A SLEIGHING PARTY.
A cold East Prussian winter's day--crisp snow upon the roads--the broad
fields sleep beneath their white cover. Ashen grey clouds in the sky,
but the snow flakes seem to be frozen, and cannot loosen themselves;
only now and again one little atom flutters down, or has the icy north
wind, which here and there sweeps up a looser snow field, wafted it
down from the roofs? It is that spiteful cold which seems to be more
fitted for Laplanders than for civilised mortals. The air cuts as if
with knives, and the breath of life freezes on men's lips. But this
very scorn of Nature who has retired to her ice palace and surrounded
herself unapproachably, as if with a threefold shield, calls forth
man's defiance.
Nature must be enjoyed at any price!
The inhabitants of the town, clad in thickly furs, amuse themselves
upon the Pregel. Upon the smooth even course that leads inland the
chair sleighs fly forward in long rows, the skaters rush in the
direction of the north wind which brings them the icy cold greeting
from the Baltic Sea, lying beneath the spell of winter, others make
circles upon the surface, and display their art which even a great poet
has immortalised.
One of the most successful is the gallant skater who makes use of his
skates as buskins for the higher flight of love. With what gladsomeness
he pushes the sleigh before him; within it sits, buried beneath furs,
shawls, rugs, veils, what appears to be a formless mass, and yet!--he
is proud to drive a beautiful woman.
This same emotion of pride fills Wegen's breast so far as anything is
to be seen of his face, which is concealed under the fur cap and warm
ear-covers; it beams with pleasure. His eyes, it is true, weep, but
only because of the north wind, but if they were a couple of tears of
joy which he shed he should not be surprised! Olga had never been more
affable towards him than to-day, and when he dared to speak of the
sleighing privileges, she smiled. No, it is no smile which refuses--he
understands it well! The first kiss in prospect,--this point he had
never attained with Caecilie! Hah! how his sleigh flew on in advance of
all towards the beautiful goal, and if the ice did not shed sparks from
beneath steel shoes, it was not his fault, for he was fire and flame, a
Hecla in the midst of rigid frost.
Wegen had been in the Province for some time, and Olga, despite the
monotony of a winter season in the country, had visited the same
relatives as those with whom Caecilie had formerly stayed. Olga had made
a much more favourable impression in Masuren than Caecilie; she was not
so superior, so clever: she talked with zest of everything that can
interest a country young lady and a country "Junker"--and above all,
she was beautiful, with that stately vigorous beauty that country
squires love, because it gains such prizes as can be obtained by
understanding the art of feeding the lower creatures of the animal
kingdom.
The rumour of her intimacy with Dr. Kuhl only arose in a very pale
form, and was hardly noticed. Wegen visited Olga as frequently as his
time permitted him, which it did every day. Olga was always friendly
and accessible, not so distant, so enigmatic, so evasive as Caecilie.
Besides, even before others, she showed how much she favoured Wegen,
and he was very happy that he should be envied. Such a thing had never
befallen him before, it was quite a novel sensation for him. Milbe
declared that every _ombre_ player might wish for such a spadille, and
Oberamtmann Werner held a conversation with her about his different
varieties of wool causing him to entertain deep respect for her
intellectual faculties. Even the women and girls were taken with her.
She held the most sensible views upon preserving fruit, she knew the
family tree of all the families of Masuren, and even the collateral
branches did not disturb her self-possession. Happy Wegen! Never had a
winter painted more beautiful flowers upon his window panes!
Blanden's wound had re-called Wegen to the capital; he took his turn
with Giulia and Kuhl in nursing his friend. Olga, meanwhile, had also
returned to the town, Wegen appeared frequently in Frau von Dornau's
modest dwelling, and was always received, even by Caecilie, who had now
transformed herself into a well-meaning friend, with special
distinction.
Still, however, he had not yet made up his mind to propose! It seemed
so humiliating to appear with the same big bouquet of flowers, in the
same little room, and once more before the same faded sofa to pour
forth his homage and courtship, while the whole furniture merely
displayed the one, but very important, difference that Olga was seated
upon the sofa instead of Caecilie. The recollection of the figure in the
cotillon, _changez les dames_, could not be got rid of in those
apartments in which he had first _avance_ to Caecilie's hand. No, even
if he were firmly resolved to propose for Olga it could not be done in
that place which was full of mocking, giggling recollections! He
cherished bold plans, which at other times were foreign to his mind--he
thought of a sudden surprise.
All at once, as if fatigued, he began to push the chair-sleigh more
slowly. Dr. Kuhl rushed past him pushing Caecilie, as did Frau von
Dornau, who had to content herself with a hired attendant.
Then Wegen guided her somewhat aside. A whole caravan of sleighs now
passed them tumultuously, Lori in front with an embroidered rug, a
present from the first-class! On Dr. Sperner's moustache, her cavalier,
hung melancholy icicles, behind her came the slender girls of the
first-class, mostly driven by cousins; only fat Iduna, deprived of her
Theodor Koerner, had to be contented with the man servant from the
school, who was accustomed to heavy loads.
Now Wegen broke completely out of the course like a shying sleigh
horse, guided her sideways over lumpy hillocks of snow, which had been
heaped up on the river, and then stopped suddenly in a defile between
two large snowdrifts, which yielded him a welcome cover.
"For Heaven's sake, where are we?" said Olga's voice, suffocated by
shawls and furs.
"The snow has dazzled me, I have lost my way," cried Wegen, having
recourse to a daring falsehood.
Olga uttered a cry of alarm, but only raised herself up in the sleigh
to see in what territory she had arrived.
There she stood like a czarina; winter seemed to have built his palace
in her honour alone, only to do homage to her; the north wind kissed
her fur sleeves, and even if the fur cap surrounded her face enviously,
so that but little was to be seen of her red, glowing cheeks, yet her
large eyes gazed majestically out of all her winter wraps.
Wegen shivered with the cold; standing still after the violent exercise
made him uncomfortable, and the wind blew icily into his face. And yet
his state of mind was that of Romeo, when he looked up in the Capulet's
garden at the balcony where his Juliet, in a light ball dress, carried
on a conversation with the moon and stars.
"What in the world, Herr von Wegen, are we doing?" cried Olga, to whom
the adventure began to appear serious, because in his sound senses a
sleigh conductor could hardly wander from the proper course. For a
moment she actually looked searchingly at Wegen, whether the colour in
his cheeks could be called forth honestly by the north wind, or if it
owed its origin to a bottle of champagne.
"As chance has so ordained it, that we are alone, hear then, dear Olga,
hear what it is that I have had so long at heart."
A turbulent gust of wind swept through the top loose piles of snow and
whirled them about so that Romeo and Juliet must simultaneously wipe
the snow out of their eyes.
"I love you, Olga!"
Olga started back in alarm, making the little bells on her fur rug
tinkle; it is true it was sweet alarm, but she was not prepared for a
declaration of love with the thermometer so low. Wegen waited for the
result, while alternately stamping his feet and beating himself with
his arms, so as to impart some warmth to his body.
"Yes, I have always loved you, that is to say," added he in his love of
truth, "after Caecilie--but you know it? Why waste so many words? My
breath freezes upon my lips, but my heart is all the warmer. Will you
belong to me for ever?"
Olga drew one hand out of her muff and extended it as if in
protestation:
"So suddenly, dear friend? And here in the snow?"
"Here we are undisturbed."
"Then it was base treachery?"
"Yes, I will confess it, my compass would not have failed me, but to be
able to say to you at last what fills my whole--"
Wegen stopped, his teeth chattered, it was internal emotion mingled
with a shiver, called forth by the low temperature of Boreas, who was
blowing with inflated cheeks.
"It is indeed weather in which only the Lapland youth can stammer about
love to a Lapland maiden," added Wegen dejectedly, "but the
circumstances, the conditions--Olga, tell yourself that it is a
favourable moment. I do not mean the weather, but that we are alone,
quite alone. I will make you happy--we have little time, I do not mean
for your happiness, for that we have our whole lives; but now to
arrange matters. It is indeed barbarously cold. A glass of negus or
mulled ale will do us good. But speak then, will you be mine?"
"I must consider it, weigh--"
"And the result you have seen in Caecilie's case. Those are words as
cold as ice; it is enough to freeze one's soul. My Olga, dear sweet
girl, you know my circumstances, they are affluent, my people approve
of my choice. Your mamma had already given her consent when I proposed
to Caecilie, and, of course, it is immaterial which of the two
daughters--I mean--that is to say, immaterial to your mamma. And now
once more may I claim my sleighing rights?"
Olga nodded pleasantly, and withdrew her other hand from her muff.
Wegen pressed a glowing kiss upon her lips, the ice upon his fair beard
melted in the fervour of his love.
"That was the sleighing privilege, and now--shall we glide together
over the mirror-like surface of life, as we do over the ice? I promise
to avoid every uneven course. The sleighing right for life?"
"Yes," whispered Olga, out of her fur hood, into which she had again
relapsed.
Then Wegen pressed the betrothal kiss upon her lips, her arms encircled
and folded him to herself, and heart would have beaten glowingly
against heart if the thick fur trimmings had not been an insurmountable
obstacle.
Soon the sleigh stumbled over the snow hillocks once more into the
smooth course, and now they went impetuously towards the inn near the
Haff, where a numerous circle of people was assembled.
Wegen led Olga to Frau von Dornau, and as he could not shout the glad
tidings out aloud, sought by means of speaking pantomime to make her
understand that he was engaged to Olga. A mother always understands
such things, even although the where and how may remain a riddle to
her, and while the waiter brought the negus ordered by Wegen and all
fell to gallantly, Frau von Dornau spoke words of consent, and after
having refreshed herself with a glass of the fiery drink, imparted her
blessing in a voice full of emotion.
Caecilie triumphed when she heard the news from Olga. "She is the right
one, now at last you have found her," said she, as she shook Wegen's
hand heartily. The intelligence spread rapidly, like quicksilver,
amongst those present. A betrothed! Fraeulein Baute's entire school
becomes excited. A lover--for the first-class in a girl's school, that
is the loftiest position upon earth to which a man can attain. Every
eve of St. Sylvester they cast him in lead, and yet nothing can be done
with such a leaden lover, a lover of the future.
Iduna, with her companions, one after another, glided past the chair in
order to get a closer view of the marvel.
"It is, indeed, remarkable," said Lori to Dr. Sperner, who sat beside
her and drank to her in a glass of mulled ale; "in Neukuhren people
believed that he was as good as engaged to Caecilie, he accompanied her
upon the piano--and that is always the beginning. But he appears to
have made a mistake then; this Olga is the right major chord. Upon the
whole, I consider such feeling about rather tactless. Herr von Wegen is
no Don Juan by profession like the other. I believe he allows himself
to be married, and Caecilie, who holds the first mortgage upon him, has
given him notice, because he--did not offer sufficiently good
security."
At the same time Lori made a gesture of explanation. Dr. Sperner knew
how, by ringing laughter, to do honour to the schoolmistress' hint.
What an amount of genius she concealed in her little head!
"But the other?" asked the Doctor, as he stroked his moustache
complacently, "where is her first mortgage now?"
"On a spot, which alas! is even more insecure! If a suit be opened upon
Dr. Kuhl's heart, then every unhappy creditor, or much rather female
creditor, will have to content herself with very little payment."
"But I do not understand how a young lady can be so thoughtless."
"They should be cut, propriety requires it, nothing else is left for
us."
At that moment Caecilie passed by; she greeted them pleasantly, but her
bow was scarcely returned by Lori, while Doctor Sperner looked
defiantly at her, a bold smile upon his lips, and only nodded his head
slightly.
Her sister's engagement cast her far into the shade, people gave her to
understand that her free behaviour would no longer be tolerated in
society. Major Bern's wife did not press her to sit down, although
Banquo's ghost might have been obliged to sit either on the right or
left hand, and the Frau Kanzleiraethin wrapped herself disapprovingly in
her red shawl when Caecilie addressed her, and was so chary of her
words, that her friends looked anxiously at her as if she had been
suddenly taken ill, because only shortly before she had gathered
together the sluices of her eloquence, to pour out an overwhelming
flood of language. Even Minna, who was still unmarried, and in spite of
that fact had forfeited none of her good nature--fat Minna, who had
already in all dancing parties long since belonged to the female
_land-sturm_, and was only called out when no one else could be
mobilised--did not talk to Caecilie without a certain timidity, as if
contact with so adventuresome a beauty might injure her good character,
and frighten away some wooer, although for years already none had
appeared on her horizon.
Caecilie seemed to challenge danger with a certain amount of defiance,
the tokens of contempt increased at table after table, where she
greeted old acquaintances. Not more cheering was the familiar and
impudent greeting of gifted Salomon, who, seated with a few friends
over a large bowl of negus, pledged a glass to the lady passing by, and
invited her to sit down at their table while he recited in a half
intoxicated voice--
"With brunettes I now have finished,
And this year am once more fond
Of the eyes whose hue is azure
Of the hair whose colour's blonde."
Caecilie found it difficult to defend herself from these importunate
invitations.
Dr. Kuhl stood beside the stove, and warmed himself with his hands
behind him, but nothing of that which befell Caecilie escaped him. It
filled him with extreme dissatisfaction, it was as if his beloved were
running the gauntlet, and with such irritating composure. He had caught
himself in the act of pulling up his coat sleeves in rage, ready to
knock down all who insulted her.
"Dear Paul," said Caecilie, "I have something to tell you."
"I do not understand," replied Paul, angrily, "how you can court all
these people; they are the most worn out coinage which can have no
circulation amongst us. Let us sit down here at this table behind the
stove, there we shall at least not see these bald heads, which only by
an oversight, or by the magic wand of some mischievous Demiurgos, were
thrown amongst human beings. Well your communication--"
"It could be foreseen, Olga has engaged herself to Herr von Wegen."
Kuhl struck the table with his hand.
"Then may the weather--that Wegen! I always had an antipathy for the
man; he belongs to those who would play with dice, and cannot count,
and with the most innocent face he gets up one affair after another.
First he proposes to you, then to Olga--I feel as if I saw my face in a
distorting mirror, like a ridiculous caricature."
"No one will blame his conduct!"
"That is it! People may dare much for love! Only a little time must
elapse between--time! That is the meaning of all wisdom, and yet that
old maid who paints our wrinkles upon us makes everything worse!
Whether to-day I love two girls at once, or to-day the one, and
to-morrow the other, is really no very great difference! And yet the
first is accounted a sin, and the other is most correct. Always the
goose-step in life and love, and so one walks most comfortably through
the world."
"You see, though, how kindly they greet Olga and thrust me aside."
"Olga--she has put a crown upon her faithlessness to our alliance, now
it is broken! I did not think her so calculating."
"Calculating? She loves Wegen!"
"It is not possible!"
"Why? He is honest, and a gentleman!"
"Did you perhaps love him too?"
"And if I had done so? bountiful natures must find an outlet!"
"You are making fun of me! Verily any one who will uphold a sensible
principle in a ridiculous world, must at least appear like a Don
Quixote, even to himself; at least, they all look upon his helmet as a
barber's goblet. I am weary of carrying on this impossible struggle
with want of sense."
Caecilie did not interrupt the monologue, but beat upon the table with
her fingers, and looked inquiringly at his face with her cunning
sparkling eyes.
"I took Olga's to be a nature," continued Kuhl, "which, following an
unknown impulse, grasps the right one. We need such natures which do
not trouble themselves at all about the rules of society, which pass no
sleepless nights in consequence. For me she was refreshing, because for
the mentally intoxicated, and those who are tired of roving, who wander
through heaven and earth, there is no better refreshment than a richly
endowed material nature; for me she was a triumph because she showed me
that not natural feeling, but only the falsity of society demanded
exclusive possession."
Caecilie cast down her eyes and said timidly, "I did not know that Olga
was so much to you!
"Not she alone, you both together, you complete one another in a
harmonious picture of perfect womanhood."
"And what are we, then, separately, each by herself? Melancholy,
imperfect work! And yet, dear Paul, if I ask my heart--is it rich
enough in ardent passion to satisfy one whole life, I hear the reply
and repeat it with pride. I alone will have you, for I feel the power
within me quite alone to make you happy; for every effort, every action
of your mind, an echo lives in my breast; for the glow and impetuosity
of your love a corresponding fire; for immeasurable will, immeasurable
devotion."
"Caecilie," cried Kuhl warmly, stirred by the beautiful enthusiasm of an
usually cold nature.
"My heart would tell me this, my proud heart! But love which can do all
things, can also be resolute. I do not suffice you--well then! I did
not only do violence to my own feelings, but in full consciousness I
took martyrdom upon me, I bore the contempt of the world, not from
the conviction that your audacious opinion was right, but with
self-sacrificing courage of love I rejected Wegen's offer, as the world
rejects me. You must be all to me, and I am not even to possess the
comfort of being all to you."
Sinister clouds gathered on Kuhl's brow, he struggled with a
resolution.
"Oh! do not think that it is so easy to stand alone and bear contempt.
It wounds one's heart--and many scalding tears have I shed, and even
now they come again into my eyes, although I may bear the humiliation
with a smiling countenance."
Caecilie began to sob, and with clenched hands Kuhl sprang up from the
table, as though he would call an opponent out to battle.
"You cannot protect me as Blanden protected his beloved, with a pistol
in his hand: outlaw and excommunication hover over me, but such things
cannot be touched; they only keep watch in the air, they are only
written on countenances, in gestures--and not men accustomed to battle
are they who carry out this excommunication; they are women and girls,
the guardians of propriety who only pierce a heart with pins."
"It shall be different," cried Kuhl now, with firm resolution. "Olga
has left us, you have remained true to me, you shall not suffer for it.
Verily, I am not Blanden's inferior in courage, and yet that duel has
given me much to think about. He offered up his life for his beloved
one's good name. I cannot, I must not, look on and see them insult you.
Blanden has often already said so. I would not believe it; to-day I see
it with my own eyes. No, no, no! He was right, ten times right! I may
sacrifice _myself_ to my convictions, but not a girl who loves me!"
Caecilie had also risen, and with clasped hands looked beseechingly at
him.
"I can ascend the funereal pile, but must not permit them even to
scorch the finger tips of my beloved. Hitherto, you have sacrificed
much to me, your good name before the world; thus I will sacrifice much
to you, everything, a portion of my better self, faith towards truth.
Yes, at this moment I appear like a traitor in my own eyes, whose hand
shall be cut off, but I am weak, I will be weak out of love for you.
They shall not think lightly of you, they shall not, although I despise
their opinion and can only compare them with the vapour that hovers
over large towns, the pestilential air of a densely-packed crowd, but
for your sake Caecilie--be it! I will take part in the same absurdity,
and thus declare you to be my betrothed."
With a suppressed cry of gladness, Caecilie sank into his arms, the
stove concealed the group from the eyes of the many.
"And even marriage I shall not mind, it is the fruit of this evil doing
and so on. At this moment I appear contemptible to myself, small--no
reformer's vein flows through me, it must say _pereat mundus_ 'and live
the new faith,' but a man can no longer stand upon the buskin when he
stands beneath the slipper. But now they shall have it in black and
white, lithographed, engraved!--what do I care? And in all newspapers
it shall be stated, so that you shall be purified, my child, with
printer's ink! Go, hasten, whisper it to your sister, cry it through
the room, they shall respect you, it does not cost much, a small amount
of lungs and a few letters, such as are before a menagerie; lion and
lioness in one cage! Then they will be contented at once. I shall still
remain here in my corner, I must first consider what kind of grimace I
must make as a _fiance_. I shall look odd."
Caecilie kissed his hands; drawing back, he said, "None of those slavish
caresses, but go, go! There, I am, after all, caught in the purple
silk, and the cursed song of the bridesmaids' wreath buzzes in my ears!
By Jupiter! And Wegen, my brother-in-law! That is what reasoning
animals call it! That is the most bitter pill!"
Caecilie hastened at once to her sister and mother to bring them the
glad tidings. Frau von Dornau was too happy! Two daughters engaged on
one day!
Olga congratulated her sister heartily. "Only think," added she, "we
became engaged out in the snow and ice, with the thermometer twenty
degrees below zero!"
"And we," said Caecilie smiling, "at about twenty degrees above zero,
behind the blazing stove. It is a tale of extremes! It is to be hoped
that the right temperature will be restored to us both in marriage."
Kuhl was brought out of his corner by both sisters to the family table;
he wore the air of a culprit, who is led to execution. Wegen was
brimming over with cordiality, Kuhl buttoned up his coat.
"It is better thus," said the Baron, "_suum cuique!_ One must learn to
control oneself."
"Well, I should think," replied Kuhl, "we have nothing to reproach
ourselves with."
The news spread rapidly through the room and created the greatest
sensation. Major Bern's wife appeared behind Caecilie's chair with the
friendly words, "May we congratulate you, my dear Fraeulein?" The
Kanzleiraethin came in her red shawl with her fat daughter Minna; both
were affected, as was natural, under the circumstances. Minna had
already wished happiness to so many others with her tears--rain falling
upon the bridal wreath brings happiness. Last of all Lori appeared
also, and congratulated with all her heart. Kuhl was a good match.
"There you have the world," said the latter to Caecilie, "with what a
fine thread these marionettes can be guided! It is worth while to act a
comedy before such an audience."
But Lori said to Dr. Sperner, as he sat down beside her, "God have
mercy on them! Courage is needed to marry Dr. Kuhl. Without barred
windows and heavy iron, he will yet escape some day."
The moon shone brightly! The return journey was commenced in the most
cheerful mood, which, however, soon ceased in the astonishing cold
which meanwhile had set in.
"A bridal drive, such as the Esquimaux enjoy," said Kuhl, "but it is
done more comfortably there with the dog-sleighs; here we must push our
own goods home."