were well-founded, and if he had not once been
something better than a private dragoon in the service of her Catholic
majesty. We were alone, with the exception of one soldier, who lay at
length, and apparently asleep, upon the other side of the fire,
closely wrapped in his red cloak, whose collar partially concealed his
face.
"Who is that?" said I to Heinzel.
The German rose from his seat, walked round the fire, and drew the
cloak collar a little aside, disclosing a set of features of mild and
agreeable expression. The man was not asleep, or else the touching of
his cloak awakened him, for I saw the firelight glance upon his eyes;
but he said nothing, and Heinzel returned to his place.
"It is Franz Schmidt."
I knew this young man well, although he belonged to a different
squadron, as an exceedingly clean well-behaved soldier, and one of the
most daring fellows that ever threw leg over saddle. In fact, from the
colonel downwards, no man was better known than Schmidt. He was a
splendid horseman, and had attracted notice upon almost the first day
he joined, by a feat of equitation. There was a horse which had nearly
broken the heart of the riding-master, and the bones of every man who
had mounted him. The brute would go pretty quietly in the
riding-school, but as soon as he got into the ranks, he took offence
at something or other--whether the numerous society, the waving of
pennons, or the sounds of the trumpet, it was impossible to
decide--and started off at the top of his speed, kicking and capering,
and playing every imaginable prank. The rough-riders had all tried
him, but could make nothing of him. Still, as he was a showy young
horse, the colonel was loath to have him cast; when one day, as we
went out to drill, and Beelzebub, as the men had baptised the
refractory beast, had just given one of the best horsemen in the
regiment a severe fall, Schmidt volunteered to mount him. His offer
was accepted. He was in the saddle in a second; but before his right
foot was in the stirrup, or his lance in the bucket, the demon was off
with him, over a stiff wall and a broad ditch, and across a dangerous
country, at a slapping pace. Schmidt rode beautifully. Nothing could
stir him from his saddle; he endured the buck-leaps and other wilful
eccentricities of his headstrong steed with perfect indifference, and
amused himself, as he flew over the country, by going through the
lance-exercise, in the most perfect manner I ever beheld. At last he
got the horse in hand, and circled him in a large heavy field, till
the sweat ran off his hide in streams; then he trotted quietly back to
the column. From that hour he rode the beast, which became one of the
best and most docile chargers in the corps. Beelzebub had found his
master, and knew it.
The attention Schmidt drew upon himself by this incident, was
sustained by subsequent peculiarities in his conduct. The captain of
his troop wished to have him made a corporal; but he refused the
grade, although he might be well assured it would lead to higher ones.
He preferred serving as a private soldier, and did his duty admirably,
but was more popular with his officers than with his comrades, on
account of his reserved manner, and of the little disposition he
showed to share the sports or revels of the latter. Before the enemy
he was fearless almost to a fault, exposing his life for the mere
pleasure, as it seemed, of doing so, whenever the opportunity offered.
He did not cotton much, as the phrase goes, with any one, but in his
more sociable moments, and when their squadrons happened to be
together, he was more frequently seen with Heinzel than with any body
else. In manner he was very mild and quiet, exceedingly silent, and
would sometimes pass whole days without opening his lips, save to
answer to his name at roll-call.
To return, however, to Master Heinzel. I was resolved to learn
something of his history, and, by way of drawing him out, began to
speak to him of his native country, generally the best topic to open a
German's heart, and make him communicative. Heinzel gave into the
snare, and gradually I brought him to talk of himself. I asked him if
he had been a soldier in his own country--thinking it possible he
might be a deserter, from some German service; but his reply was
contradictory of this notion.
"All my service has been in Spain, sir," he said; "and it is not two
years since I first put on a soldier's coat, although in one sense, I
may say, I was born in the army. For I first saw light on the
disastrous day of Wagram, and my father, an Austrian grenadier, was
killed at the bridge of Znaym. My mother, a sutler, was wounded in the
breast by a spent ball whilst supporting his head, and trying to
recall the life that had fled for ever; and although she thought
little of the hurt at the time, it occasioned her death a few months
afterwards."
"A melancholy start in the world," I remarked. "The regiment should
have adopted and made a soldier of the child born within sound of
cannon, and deprived of both father and mother by the chances of war."
"Better for me if the regiment had, I dare say," replied Heinzel; "but
somebody else adopted me, and by the time I was old enough to do
something for myself, fighting was no longer in fashion. I might think
myself lucky that I was not left to die by the road-side, for in those
days soldiers' orphans were too plenty for one in a hundred to find a
foster-father."
"And who acted as yours?"
"An elderly gentleman of Wurzburg, at whose door my mother, overcome
by fatigue and sickness, one evening fell down. Incapacitated by
ill-health from pursuing her former laborious and adventurous
occupation, she had wandered that far on her way to Nassau, her native
country. She never got there, but died at Wurzburg, and was buried at
the charges of the excellent Ulrich Esch, who further smoothed her
dying pillow by the promise that I should be cared for, and brought up
as his child. Herr Esch had been a shopkeeper in Cologne, but having
early amassed, by dint of industry and frugality, the moderate
competency he coveted, he had retired from business, and settled down
in a snug country-house in the suburbs of Wurzburg, where he fell in
love and got married. Since then several years had elapsed, and the
union, in other respects happy, had proved childless. It was a great
vexation to the worthy man and to his meek sweet-tempered spouse, when
they were finally compelled to admit the small probability of their
ever being blessed with a family. Herr Esch tried to draw consolation
from his pipe, his wife from her pet dogs and birds; but these were
poor substitutes for the cheering presence of children, and more than
once the pair had consulted together on the propriety of adopting a
child. They still demurred, however, when my mother's arrival and
subsequent death put an end to their indecision. The kind-hearted
people received her into their house, and bestowed every care upon
her, and, when she departed, they took me before the justice of peace,
and formally adopted me as their child. For some months my situation
was most enviable. True, that old Hannchen, the sour housekeeper,
looked upon me with small favour, and was occasionally heard to
mutter, when my presence gave her additional trouble, something about
beggar's brats and foundlings. True also that Fido, the small white
lapdog, viewed me with manifest jealousy, and that Mops, the big
poodle, made felonious attempts to bite, which finally occasioned his
banishment from the premises. I was too young to be sensible to these
small outbreaks of envy, and my infancy glided happily away; when
suddenly there was great jubilee in the house, and, after eight years
of childless wedlock, Madame Esch presented her husband with a son.
This event made a vast difference in my position and prospects,
although I still had no reason to complain of my lot. My worthy
foster-parents did their duty by me, and did not forget, in their gush
of joy at the birth of a child to their old age, the claims of the
orphan they had gathered up at their door. In due time I was sent to
school, where, being extremely idle, I remained unusually late before
I was held to have amassed a sufficient amount of learning to qualify
me for a seat on a high stool in a Wurzburg counting-house. I was a
desperately lazy dog, and a bit of a scapegrace, with a turn for
making bad verses, and ridiculous ideas on the subject of liberty,
both individual and national. My foster-father's intention was to
establish me, after a certain period of probation, in a shop or small
business of my own; but the accounts he got of me from my employers
were so unsatisfactory, and one or two mad pranks I played caused so
much scandal in the town, that he deferred the execution of his plan,
and thinking that absence from home, and a strict taskmaster, might be
beneficial, he started me off to Frankfort-on-the-Maine, where a
clerk's place was ready for me in the office of the long-established
and highly respectable firm of Schraube & Co."
Here Heinzel broke off the narrative strain into which he had
insensibly fallen, and apologised for intruding upon me so commonplace
a tale. But he had got into the vein, I saw, and was willing enough to
go on; and, on my part, I was curious to hear his story out, although
I had already assigned to it, in my mind, the not unnatural
termination of flight from a severe employer, renunciation by the
adoptive father, and consequent destitution and compulsory enlistment.
I begged him to continue, and he did not need much pressing.
"Frankfort is a famous place for Jews," continued Heinzel, "and Jews
are notoriously sharp men of business; but the entire synagogue might
have been searched in vain for a more thorough Hebrew in character and
practice than that very Christian merchant, Herr Johann Schraube. He
was one of those persons who seem sent into the world for the express
purpose of making themselves as disagreeable as possible. A little,
bandy-legged, ill-made man, with small ferret's eyes, and a
countenance expressive of unbounded obstinacy and self-conceit; he had
a pleasant way of repeating his own words when he ought to have
listened to the answer, was never known to smile except when he had
made somebody miserable, or to grant a favour till he had surlily
refused it at least half-a-dozen times. His way of speaking was like
the snap of a dog. Every body about him hated and feared him; his wife
and children, his servants, his clerks, and even his partner, a tall
strapping fellow who could have crushed him with his foot like a
weasel, but who, nevertheless, literally trembled in presence of the
concentrated bile of his amiable associate. I anticipated a pleasant
time of it under the rule of such a domestic tyrant, especially as it
had been arranged that I was to live in the house. Accordingly, a
bed-chamber was allotted to me. I took my meals, with some others of
the clerks, at the lower end of the family dinner-table, and passed
ten hours a-day in writing letters and making out accounts. My scanty
moments of relaxation I was fain to pass either out of doors or
reading in the counting-house; for although nominally treated as one
of the family, I could see that my presence in the common
sitting-room, was any thing but welcome to Schraube and his circle.
Altogether I led a dog's life, and I make no doubt I should have
deserted my blotting book and fled back to Wurzburg, had I not found
one consolation amongst all these disagreeables. Herr Schraube had a
daughter of the name of Jacqueline--a beautiful girl, with golden
curls and laughing eyes, gay and lively, but coquettish and somewhat
satirical. With this young lady I fell in love, and spoiled
innumerable quires of post paper in scribbling bad poetry in praise of
her charms. But it was long before I dared to offer her my rhymes;
and, in the meantime, she had no suspicion of my flame. How could she
possibly suspect that her father's new clerk, of whose existence she
was scarcely conscious, save from seeing him twice or thrice a-day at
the furthest extremity of the dining-table, would dare to lift his
eyes to her with thoughts of love. She had no lack of more eligible
adorers; and, although she encouraged none of them, there was one
shambling lout of a fellow, with round shoulders and a sodden
countenance, whom her father particularly favoured, because he was
exceedingly rich, and whose addresses he insisted on her admitting.
Like every body else, she stood in much awe of old Schraube; but her
repugnance to this suitor gave her courage to resist his will, and,
for some time, the matter remained in a sort of undecided state;
stupid Gottlieb coming continually to the house, encouraged and made
much of by the father, but snubbed and turned into ridicule by the
vivacious and petulant daughter, both of whom, probably, trusted that
time would change each other's determination.
"Such was the state of things when, one evening as I sat in the
counting-house hard at work at an invoice, a servant came in and said
that Miss Jacqueline wished to speak to me. A summons to appear at the
Pope's footstool would not have surprised me more than this message
from a young lad who had long occupied my thoughts, but had never
seemed in the least to heed me. Since I had been in the house, we had
not exchanged words half-a-dozen times, and what could be the reason
of this sudden notice? Without waiting to reflect, however, I hurried
to her presence. She was seated at her piano, with a quantity of music
scattered about; and her first words dissipated the romantic dreams I
had begun to indulge on my way from the counting-house to the
drawing-room. She had heard I was clever with my pen, and she had a
piece of music to copy. Would I oblige her by doing it? Although I had
never attempted such a thing, I unhesitatingly accepted the task,
overjoyed at what I flattered myself might lead to intimacy. I sat up
all that night, labouring at the song, and after spoiling two or three
copies, succeeded in producing one to my satisfaction. Jacqueline was
delighted with it,--thanked me repeatedly,--spoke so kindly, and
smiled so sweetly that my head was almost turned, and I ventured to
kiss her hand. She seemed rather surprised and amused than angry, but
took no particular notice, and dismissed me with another piece of
music to copy. This was done with equal despatch and correctness, and
procured me another interview with Jacqueline, and a third similar
task. Thenceforward the supply of work was pretty regular, and took up
all my leisure time, and often a good part of my nights. But in such
service I was far from grudging toil, or lamenting loss of sleep.
Nearly every day I found means of seeing Jacqueline, either to return
music, to ask a question about an illegible bar, or on some similar
pretext. She was too much accustomed to admiration not at once to
detect my sentiments. Apparently they gave her no offence; at any rate
she showed no marks of displeasure when, after a short time, I
ventured to substitute, for the words of a song I copied, some
couplets of my own which, although doubtless more fervent in style
than meritorious as poetry, could not leave her in doubt of my
feelings towards her. I even thought, upon our next meeting at the
dinner-table, after she had received this effusion, that her cheek was
tinged with a blush when I caught her bright blue eye. With such
encouragement I continued to poetise at a furious rate, sometimes
substituting my verses for those of songs, at others writing them out
upon delicate pink paper, with a border of lyres and myrtles, and
conveying them to her in the folds of the music. She never spoke to me
of them, but neither did she return them; and I was satisfied with
this passive acceptance of my homage. Thus we went on for some time, I
sighing and she smiling; until at last I could no longer restrain my
feelings, but fell at her feet and confessed my love. A trifling but
significant circumstance impelled me to this decisive step. Going into
the sitting-room one afternoon, I beheld her standing at the window,
engaged in the childish occupation of breathing on the glass and
scribbling with her finger upon the clouded surface. So absorbed was
she in this pastime that I approached her closely before she seemed
aware of my presence, and was able to read over her shoulder what she
wrote upon the pane. To my inexpressible delight, I distinguished the
initials of my name. Just then she turned her head, gave a faint
coquettish scream, and hurriedly smeared the characters with her hand.
My heart beat quick with joyful surprise; I was too agitated to speak,
but, laying down the music I carried, I hurried to my apartment to
meditate in solitude on what had passed. I beheld my dearest dreams
approaching realisation. I could no longer doubt that Jacqueline loved
me; and although I was but her father's clerk, and he was reputed very
wealthy, yet she was one of many children--my kind foster parent had
promised to establish me in business--and, that done, there would be
no very great impropriety in my offering myself as Herr Schraube's
son-in-law. Upon the strength of these reflections, the next time I
found myself alone with Jacqueline, I made my declaration. Thrice
bitter was the disenchantment of that moment. Her first words swept
away my visions of happiness as summarily as her fingers had effaced
the letters upon the tarnished glass. But the glass remained
uninjured, whilst my heart was bruised and almost broken by the shock
it now sustained. My avowal of love was received with affected
surprise, and with cold and cutting scorn. In an instant the castle of
cards, which for weeks and months I had built and decorated with
flowers of love and fancy, fell with a crash, and left no trace of its
existence save the desolation its ruin caused. I had been the victim
of an arrant coquette, whose coquetry, however, I now believe, sprang
rather from utter want of thought than innate badness of heart. Her
arch looks, her friendly words, her wreathed smiles, the very initials
on the window, were so many limed twigs, set for a silly bird.
Jacqueline had all the while been acting. But what was comedy to her
was deep tragedy to me. I fled from her presence, my heart full, my
cheeks burning, my pulse throbbing with indignation. And as I
meditated, in the silence of my chamber, upon my own folly and her
cruel coquetry, I felt my fond love turn into furious hate, and I
vowed to be revenged. How, I knew not, but my will was so strong that
I was certain of finding a way. Unfortunately, an opportunity speedily
offered itself.
"For some days I was stupefied by the severity of my disappointment. I
went through my counting-house duties mechanically; wrote, moved, got
up and lay down, with the dull regularity, almost with the
unconsciousness, of an automaton. I avoided as much as possible the
sight of Jacqueline, who, of course, took no notice of me, and
studiously averted her eyes from me, as I thought, when we met at
meals; perhaps some feeling of shame at the cruel part she had acted
made her unwilling to encounter my gaze. My leisure time, although not
very abundant, hung heavily upon my hands, now that I had no music to
copy, no amorous sonnets to write. A fellow-clerk, observing my
dulness and melancholy, frequently urged me to accompany him to a kind
of club, held at a _kneipe_, or wine-house, where he was wont to pass
his evenings. At last I suffered myself to be persuaded; and finding
temporary oblivion of my misfortune in the fumes of canaster and Rhine
wine, and in the boisterous mirth of a jovial noisy circle, I soon
became a regular tavern-haunter; and, in order to pass part of the
night, as well as the evening, over the bottle, I procured a key to
the house-door, by means of which I was able to get in and out at
hours that would have raised Herr Schraube's indignation to the very
highest pitch, had he been aware of the practice.
"It chanced one night, or rather morning, as I ascended the steps, of
mingled wood and brick, that led to the door of my employer's spacious
but old-fashioned dwelling, that I dropped my key, and, owing to the
extreme darkness, had difficulty in finding it. Whilst groping in the
dusty corners of the stairs, my fingers suddenly encountered a small
piece of paper protruding from a crack. I pulled it out; it was folded
in the form of a note, and I took it up to my room. There was no
address; but the contents did not leave me long in ignorance of the
person for whom the epistle was intended. The first line contained the
name of Jacqueline, which was repeated, coupled with innumerable
tender epithets, in various parts of the billet-doux. It was signed by
a certain Theodore, and contained the usual protestations of unbounded
love and eternal fidelity, which, from time immemorial, lovers have
made to their mistresses. Whoever the writer, he had evidently found
favour with Jacqueline; for again and again he repeated how happy her
love made him. Apparently, he was by no means so certain of the
father's good-will, and had not yet ventured to approach him in the
character of an aspirant to his daughter's hand; for he deplored the
difficulties he foresaw in that quarter, and discussed the propriety
of getting introduced to Herr Schraube, and seeking his consent. He
begged Jacqueline to tell him when he might venture such a step. The
letter did not refer to any previous ones, but seemed written in
consequence of a verbal understanding; and the writer reminded his
mistress of her promise to place her answers to his missives in the
same place where she found these, twice in every week, upon appointed
days, which were named.
"The perusal of this letter revived in my breast the desire of revenge
which its possession gave me a prospect of gratifying. At that moment
I would not have bartered the flimsy scrap of paper for the largest
note ever issued from a bank. I did not, it is true, immediately see
in what way its discovery was to serve my purpose, but that, somehow
or other, it would do so, I instinctively felt. After mature
consideration, I quietly descended the stairs, and restored the letter
to the hiding-place whence I had taken it. That afternoon it had
disappeared, and on the following day, which was one of those
appointed, I withdrew from the same crevice Jacqueline's perfumed and
tender reply to her beloved Theodore. It breathed the warmest
attachment. The coquette, who had trifled so cruelly with my feelings,
was in her turn caught in Cupid's toils; and I might have deemed her
sufficiently chastised for her treatment of me by the anxieties and
difficulties with which her love was environed. She wrote to her
admirer, that he must not yet think of speaking to her father, or even
of getting introduced to him; for that, in the first place, Herr
Schraube had officers in peculiar aversion, and would not tolerate
them in his house; and, secondly, it had long been his intention to
marry her to Gottlieb Loffel, who was rich, ugly, and stupid, and whom
she could not bear. She bid Theodore be patient, and of good courage;
for that she would be true to him till death, and never marry the
odious suitor they tried to force upon her, but would do all in her
power to change her father's purpose, and incline him favourably to
the man of her choice. Whilst deploring old Schraube's cold-blooded
and obstinate character, she still was sanguine that in the main he
desired her happiness, and would not destroy it for ever by uniting
her to a man she detested, and by severing her from him with whom
alone would life be worth having, from her first and only love, her
dearest Theodore, &c., &c. And so forth, with renewed vows of
unfailing affection. This was a highly important letter, as letting me
further into the secrets of the lovers. So the lucky Theodore, who had
so fascinated Jacqueline, was an officer. That the old gentleman hated
military men, I was already aware; and it was no news to me that his
daughter entertained a similar feeling towards the booby Loffel. I had
long since discovered this, although fear of her father induced
Jacqueline to treat her unwelcome suitor with much more urbanity and
consideration than she would otherwise have shown him.
"The next day the lady's letter, which I carefully put back in the
nook of the steps, was gone, and the following Saturday brought
another tender epistle from the gentle Theodore, who this time,
however, was any thing but gentle; for he vowed implacable hatred to
his obnoxious rival, and devoted him to destruction if he persisted in
his persecution of Jacqueline. Then there were fresh protestations of
love, eternal fidelity, and the like, but nothing new of great
importance. The correspondence continued in pretty much the same
strain for several weeks, during which I regularly read the letters,
and returned them to the clandestine post-office. At last I grew weary
of the thing, and thought of putting a stop to it, but could not hit
upon a way of doing so, and at the same time of sufficiently revenging
myself, unless by a communication to Herr Schraube, which plan did not
altogether satisfy me. Whilst I thus hesitated, Jacqueline, in one of
her letters, after detailing, for her lover's amusement, some awkward
absurdities of which Loffel had been guilty, made mention of me.
"'I never told you,' she wrote, 'of the presumption of one of my
father's clerks; a raw-boned monster, with a face like a Calmuck, who,
because he writes bad verses, and is here as a sort of gentleman-volunteer,
thought himself permitted to make me, his master's daughter, the
object of his particular regards. I must confess, that when I
perceived him smitten, I was wicked enough to amuse myself a little at
his expense, occasionally bestowing a word or smile which raised him
to the seventh heaven, and were sure to produce, within the
twenty-four hours, a string of limping couplets, intended to praise my
beauty and express his adoration, but, in reality, as deficient in
meaning as they were faulty in metre. At last, one day, towards the
commencement of my acquaintance with you, dearest Theodore, he
detected me childishly engaged in writing your beloved initials in my
breath upon the window. His initials happen to be the same as yours,
(thank heaven, it is the only point of resemblance between you,) and
it afterwards occurred to me he was perhaps misled by the coincidence.
In no other way, at least, could I explain the fellow's assurance,
when, two days afterwards, he plumped himself down upon his knees,
and, sighing like the bellows of a forge, declared himself determined
to adore me till the last day of his life, or some still more remote
period. You may imagine my answer. I promise you he left off pestering
me with bad rhymes; and from that day has scarcely dared raise his
eyes higher than my shoe-tie.'
"This last assertion was false. My love and rejection were no cause
for shame; but she might well blush for her coquetry, of which I could
not acquit her, even now the incident of the window was explained. Her
injurious and satirical observations deeply wounded my self-love. I
read and re-read the offensive paragraph, till every syllable was
imprinted on my memory. Each fresh perusal increased my anger; and at
last, my invention stimulated by fury, I devised a scheme which would
afford me, I was sure, ample scope for vengeance on Jacqueline and her
minion. A very skilful penman, I possessed great facility in imitating
all manner of writing, and had often idly exercised myself in that
dangerous art. I was quite sure that, with a model beside me, I should
not have the slightest difficulty in counterfeiting the handwriting
both of Jacqueline and Theodore; who, moreover, unsuspicious of
deceit, would be unlikely to notice any slight differences. I resolved
in future to carry on their correspondence myself, suppressing the
real letters, and substituting false ones of a tenor conformable to my
object. I calculated on thus obtaining both amusement and revenge,
and, enchanted with the ingenuity of my base project, I at once
proceeded to its execution. It was fully successful; but the
consequences were terrible, far exceeding any thing I had
anticipated."
I could not restrain an exclamation of indignation and disgust at the
disclosure of this vindictive and abominable scheme. Heinzel--who told
his tale, I must do him the justice to say, not vauntingly, but rather
in a tone of humility and shame which I have perhaps hardly rendered
in committing the narrative to paper--Heinzel easily conjectured the
feeling that prompted my indignant gesture and inarticulate
ejaculation. He looked at me timidly and deprecatingly.
"I was a fiend, sir--a devil; I deserved hanging or worse. My only
excuse, a very poor one, is the violent jealousy, the mad anger that
possessed me--the profound conviction that Jacqueline had
intentionally trifled with my heart's best feelings. Upon this
conviction, I brooded till my blood turned to gall, and every kind of
revenge, however criminal, to me appeared justifiable."
He paused, leaned his head mournfully upon his hand, and seemed
indisposed to proceed.
"It is not for me to judge you, Heinzel," said I. "There is One above
us all who will do that, and to whom penitence is an acceptable
offering. Let me hear the end of your story."
"You shall, sir. You are the first to whom I ever told it, and I
scarce know how I came to this confidence. But it does me good to
unburden my conscience, though my cheek burns as I avow my infamy."
His voice faltered, and again he was silent. Respecting the unaffected
emotion of the repentant sinner, I did not again urge him to proceed;
but presently he recommenced, of his own accord, in a sad but steady
voice, as if he had made up his mind to drink to the dregs the
self-prescribed cup of humiliation.
"According to my determination, I kept back Jacqueline's next letter,
and replaced it by one of my own, whose writing the most expert judge
would have had difficulty in distinguishing from hers. In this
supposititious epistle I gave Theodore a small ray of hope. The
father, Jacqueline wrote, (or rather I wrote it for her,) was kinder
to her than formerly, and had almost ceased to speak of her union with
Loffel. Her hopes revived, and she thought things might still go
happily, and Theodore become her husband. To obviate all probability
of my manœuvres being discovered, I strictly enjoined the favoured
officer to abstain in future from speaking to her (as I knew from
previous letters he was in the habit of doing) on the promenade, or in
other public places. I gave as a reason, that those interviews,
although brief and guarded, had occasioned gossip, and that, should
they come to her father's ears, they would materially impede, perhaps
altogether prevent, the success of her efforts to get rid of Loffel.
Her lover was to be kept informed of the progress she made in bringing
Herr Schraube to her views, and to receive instant intimation when the
propitious moment arrived for presenting himself in the character of a
suitor. So far so good. This letter elicited a joyful answer from
Theodore, who swore by all that was sacred to be quiet, and take
patience, and wait her instructions. I suppressed this, replacing it
by one conformable to my arrangements. And now, in several following
letters, I encouraged the officer, gradually raising his hopes higher
and higher. At last I wrote to him that the day approached when he
need no longer sigh in secret, but declare his love before the whole
world, and especially before the hitherto intractable old merchant.
His replies expressed unbounded delight and happiness, and eternal
gratitude to the constant mistress who thus ably surmounted
difficulties. But in the meanwhile things progressed precisely in the
contrary direction. Herr Schraube, more than ever prepossessed in
favour of Loffel's well-stored coffers, was deaf to his daughter's
arguments, and insisted upon her marrying him. In one of Jacqueline's
letters, kept back by me, she mournfully informed her lover of her
father's irrevocable determination, adding that she would only yield
to downright force, and would never cease to cherish in her heart the
ill-fated love she had vowed to her Theodore. Then--and upon this, in
my vindictive wickedness, I prided myself as a masterly stratagem--I
caused the correspondence on the part of the officer to become
gradually colder and more constrained, until at last his letters
assumed a tone of ill-concealed indifference, and finally, some weeks
before the day appointed for the wedding, ceased altogether. Of course
I never allowed him to get possession of the poor girl's mournful and
heartbroken replies, wherein she at last declared that, since Theodore
deserted her, she would sacrifice herself like a lamb, obey her
father, and marry Loffel. Life, she said, had no longer any charm for
her: her hopes deceived, her affections blighted, the man she had so
dearly loved faithless to his vows, she abandoned the idea of
happiness in this world, and resigned herself to the lot imposed by a
parent's will. Instead of these notes of lamentation, I sent to
Theodore words of love and hope, and anticipations of approaching
happiness. And at last, to cut short this long and shameful story, I
wrote a concluding letter in Jacqueline's name, desiring him to
present himself on the following Sunday at her father's house, and
demand her hand in marriage. She had smoothed all difficulties, the
unacceptable wooer had been dismissed, her father had relented, and
was disposed to give the officer a favourable reception. Theodore's
reply was incoherent with joy. But the Sunday, as I well knew, was the
day fixed for Jacqueline's marriage with Gottlieb Loffel. The climax
approached, and, like a villain as I was, I gloated in anticipation
over my long-prepared revenge. The day came; the house was decorated,
the guests appeared. The bride's eyes were red with weeping, her face
was as white as her dress; repugnance and despair were written upon
her features. The priest arrived, the ceremony was performed, the
tears coursing the while over Jacqueline's wan face; when, just at its
close, the jingle of spurs was heard upon the stairs, and Theodore, in
the full-dress uniform of a Prussian officer, his face beaming with
hope and love, entered the apartment. The bride fell senseless to the
ground; the officer, upon learning what had just taken place, turned
as pale as his unhappy mistress, and rushed down stairs. Before
Jacqueline regained consciousness, I had thrown into the post-office a
packet to her address, containing the intercepted letters. It was my
wedding present to the wife of Gottlieb Loffel."
Since the interruption above recorded, I had listened in silence, with
strong but painful interest, to Heinzel's details of his odious
treachery. But the climax of his cruel revenge came upon me
unexpectedly. A hasty word escaped me, and I voluntarily sprang to my
feet.
"I deserve your contempt and anger, sir," said Heinzel: "but, believe
me, I have already been severely punished, although not to the extent
I merit. Not one happy hour have I had since that day--no moment of
oblivion, save what was procured me by this" (he held up his
dram-bottle.) "I am haunted by a spectre that leaves me no rest. Did I
not fear judgment there," and he pointed upwards, "I would soon leave
the world--blow out my brains with my carbine, or throw myself
to-morrow upon the bayonets of a Carlist battalion. But would such a
death atone for my crime? Surely not, with the blood of that innocent
girl on my head. No, I must live and suffer, for I am not fit to die."
"How! her blood?" I exclaimed.
"Yes, sir, as you shall hear. Jacqueline's fainting fit was succeeded
by hysterical paroxysms, and it was necessary to put her to bed and
send for a physician. He ordered great care and repose, for he feared
a brain fever. Her mother watched by her that night, but, towards
daybreak, retired to repose, leaving her in charge of a servant. I
heard that she was ill, but so obdurate was my heart rendered by the
vindictive feelings possessing it, that I rejoiced at the misery and
suffering I had occasioned her. Early the next morning I was entering
the counting-house when I met the postman with letters for the family;
and I chuckled as I perceived amongst them the packet containing the
correspondence between Jacqueline and Theodore. I betook myself to my
desk, next to a window that looked into the street, and commenced my
usual quill-driving labours, pursuing them mechanically, whilst my
mind dwelt upon Jacqueline's despairing regret on receiving the
packet, conjectured her exclamations of grief and indignation when she
discovered the bitter deception, her vain endeavours to guess its
author. Nearly half an hour passed in this manner, when a sudden and
momentary shade was cast upon my paper by an object passing before the
window. Almost at the same instant I heard a heavy thump upon the
pavement, and then a chorus of screams from the upper windows of the
house. Throwing up the one near which I sat, I beheld, not six feet
below me, the body of a woman attired in a long loose wrapper. She had
fallen with her face to the ground, and concealed by her hair; but my
mind misgave me who it was. I sprang into the street just as a
passer-by raised the body, and disclosed the features of Jacqueline.
They were livid and blood-streaked. She had received fatal injury, and
survived but a few moments.
"A servant, it appeared, during Madame Schraube's absence, had
delivered my letter to Jacqueline, who, after glancing at the address,
of which the handwriting was unknown to her, (I had taken good care to
disguise it,) laid the packet beside her with an indifferent air. A
short time afterwards a movement of curiosity or caprice made her take
it up and break the seal. The servant attending her saw her glance
with surprise at the letters it enclosed, and then begin to read them.
Seeing her thus occupied, the woman, unsuspicious of harm or danger,
left the room for a few minutes. She reopened the door just in time to
see Jacqueline, in her night-dress, her long hair streaming from her
uncovered head, precipitate herself headlong from the window, a height
of nearly thirty feet from the ground.
"The letters, scattered over Jacqueline's bed, served but partially to
disclose the real motive of her melancholy suicide, which was publicly
attributed to the delirium of fever. Old Schraube, who might well
have reproached himself with being, by his tyrannical conduct, its
indirect cause, showed no signs of remorse, if any he felt. His harsh
voice sounded perhaps a trifle more rasp-like; I fancied an additional
wrinkle on his low, parchment forehead, but no other changes were
perceptible in him. No one suspected (as how should they?) my share in
the sad business, and I was left to the tortures of conscience. God
knows they were acute enough, and are so still. The ghastly
countenance, of Jacqueline, as it appeared when distorted, crushed,
and discoloured by its fall upon the pavement, beset my daylight
thoughts and my nightly dreams. I was the most miserable of men, and,
at last, unable longer to remain at the place of the grievous
catastrophe, I pleaded bad health, which my worn and haggard
countenance sufficiently denoted, as a pretext for a journey to
Wurzburg, and bade adieu to Frankfort, fully resolved never to return
thither. The hand of a retributive Providence was already upon me.
Upon reaching home, I found the household in confusion, and Herr Esch
and his lady with countenances of perplexity and distress. They
expressed surprise at seeing me, and wondered how I could have got my
foster-father's letter so quickly. Its receipt, they supposed, was the
cause of my return, and they marvelled when I said I had not heard
from them for a month. An explanation ensued. By the failure of a
house in whose hands the greater part of his property was deposited,
Herr Esch found himself reduced nearly to indigence. He had written to
his son to leave the expensive university at which he was studying,
and to me to inform me of his misfortune, and of his consequent
inability to establish me as he had promised and intended to do. He
recommended me to remain with Schraube & Co., in whose service, by
industry and attention, I might work my way to the post of chief
clerk, and eventually, perhaps, to a partnership. With this injunction
I could not resolve to comply. Insupportable was the idea of returning
to the house where I had known Jacqueline and destroyed her happiness,
and of sitting day after day, and year after year, at the very window
outside of which she had met her death. And could I have overcome this
repugnance, which was impossible, I might still not have felt much
disposed to place myself for an indefinite period and paltry salary
under the tyrannical rule of old Schraube. I was unsettled and
unhappy, and moreover, I perceived or fancied that absence had
weakened my hold upon the affections of my adopted parents, who
thought, perhaps, now fortune frowned upon them, that they had done
unwisely in encumbering themselves with a stranger's son. And when,
after a few days' indecision, I finally determined to proceed
southwards, and seek my fortune in the Spanish service, Herr Esch,
although he certainly pointed out the risk and rashness of the scheme,
did not very earnestly oppose its adoption. He gave me a small sum of
money and his blessing, and I turned my face to the Pyrenees. My plan
was to enter as a cadet in a Spanish regiment, where I hoped soon to
work my way to a commission, or to be delivered from my troubles and
remorse by a bullet; I scarcely cared which of the two fates awaited
me. But I found even a cadetship not easy of attainment. I had few
introductions, my quality of foreigner was a grave impediment, many
difficulties were thrown in my way, and so much time was lost that my
resources were expended, and at last I was fain to enlist in this
regiment. And now you know my whole history, sir, word for word, as it
happened, except some of the names, which it was as well to alter."
"And the unfortunate Theodore," said I, "what became of him?"
"He resigned his commission two days afterwards, and disappeared from
Frankfort. No one could think how he intended to live, for he had
scarcely any thing beside his pay. I have sometimes asked myself
whether he committed suicide, for his despair, I was told, was
terrible, on learning the infidelity and death of Jacqueline. That
would be another load on my conscience. But if he lives, the facts you
have just heard must still be a mystery to him."
"They are no longer so," said a voice, whose strange and hollow tone
made me start. At the same moment Schmidt, who during all this time
had lain so still and motionless that I had forgotten his presence,
rose suddenly to his feet, and, dropping his cloak, strode through the
hot ashes of the fire. His teeth were set, his eyes flashed, his face
was white with rage, as he confronted the astonished Heinzel.
"Infernal villain!" he exclaimed, in German; "your name is not
Heinzel, nor mine Schmidt; you are Thomas Wolff, and I am Theodore
Werner!"
Heinzel, or Wolff, staggered back in consternation. His jaw dropped,
and his eyes stared with an expression of vague alarm. Grinding his
teeth with fury, Schmidt returned his gaze for a moment or two, then,
flashing his sabre from the scabbard, he struck his newly-found enemy
across the face with the flat of the weapon, and drew back his arm to
repeat the blow. The pain and insult roused Heinzel from his
stupefaction; he bared his sword, and the weapons clashed together. It
was time to interfere. I had my sheathed sabre in my hand; I struck up
their blades, and stood between them.
"Return your swords instantly," I said. "Stand to your horse, Schmidt;
and you, Heinzel, remain here. Whatever your private quarrels, this is
no time or place to settle them."
Heinzel dropped his sabre point, and seemed willing enough to obey,
but his antagonist glared fiercely at me; and pressed forward, as if
to pass me and get at his enemy, who had retreated a pace or two. I
repeated my command more imperatively than before. Still Schmidt
hesitated between thirst for revenge and the habit of obedience, when,
just at that moment, the trumpets clanged out the first notes of the
reveillée. The Spanish bands were already playing the _diana_; the sky
grew gray in the east, a few dropping shots were heard, exchanged by
the hostile outposts whom the first glimmer of day rendered visible to
each other. Heinzel hurried to his horse; and the instinct of
discipline and duty prevailing with Schmidt, he sheathed his sabre and
gloomily rejoined his squadron. The men hastily bridled up, and had
scarcely done so when the word was given for the left squadron (which
was mine) to mount. We were no sooner in the saddle than we were
marched away under the guidance of a Spanish staff-officer.
The day was a busy one; and it was not till we halted for the night
that I found an opportunity of speaking to Heinzel. I inquired of him
how it was that he had not recognised Theodore Werner in his comrade
Schmidt. He then informed me that he knew the lover of the unhappy
Jacqueline only by name, and by his letters, but had never seen him.
At the time of his abode in Frankfort, there were a large number of
Prussian officers in garrison there, in consequence of the
revolutionary attempt of 1833; and it was not till after Werner's
sudden appearance in Herr Schraube's house, upon the day of the
wedding, that Heinzel learned his surname. In the letters Theodore was
the only name used. Heinzel seemed to have been greatly shaken and
alarmed by that morning's unexpected meeting. He was a brave fellow in
the field; but I could see that he did not relish the idea of a
personal encounter with the man he had so deeply injured, and that he
would be likely to do what he could to avoid it. There was no
immediate necessity to think about the matter; for the squadron did
not rejoin the regiment, as we had expected, but was attached to a
Spanish brigade, and sent away in a different direction.
Two months elapsed before we again saw the main body of the regiment,
and the various changes and incidents that intervened nearly drove
from my memory Heinzel's story and his feud with Schmidt. At last we
rejoined headquarters, one broiling day in June, at a small town of
Old Castile. After so long a separation, in bustling times of war,
comrades have much to say to each other, and soon the officers of the
three squadrons were assembled at the posada, discussing the events
that had filled the interval. The trumpet-call to evening stables
produced a dispersion, at least of the subalterns, who went to
ascertain that the horses were properly put up, and the men at their
duty. My troop was quartered in half-a-dozen houses, adjacent to each
other, and on arriving there, the sergeant-major reported all present
except Heinzel. I was not very much surprised at his absence, but
concluded that the heat of the day, and the abundance of
wine,--particularly good and cheap in that neighbourhood,--had been
too much for him, and that he was sleeping off, in some quiet corner,
the effects of excessive potations. I mentally promised him a
reprimand, and an extra guard or two, and returned to my billet. The
next morning, however, it was the same story--Heinzel again absent,
and had not been at his quarters all night. This required
investigation. I could not think he had deserted; but he might have
got quarrelsome in his cups, have fallen out with the Spaniards, and
have been made away with in some manner. I went to the house where he
was billeted. The stable, or rather cowshed, was very small, only fit
for two horses, and consequently Heinzel and one other man, a Pole,
were the only troopers quartered there. I found the Pole burnishing
his accoutrements, and singing, in French most barbarously broken, the
burden of a _chanson à boire_. He could give no account of his comrade
since the preceding day. Towards evening Heinzel had gone out with
another German, and had not since made his appearance. I inquired the
name of the other German. It was Franz Schmidt. This immediately
suggested very different suspicions from those I had previously
entertained as to the cause of Heinzel's absence. On further
questioning, the Pole said that Schmidt came into the billet, and
spoke to Heinzel loudly and vehemently in German, of which language he
(the Pole) understood little, but yet could make out that the words
used were angry and abusive. Heinzel replied meekly, and seemed to
apologise, and to try to soften Schmidt; but the latter continued his
violence, and at last raised his hand to strike him, overwhelming him,
at the same time, with opprobrious epithets. All this was extracted
from the Pole by degrees, and with some difficulty. He could not, or
would not, tell if Heinzel had taken his sabre with him, but there
could be little doubt, for it was not to be found. The Pole was afraid
of getting himself, or Heinzel, into trouble by speaking openly; but
he evidently knew well enough that the two Germans had gone out to
fight. I immediately went to the captain of Schmidt's troop, and found
him in great anger at the absence of one of his best men. Several
foreigners had deserted from the regiment within the last few months,
and he suspected Schmidt of having followed their example, and betaken
himself to the Carlists. What I told him scarcely altered his opinion.
If the two men had gone out to fight, it was not likely that both were
killed; and if one was, the survivor had probably deserted to escape
punishment. The affair was reported to the colonel, and parties of
foot and horse were sent to patrol the environs, and seek the missing
men. At last they were found, in a straggling wood of willows and
alder-bushes, that grew on marsh land about a mile from the town.
Heinzel was first discovered. He lay upon a small patch of sandy soil,
which had manifestly been the scene of a desperate struggle, for it
was literally ploughed up by the heavy trampling and stamping of men's
feet. He had only one wound, a tremendous sabre-thrust through the
left side, which must have occasioned almost instant death. From his
corpse a trail of blood led to that of Schmidt, which was found about
a hundred yards off. The conqueror in this fierce duel, he had fared
little better than his victim. He had received three wounds, no one of
them mortal, but from which the loss of blood had proved fatal. He had
made an effort to return to the town, but had sunk down exhausted,
probably in a swoon, and had literally bled to death.
Both the deceased men being Protestants, the Spanish priesthood would
of course do nothing for them, and we had no chaplain. They were
buried soldier-fashion in the same grave, near the place of their
death, and the funeral service of the Church of England was read over
them. A rough block of stone, that lay near at hand, was rolled to the
grave, and partly imbedded in the earth; and I got a soldier, who had
been a stone-cutter, to carve on it a pair of crossed swords, a date,
and the letters T. W. None could understand the meaning of these
initials, until I told that evening, after mess, the story of the
Intercepted Letters.