There,--all at once, the road again expanding, the castle stood before
their astonished gaze, in its ancient splendour! Two gigantic bears,
carved in stone, which gave name to the castle, stood like sentinels
before it; whilst bounding deer on the pillars, and a pair of monstrous
stag's horns on the pediment, showed it to be, as of old, a hunting
castle. Lofty gates opening upon broad flights of steps led to a green
turfed front court, where, in the midst of flowering shrubs, a splendid
fountain threw aloft its silvery jet of water. The last golden beams of
the setting sun lit up the beautiful old building, and the children
stood enraptured, seeming almost to have entered into Fairyland.
"Now, where are you going?" inquired in a somewhat surprised, but not
unfriendly voice, an old gentleman handsomely dressed in blue uniform
with white facings, who was pacing slowly up and down with a thick cane,
to which was attached a thick tassel. Fritz supposing that at least he
must be a general, and hardly knowing what title sufficiently elevated
to give him, replied, "Your pardon, dear prince!" this being a style of
address to dignified persons, which he had met with in an old
almanac,--"Your pardon, but we are only going to Mrs. Dote, the
housekeeper. You know Mrs. Dote, perhaps," he added, with a certain
degree of consequence.
"Oh, yes, to Mrs. Housekeeper Walter," returned he graciously, and
smiling to himself at the grand title which had been given, for he was
no greater a personage than the porter. "You must simply ring at the
little side-door yonder. Mrs. Housekeeper told me that she was expecting
some visitors;" and he pointed out with his stick the direction in which
they must go.
Encouraged by this gracious reception, and yet anxious, nevertheless,
the children advanced to the wing of the castle which had been
indicated, and which opened into the inner court, where again they had
another view of the castle, which on this side, lying in deep shadow,
looked still more imposing and mysterious than in the front. Here,
seated on a bench in a little garden, sat a stately lady, with her hands
lying gracefully one upon the other in her lap, and who had turned her
head towards the shyly-advancing children.
"So, so, there comes at last my little schoolmaster!" exclaimed she in a
pleasant voice as they approached. "Well, it is nice that you are come!
Yes, yes, mountain and valley cannot meet, but people can! How little I
thought that the baby Fritz that I carried in my arms to be baptized,
and dandled so nicely to keep him from crying, would one day come to see
me such a fine young fellow! But now, come in with me, you must be
hungry."
Anything more charming than Mrs. Dote's little parlour could not be
imagined; the children thought that the princess herself could not live
in one more beautiful. It was full of all such old, carved furniture as
was superfluous in the castle; a little sofa and high-backed chairs of
faded blue silk damask; a cabinet and table of marqueterie and ormolu; a
splendid fire-screen, on which figured, in faded embroidery, a
shepherdess with her flock of sheep feeding around her. By the stove
stood a basket lined with wool, in which lay a fat lap-dog, so soundly
asleep as only to make a little grumbling as the children entered; a
beautiful cage hung in the window, in which was a canary bird, now too
aged to sing; vases of artificial flowers; portraits of princely
personages; every kind of splendour, in short, which was not wanted
elsewhere, gave to this apartment a princely appearance; and the
children, who had never in their lives seen anything more beautiful than
the bright sofa which stood in the parsonage parlour, were dumb with
reverential wonder.
But it was not possible to remain very long silent with Mrs. Walter, as
she was called at the castle; she was lively and talkative, and knew how
to win the children's confidence. She led them to talk to her about
their life at home, about their parents and their little brothers, and
she in her turn told them of the time when she and their parents lived
such near neighbours.
"I had not such a very easy life in those days," she said. "I had been
left an orphan when very young, and for many years was knocked about
amongst strangers. The lady I then lived with was very queer-tempered
and proud; for it often happens, that those who have only riches to
boast of, are not nearly so affable and considerate as the truly nobly
born. I had no parents, no brothers nor sisters, and felt myself quite
alone in the world. Then came your parents, and as I myself was the
daughter of a schoolmaster, I had naturally a liking for schoolmasters.
Your mother is of a timid, gentle nature. I was much older, and had, as
a matter of course, much more experience than she; I therefore was able
to help her in many ways, and, in short, I found quite a home with your
parents. We had very nice times together, and sympathized with each
other in joy and in sorrow. I could not have stayed in my place when
they left if I had not become acquainted with my blessed late husband,
the castle house-steward, who, when we married, brought me here, where
it was quite another thing to living in the house merely of a wealthy
baron."
"Was your gentleman-husband, the castle house-steward, as elegant as the
gentleman out there in the blue coat?" asked Fritz.
"As he?" asked Mrs. Walter, with offended pride. "Get along with you! He
is a simple porter, and was my husband's underling! You should have seen
my husband in his grand official uniform, with his beautiful white hair
and his bunch of keys, going through the castle before the grandees, and
relating everything from the days of the late prince up to the time of
the ever-blessed Emperor Charlemagne! I learnt it all off from him, and
it is to me just as if I had been born and brought up in the castle. But
now, children, you must have your suppers. Barbett has made us some
currant-marmalade; to-night you must go to bed early; to-morrow you
shall see everything."
The children would gladly have seen something of the castle that
night. Through the window they could see only in the moonlight
mysterious-looking marble statues, and hear the splash of the fountain;
but they expressed their acquiescence, and after they had eaten the
currant marmalade, which did great credit to Barbett, they were
conducted to their beds, where a new delight awaited them.
For Mina a bed had been prepared in the lady housekeeper's own pretty
chamber, whilst that for Fritz was in a small room adjoining, where all
kinds of curiosities were stowed together. But they did not forget,
according to the promise they had made their mother, before going to
sleep, to thank their Father in heaven, who had brought them safely to
the end of their journey. Mina, in going to sleep, looked upon a large
portrait of some princely child in a rose-coloured laced coat, and with
high-dressed hair. Fritz, on the other hand, was faced by an ancient
folding-screen, upon which an Indian princess was riding on an elephant.
They both, however, soon dropped asleep, to pass into a world of
wonderful dreams.