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diff --git a/27425-8.txt b/27425-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f7ecfd1 --- /dev/null +++ b/27425-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7600 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Major Frank, by A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Major Frank + +Author: A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint + +Translator: James Akeroyd + +Release Date: December 5, 2008 [EBook #27425] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MAJOR FRANK *** + + + + +Produced by Steven Gibbs, Jeroen Hellingman, and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net/ + + + + + + + + + + + Major Frank + + + By + + A. L. G. Bosboom-Toussaint + + Author of "The English in Rome," etc. + + Translated from the Dutch + + By + + James Akeroyd + + + London + + T Fisher Unwin + + 26 Paternoster Square + + 1885 + + + + + + + +MAJOR FRANK. + +CHAPTER I. + + +A Letter from Sir Leopold van Zonshoven to Mr. William Verheyst +at A----. + + +The Hague, March, 1865. + + +Dear Friend,--If you are not too deeply absorbed in some lawsuit or +other, come to me by the first express you can catch from your little +provincial town. Something wonderful has happened, and I have great +need of a friend to whom I can confide my secret. Imagine Leopold +van Zonshoven, who seemed destined from his infancy to figure in this +world as a poor gentleman--imagine your friend Leopold suddenly come +into an immense fortune. + +An old aunt of my mother's, of whom I had never heard, and who it seems +had quarrelled with all her relations, has hit upon the sublime idea of +playing the "Fairy Godmother" to me. By her will I am made sole heir +to all the property she died possessed of. I, who with the strictest +economy and self-control have barely managed to keep out of debt; +I, who have never given way to youthful follies or run into excess, +now see a million thrown at my head. This is contrary to the ideas of +the romancing novelist, who as a rule reforms and rewards the wildest +youth. I almost knocked over the lamp on opening the letter which +contained this incredible news; fortunately my landlady caught it, +for she was waiting for the eighteenpence which the messenger demanded +for his services, and she has since confessed to me she thought that +it was a case of "baliffs." I got rid of her as quickly as possible +and bolted the door behind her. I felt an irresistible desire to be +alone, and to convince myself that the news was real, and not a page +out of the "Arabian Nights." + +After having satisfied myself of the reality of the affair, I was +assailed by an indescribable confusion of ideas and impressions. My +heart beat as if it would burst; I felt a rising in my throat as if I +should choke; and the first profit which I derived from my new fortune +was a severe headache. I am not a stoic, and I have never attempted +to appear in that character. Lately all my thoughts have been fixed +on some method of changing the miserable position in which I have thus +far vegetated, and there seemed but one hope left me: a reconciliation +with my uncle, the Cabinet Minister, who could get me an appointment +as attaché to one of the embassies. But this would be a difficult task, +for his Excellency has forbidden me his house because of some articles +that I wrote in an opposition paper. How I regretted not having been +able to complete my studies and take a degree, the lack of which has +shut me out from so many posts open to my fellow-students. + +At the age of twenty-nine it is a losing game to compete with +younger men in possession of a degree; and whilst I sat brooding +over my misfortunes, suddenly the news reaches me that I am a rich +landed proprietor. I ask you, cool-headed man of the law as you are, +whether that is not enough to turn the brain of a simple mortal like +myself? Do come, then, as soon as possible to talk the matter over with +me, especially as there is one point on which I must have your advice +before entering into possession of my estates. Possibly your judicial +eye will make light of it, but for me it is a conscientious question, +or at least a question of delicacy, which may cause my mountain of +gold to crumble to dust. I will decide nothing before consulting +you. In the meantime I have given my lawyer power of attorney under +reserve. Here I have many acquaintances, but not one trusted friend +to whom I can reveal the secrets of my bosom without the fear of +being misunderstood or made ridiculous. + +And now farewell till we meet. With or without the fortune, believe +me to be ever yours sincerely, + + +Leopold van Zonshoven. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Mr. William Verheyst receives an Anonymous Letter. + + +By the same post the barrister, William Verheyst, received the +following letter without a signature. + + + Sir,--We think it probable that Sir Leopold van Zonshoven will + consult you on an affair of great importance to himself. May + we take the liberty of begging that you will kindly assist + him in any difficulties that may stand in the way of his + taking possession of a certain heritage left to him, and + also use your influence to persuade him not to decline any + proposition which may be made him. The writer of this letter + is perfectly acquainted with the intentions of the worthy + testatrix, and wishes the young man joy of his fortune. + + +"Oh dear!" exclaimed the good-natured William, crumpling the anonymous +letter in his fingers, "I fear this looks bad for Leopold. It will be +hard lines if he has to forego the fortune which is thus dangled before +his eyes like a bait on who knows what unreasonable conditions. I +don't like this attempt on the part of some unknown persons to bribe +his adviser. However, they shall find I am not to be caught in the +snare. If there be any clause in the will inconsistent with law and +honesty or with honour, I'll show them I have not been called to the +bar to no purpose. Poor fellow, he little knows how difficult it is +for me to leave home at present. Still, as I must go to the Hague +before my departure to Java, I will set off early to-morrow." + +William Verheyst did as he said. He proved himself a true friend and +no loiterer; caught his train, and five minutes after his arrival in +the Hague was knocking at his friend's door. + +Leopold van Zonshoven occupied a single large front room in a quiet +part of the town. He was too poor to live in a more fashionable +quarter, and too honest to attempt living above his means. And +yet there was an air of elegance about the room which marked it +as that of a young man of refined tastes, and proved him to be a +lover of home comforts rather than the pleasures of club life. To +the ordinary furniture to be found in lodgings he had superadded a +good writing-table, an easy-chair, an antique, carved book-case, +and several small objects of art, which stood out in bold relief +against the shabby wallpaper. This, however, he had tried to hide +as much as possible by hanging the family portraits all round the +room, some of them in solid ebony, others in gilt frames rather +characteristic of this cheap, showy age. Even the space between the +larger pictures he had tried to cover with small miniatures on ivory, +and photographs. The young man had evidently done his best to surround +himself by the portraits of his numerous family. + +He was busily engaged at his writing-table when Verheyst knocked at +his door. + +"I was expecting you," he said. "I knew you would come to help your +friend in need. What a strange letter I wrote you! But now I have +recovered my senses again." + +Then turning to his writing-table, he said-- + +"Look here, here's a bundle of papers soaked with ink. Though +my landlady, Mrs. Joosting, saved the lamp from falling on that +memorable evening, she did not notice the ink-bottle. Three articles +neatly copied, numbered and ready for the press, are utterly +spoiled. Nothing for it but to copy them again. Pleasant work this +for a millionaire! But I have almost finished now, and the work has +done me good; we shall have the whole evening to talk matters over." + +Leopold lived, in fact, by his pen, contributing to several papers, +and making translations for the publishers who patronized him. Though +he had not kept his terms at the university, he had talent and style, +and his writings had been very successful. + +"Here are the documents: the lawyer's letter, a copy of the will, +the inventory of all effects, both personal and real estate; and all, +so far as I can judge, in perfect order." + +After a minute examination, piece by piece, Verheyst answered that +he was of the same opinion. + +"But," he said, "I cannot find the fatal clause you mentioned, +anywhere." + +"In truth, there is no such clause expressed; nor is there even +a condition set down. But there is a desire, a hope expressed in +this letter from my aunt; and you must read it before giving your +opinion. It seems to me I must renounce the inheritance if I cannot +give effect to the wish you will find set down here." + +"Is it, then, such a difficult matter?" inquired Verheyst, before +opening the letter. + +"Oh, that depends! My aunt wishes me to marry." + +"No unfair request, since she puts you in a position to maintain +a wife." + +"I agree; but she has gone further and chosen a wife for me." + +"The deuce! that's the worst part of the business." + +"Certainly; for she does not seem to have been acquainted with the +young lady herself, who seems to be a granddaughter of a certain +General von Zwenken, who married my aunt's eldest sister. The young +lady is at present living with her grandfather; and it would seem that +my shrewd old aunt, to be revenged on the General, has hit upon this +means of leaving her fortune to her niece and shutting out the rest +of the family from any share in it. Consequently I am made use of, +and the fortune is placed in my hands with instructions to hasten to +lay it at the feet of this 'fair lady.' Nothing seems easier or more +natural. But suppose the 'fair lady' should be ugly, hunchbacked, +a shrew, or a troublesome coquette. In this case, you know, with my +ideas about women and marriage, I should feel myself bound to refuse +the fortune." + +"Refuse! refuse!--at the worst you can propose to divide it between +you." + +"Now that would be acting in direct opposition to the express and +formal wish of the testatrix. Read the letter and you will see." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Honourable Miss Sophia Roselaer de Werve's Letter to her +Grand-nephew. + + +My very worthy Nephew,--Though I am unknown to you, you are not +unknown to me. I don't know you personally; but I am pretty well +informed as to what you are, and what you are not. Thanks to all sorts +of quarrels in our family, and the inconsistent conduct of my eldest +sister, I have been forced to live estranged (and shall die so) from +all my relations. My nearest relations, it is true, died years ago; +the others are scattered over the world, and scarcely remember their +relationship to me. Their ancestors, who have done their utmost to +embitter my life, seem to have left it as a legacy to their children to +forget me, and to trouble themselves as little about old Aunt Roselaer +as if she had never existed. But man must think of his end. I am in +my seventy-fifth year, and a recent attack of apoplexy has warned +me to put my affairs in order, if I would prevent all disputes about +the possession of my property, and, above all, save it from falling +into the hands of those who have done so much to embitter my life. I +will not suffer it to fall into the hands of a host of nephews and +nieces, who would attack it like sharks, and divide and crumble into +pieces what I and my forefathers have accumulated with so much care +and economy. It is for this reason I have decided to appoint one +of my relatives my sole heir, and you are the one I have chosen: +first, because your mother's mother is the one of my sisters who has +caused me the least grief. She married a man of her own rank, in a +good position, with the full consent of her parents; and she could +not help his falling a victim to the horrible Belgian revolution, in +which he lost his life and fortune, leaving her with seven daughters, +one of whom was your mother, who, I must say, troubled herself as +little as any of the other nieces about Aunt Sophia. I can pardon +her, however, because when she returned from Belgium to Holland an +occurrence in our unfortunate family affairs had decided me to break +off all intercourse with my relations. The second reason, and the +chief one, why I have distinguished you above all the rest is this: +I have a good opinion of your disposition and self-command. I have, +several times and in divers ways, made inquiries about you, both of +friends and strangers, and the information I have received has always +been such as to lead me to believe you the most fitting person to carry +out one wish which I urgently request you to fulfil, if it be at all +possible; namely, to marry the only grandchild of my eldest sister, +and in this way put her in possession of that part of my fortune which +the unpleasant divisions in our family cause me to withhold. I wished +to adopt the girl in her early youth, give her a good education, +and save her from the miserable garrison life she has led: but my +request was bluntly refused; and General von Zwenken, her grandfather, +has recklessly sacrificed the fortune of his granddaughter for the +pleasure of being revenged on me. Consequently my will is made with +the fixed purpose of preventing his ever enjoying a penny that has +belonged to me. On reflection, however, I have come to the conclusion +that it would be wrong to punish the granddaughter for the sins of her +grandparents. After my death, on the contrary, I should like her to +confess that old Aunt Roselaer, whose name she will only have heard +mentioned with anger and disdain, was not so very wicked after all, +seeing that she has ever had the welfare of her niece at heart. If I +were to leave her my fortune, I should only be playing into the hands +of her grandfather, who would doubtless spend every penny of it in +the same way he spent that of my sister. And so it has occurred to +me, Leopold, to single you out and make you the sole possessor of +all my wealth, with the request that you will make good the wrong +which I have been forced to do. The question now is, whether you +will be able to accomplish my desire. Difficulties may be placed in +your way by the very person most interested in adopting the means I +have thought out: in this case, I beseech you to persevere as long +as there remains a hope of success. If, on the other hand, you raise +obstacles, if you find it insupportable to have a wife imposed on +you by a troublesome old aunt, a wife you cannot love, then I release +you from this condition, for I wish at least one member of the family +to think of me without abhorrence. Should the worst happen, you must +consult lawyer Van Beek, who knows my intentions, if you do not wish +to lose my fortune altogether. I expect better things of you, not +to mention that I count upon your good heart being moved towards a +young lady who has been deprived of her rights and the advantages of +her birth from infancy through the ill-will of her relations. These +rights and advantages a loving old aunt wishes you both to enjoy. + +Sophia Roselaer de Werve. + +P.S.--That I must sign myself simply Roselaer de Werve, and not +Baroness de Werve, is the fault of the General; but his obstinacy +and folly shall cost him dear. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +"Now, what do you say to this?" asked Leopold, as Verheyst folded up +the letter with a thoughtful face. + +"What do I say to it? Well, that it is a real woman's letter; the +most important point being contained in the post-scriptum." + +"Ahem! you may be right; how is it possible that a Christian woman, +with one foot in the grave, can be inspired with such bitter hatred +of this family, and probably for what is the merest trifle." + +"What shall I say?--From the merest trifles some of the longest and +most difficult lawsuits have arisen. But, for your sake, Leopold, +I could wish that this lady had been possessed of better feelings +towards her relations; it would render the whole business simpler. If +the young lady pleases you, marry her; if not, then propose to divide +the fortune between you. You will both be independent, and one can +live pretty comfortably on half a million." + +"Would to heaven she had left me thirty thousand guilders without +conditions," sighed Leopold; "then I should have none of this bother." + +"That certainly would have been pleasanter for you," replied Verheyst, +smiling, "but we get nothing for nothing; and if the old lady has +chosen you to be her instrument of revenge, why you cannot do less +than accept the encumbrance." + +"I don't see it." + +"I feel sure that on her death-bed she chuckled at the idea of leaving +a champion of her griefs behind." + +"That may be so; but if she imagined that for the sake of her money I +should so far demean myself as to serve her evil designs, then either +she was greatly mistaken in my character, or she received erroneous +information about me." + +"At present, you don't even know whether anything inconsistent +with your character is demanded of you. Let me remind you that +the depositions of the dead are not to be discussed, but as far as +possible carried out. If after due inquiry you find yourself unable +to fulfil the conditions of this will, it will still be possible for +you to stop further proceedings." + +"I have written to the lawyer in that sense. I feel it my duty to +see first whether a marriage be possible. This I am bound to do for +the young lady's sake; but I should like you to pay a visit to the +Von Zwenkens, and bring me word what you think of the young lady, +before I make my appearance." + +"How you do give yourself the airs of a millionaire already!" answered +Verheyst--"opening the preliminaries of your marriage by an +ambassador. I am sorry to say I cannot accept your commission, +worthy patron." + +There was a mingling of irony and offended pride in the tone of this +answer, which caused Leopold to start up in surprise. + +"You do not mean me to take this reproach seriously?" he asked, feeling +somewhat touched by his friend's words. "You know well enough I only +asked a friendly service of one whose clear judgment I prize above +my own, blinded as I now am by a confusion of contending passions." + +"Of course. I quite understand your meaning. It was only my chaff; but, +unfortunately, it is only too true that I am prevented from obliging +you. To-morrow I stay here in the Hague to look after my own affairs, +and then I shall have not a day, nor even an hour, to lose in making +my preparations for a long voyage." + +"What long voyage are you alluding to?" + +"Ah! that's true; we have had so much to say about the change in +your life, that I have forgotten to tell you about the change in my +own. You are not the only person on whom fortune smiles. I have been +offered and have accepted the post of private secretary to the newly +appointed Governor-General of our Indian possessions. Besides the high +salary, and the excellent opportunity of travelling to Java in such a +comfortable way, my future prospects are so promising that I could not +for a moment resist the temptation to go. It is much more agreeable to +me than vegetating in a provincial town, on the look-out for ill-paid +lawsuits or some legal appointment. I expatriate myself for a year +or two, to return with all the importance of an Eastern nabob," +continued Verheyst, with a faint attempt at a jest which evidently +did not come from the heart, as no pleasant smile lit up his face. + +"I cannot say you are wrong, and yet I am sorry," replied Leopold, +with an effort to be cheerful; "all my plans for the future enjoyment +of my fortune were bound up with you--we were to shoot, hunt, and +travel together." + +"What about your wife?" asked William. + +"My first condition would have been that she must treat my friend +kindly." + +"It is all the better; you should not be under the necessity of making +any such conditions. Possibly you may have difficulties enough to +overcome, without my standing in the way." + +"Really, William, I feel inclined to refuse the fortune, and go to +Java with you." + +"Nonsense, man, pluck up your courage, and trust to those feelings of +honour and delicacy of which your present scruples only afford me a +new proof. She may turn out to be a pearl of a wife, this young lady +whom you are requested to enchase in gold. By the way, do you know +her name, or where you are to go in order to make her acquaintance?" + +"I have this morning received a letter from the lawyer in Utrecht, +requesting me to pay him a visit as soon as possible, when he will +give me all necessary information about General von Zwenken and his +granddaughter Francis Mordaunt." + +"Mordaunt! Is her name Francis Mordaunt?" exclaimed Verheyst, in a +tone of surprise and disappointment. + +"Yes, don't you like the name? or have you heard it before?" asked +Leopold, all in a breath, for the serious looks of his friend +alarmed him. + +"Heard it before! Well, yes--indeed, often, as that of an English +officer on half-pay who some years ago lived in my province; a man +against whose character, so far as I know, nothing can be said." + +"Yes, but I am speaking about the daughter. Do you know her?" + +"Not personally, and it is a dangerous thing to form an opinion +from gossiping reports. What I have heard may not be correct; but +if it be so, I cannot hide from you what it would only disturb your +peace of mind to know. Therefore, I say, make your own inquiries, +seek information from people you can trust, and trust only your own +observations and experience." + +"Is she deformed? Is she a fright?" asked Leopold, growing uneasy. + +"No, nothing of that sort; in fact, I believe she is rather +good-looking--at least, enough so to attract admirers, but----" + +"Come now, never falter, man! Give me the coup de grâce at once. Is +she a coquette?" + +Verheyst shrugged his shoulders. "I have never heard it said she was; +at least, it must be a strange sort of coquetry she's accused of." + +"Don't keep me on the rack any longer; but tell me at once the worst +you know of her." + +"Oh, there's nothing that one can really call bad; yet in your +eyes it may appear sinister enough. What I have heard is, that an +acquaintance of ours, a friend of my youngest brother, was madly in +love with her, and she refused his offer in a manner little encouraging +for you. According to his account she must be a regular shrew, who +declines to marry on the grounds that she will acknowledge no man to +be her lord and master. She so ill-treated this poor Charles Felters, +the best-natured old sheep that ever went on two legs, that he has +taken fright and run away--gone off to Africa, as if afraid of meeting +her again in Europe. He is not only a good fellow in every respect, +but what we call in common parlance a 'catch,' his father being the +richest banker in our part of the country. I don't wish to frighten +you, but----" + +"Well, I see nothing in all this to be frightened about," said Leopold, +calmly. "That she has refused a booby who runs away for fear of a +woman, only proves her to be a girl of character. I begin to think +there will be something piquant in this adventure, and I prefer a +lively young lady to a wearisome, insignificant girl." + +"I am glad to hear you take up the subject so pleasantly. I, for my +part, should not like to be engaged in such a contest, but you are +morally obliged----" + +"In fact, without the obligation, your account has so excited my +curiosity that I should feel tempted to undertake this conquest. Do +you see this portrait of the fifteenth century? It is that of one of +my ancestors who, for the honour of his lady, suffered his left hand +to be cut off. He was very ugly, and whenever I was naughty or in +a temper my good mother would lead me up to this portrait and say, +'Fie! Leopold, you are like the Templar,' for he was a knight of +that order. She said I had the same fierce glance of the eyes when I +was naughty, and I have since been convinced that she was right. The +resemblance struck me in a private interview I once had with my uncle, +the Cabinet Minister. I was accidentally standing before a glass, when +he upbraided the memory of my dead father, saying he had married a wife +without fortune, instead of following his (my uncle's) example--using +his title as a bait with which to catch an heiress. His Excellency saw +the likeness, too; for he politely turned the conversation, and led me +to his antechamber, where I am sure he gave his footman orders to say +'Not at home' in future, if ever I should trouble to call again. But +tell me more, all you know, about my future wife." + +"Well, she has had no education. Her manners are rude----" + +"That I have gathered from my aunt's letter; but it is not her +fault, poor girl. I must try to improve her, and be both lover and +schoolmaster to my wife. Who knows--perhaps I must also teach her +music and dancing!" + +"At any rate, you will not have to teach her fencing, for she's already +an adept at that--at least, according to Charles Felters' report." + +"The deuce she is!" exclaimed Leopold, laughing; "that's almost enough +to frighten one." + +"Charles was really frightened. At that time she was a very young girl, +yet she was already generally known in the little garrison-town where +she lived by the nickname of Major Frank." + +"The nickname does not sound flattering, I must confess; however, +I will see if there is not some way of enrolling this major under my +colours, and then she shall retire from military life to settle down +as a civilian." + +"It does me good to see you treat the matter so lightly, for there +is nothing for it but your making the attempt." + +"It has always been my maxim to take a cheerful view of things," +said Leopold, with a touch of melancholy in his tone; "and, alas! I +have been forced to do so under adverse circumstances hitherto. And +now, my good fellow, let us go and look out for some dinner. I can +recommend Pyl's Restaurant." + +"Why not at the Club?" asked Verheyst; "there we shall meet many +friends whom I wish to see before my departure." + +"I am no longer a member, my dear fellow. After my father's death I +was obliged to cut down all unnecessary expenses, as my mother had but +a small pension, and I could bear retrenchment better than a person +of her age. It is not the subscription, it is the company one meets +which leads to extravagance, and those quiet little supper parties, +the invitations to which it is impossible to refuse." + +At dinner, over a good bottle of wine, William made Leopold promise to +write a full account of all that should take place during his absence +in Java, and send to him by mail from time to time. We can only hope +that this story will prove no less interesting to our readers than +it did to William Verheyst. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +Leopold van Zonshoven to Mr. William Verheyst. + + +My dear Friend,--Whilst you are sailing down the Red Sea, I am +entrusting to paper what I would not confide to any living mortal +but yourself. + +My fortune still hangs in the balance. Without doubt the worthy +testatrix has done everything possible to insure her heritage to me; +but there are moments when I feel so great a repugnance to it as to +make me question whether it were not better to renounce it than to +become the instrument of Miss Roselaer de Werve's vengeance on this +side the grave. The idea of having to drive a grey-headed old man +from his manor-house, and to render a poor young lady, who has a +family claim on her aunt's inheritance, houseless, is too much for +me, though a whimsical old woman and the law have done their utmost +to set my conscience at ease. + +But to commence my story. The day after you left me, I went over to +Utrecht to call on the lawyer, Van Beek. Perhaps in the hurry of our +parting I forgot to tell you this was my intention. At such times a +man often forgets the most important things he has to say. + +The worthy functionary is a short, thin personage, with a tuft of hair +hanging over his forehead, sharp eyes, a long, thin nose, and thin +lips always closed; in fact, a perfect type of the shrewd, clever, +but inexorable lawyer. + +He received me seated in an armchair, clad in a grey office coat, +and with a solemn white neckcloth fastened round his neck so tightly +that I really was afraid it would choke him. + +When I entered the room he rose to salute me with a polite bow, +and only when he had learnt my name and my resolve to carry out the +intentions of the testatrix did a fine smile play about his mouth--a +smile which seemed to say: "You've come round, then, at last, though +you appeared to hesitate at first." + +After a few words as to the sudden death of his client, and her +express wish to be buried as quietly as possible, without the +attendance of any of her relations, he told me he had been the +confidential adviser of Lady Roselaer for the last thirty years, +and was consequently able to give me all necessary information with +regard to her dealings with General von Zwenken, and her intentions +in respect of his granddaughter. + +I should only weary you if I attempted to relate all the pitiful +stories of mischief-making and counter-mischief-making with which, +long before the birth of Francis, the General and Aunt Sophia +endeavoured to render each other's life miserable. I now comprehend +that she neither could nor would leave her fortune to such a man, +and I approve of the course she has taken for Francis' sake, who +would have been the greatest sufferer if her aunt had not acted with +so much foresight and prudence. The General is a spendthrift, or, +to put it in the mildest terms, a bad financier. His affairs, the +lawyer says--and the lawyer evidently knows more about them than the +General does himself--are in such a state that, to use an expression +of Macaulay's, "the whole wealth of the East would not suffice to +put them in order and keep them so." + +Still, does this justify my aunt's inexorable hatred? I am sure, if +you saw her portrait, you would scarcely believe her capable of it: +a stately dame in a rich black silk gown, with silvery grey hair under +a black lace cap, and a string of priceless pearls round her neck--so +she appears in a painting done in the last year of her life. And this +she has bequeathed to her legal adviser, because she believed none +of her relations would be able to look upon it with pleasure. On this +point, I fancy, she was not far deceived. I myself, her favoured heir, +honestly confess that much must happen, much be cleared up, before I +can regard it with any degree of cheerfulness and gratitude, seeing I +know what a Shylock-spirit once breathed in that thin, slender figure +of a woman. The lawyer bore testimony to her kindness to the poor, +but said she was very singular in her ways of life and thought. Being +strictly orthodox himself, he accounts for all her singularities +by saying they are the outcome of her great admiration of the ideas +prevalent in the eighteenth century; she was an admirer of Rousseau, +and actually adorned her room with a statuette of Voltaire. In fact, +she had herself painted holding a volume of Voltaire's Correspondence +in her hand, though she knew this would not be particularly pleasing +to the future possessor of that portrait. + +"Well, well, Jonker," he continued, "since you ask me for the truth +about the life and actions of your deceased aunt, I must tell you she +seldom went to church, and when she did it was to the French church, +though she was not a member of it. [1] She gave large sums every year +to all sorts of institutions; subscribed liberally to any fund for +the benefit of the lower classes; but would never give a penny to +the Church. If I sometimes tried to change her views on this point, +she cut me short by saying it was a matter of conscience with her +not to contribute to the increase of a race of hypocrites. You will +understand that in my position I could not insist further on this +subject. Besides, she did not make use of her riches for herself, +except with the greatest economy. She occupied a small villa just +outside the town of Utrecht, and her beautiful country-seat in +Gelderland, as well as her magnificent house in town, were both let +to strangers. She kept but one man-servant, an aged waiting-woman, +and a cook. The gardener who rented her kitchen-garden supplied her +with vegetables, and kept her flowers in order. She had no carriage, +and sometimes did not go out for weeks together. Neither did she +receive company, denying herself to all visitors except Dr. D., her old +friend, who made a professional visit every day, and came regularly +two evenings a week with his married sister to play cards. I saw her +as often as business affairs rendered it necessary, and once a month +she invited me, my wife and daughter, to dinner. On these occasions +Dr. D. and his sister were also invited; but I never remember to +have met any one else, except the painter who did this portrait, +and to whom she has left a nice little legacy. He was a young man +with roguish eyes, and beautiful mustachios; and I suspect he made +love to her à la Voltaire, for she bought drawings of him which she +never even looked at. He was, otherwise, a good young fellow, with +a widowed mother to maintain; and the capital she has left is large +enough to permit of such a freak of fancy----" + +"Oh, certainly!" I interrupted, "I am glad that the latter days of +her monotonous life were cheered by anybody. But what you have told +me of her views with regard to the Church leads me to doubt whether +I ought to accept her heritage, since, once in possession of it, I +shall feel it my duty to make use of her money for purposes directly +contrary to her wishes." + +"I don't think you need have any scruples; for she was very well +acquainted with the character of Jonker van Zonshoven, and what might +be expected of him in such matters. Yet you see this did not deter +her from entrusting her fortune to you. Besides, she was liberal +enough with regard to the views of other people. Her maid is strictly +orthodox, and yet every Sunday a carriage was placed at her service +to convey her to church; and she is left well provided for during +the rest of her life. It is probable Lady Roselaer considered you +the person likely to make good what she had left undone either from +false shame or obstinacy. Had this not been her intention, she was a +woman who would have taken measures to prevent her will being ignored, +even after her death." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +With regard to the Castle de Werve, I have found out that it is +situated on the borders of Gelderland and Overyssel, and is surrounded +by extensive woods, moors, and arable land. It is at present occupied +by General von Zwenken, and formerly was in the possession of Aunt +Sophia's parents. To its possession is attached the title of Baron, +with seignorial rights--rights which in our time are little more than +nominal, yet to which old Aunt Sophia seems to have attached immense +value. Her father, old Baron Roselaer van de Werve, had no son (a great +trial for him, as you may suppose), but three daughters, of whom Aunt +Sophia was the second, and my mother's mother the youngest. The eldest, +Lady Mary Ann, became, on the death of her father, the rightful heir to +the Castle de Werve and the estates attached to it. This arrangement +was exceedingly offensive to Aunt Sophia, who had expected her father +to leave the castle to her, and at one time she had good reasons for +fostering such expectations. + +Her eldest sister had been the source of much grief and sorrow to the +old people. She had secretly entered into a romantic love-engagement +with a young Swiss officer--then Captain von Zwenken--and considering +it impossible to obtain the consent of her parents to such a marriage, +she eloped with Von Zwenken, who took her to Switzerland, where they +were married. This union, according to Dutch law, and in the opinion +of Aunt Sophia, was illegal. The weak parents (as Sophia called them), +however, at length became reconciled to their son-in-law, and when +the lost child returned to her old home in reduced circumstances, +her parents received her with open arms. + +In this family scene of reconciliation, Aunt Sophia imitated the +eldest son in the parable. She had never been on good terms with her +romantic sister; she persisted in regarding her brother-in-law as +an abductor and a deceiver, who had obtruded himself on the family; +charged her parents with blameworthy infirmity of purpose, and, +in short, declined all reconciliation. + +The stay of the young people under the parental roof was brief; but +even these few days were stormy, and sufficed to divide the family +connexions into two parties, for and against the Von Zwenkens. Aunt +Sophia's strong point was the irregularity of the marriage, solemnized +in a foreign country. Those who disagreed with her and recognized +the Swiss captain as a relation, she looked upon as deadly enemies; +while those who took her side in the contest were received by Baron +and Baroness Roselaer with freezing coolness. In a word, it was the +history of the Montagues and the Capulets re-enacted on a small scale +in the eighteenth century on Dutch territory. They did not attack each +other with dagger and poison, but used the tongue for weapon. They +annoyed, they insulted each other, whenever and wherever they found +an opportunity; there were hair-splitting disputes, and retaliation +without truce or pity; and lawsuits followed which swallowed large sums +of money. A good business for the lawyers, who only made "confusion +worse confounded." + +When old Baroness Roselaer--who always pleaded for peace and +forgiveness--shortly afterwards died, Sophia thought she would be +able to exert unlimited influence over her father, as she now became +the recognized mistress of the house. She even took advantage of +her position, during the stay of her brother-in-law for the funeral, +to make him so uncomfortable, that on leaving the house he told the +old Baron he would never enter it again. Sophia was in triumph. She +thought she had banished Von Zwenken from the house; but she forgot +her sister's children, and the joy and pride the old Baron was likely +to take in a grandson and future heir to his title and estates. Though +he never talked to Sophia on the subject, he was secretly embittered +against her as being the cause of this new estrangement, and his great +pleasure was to visit his grandchildren; and what is more surprising, +Sophia never suspected these visits. + +Try, then, to imagine the effect produced upon her when her father's +will was read, and she found that the Castle de Werve, with its +seignorial rights, descended to Madame von Zwenken and her children. + +It is true she inherited a just share of the property; but the very +part she loved best, the home of her childhood, where she had been +brought up, and which she never willingly would have quitted, was +taken from her and given to the man whom she considered so unworthy +of it, and so little capable of appreciating the advantages attached +to its possession. She felt herself slighted, and to this slight +is to be attributed the restless hatred and unrelenting bitterness +with which she pursued the General during the rest of her life. She +declared her brother and sister had worked upon her father's feelings +by cunning and intrigue; and she would never believe that the old +Baron had left them the property of his own free-will, or for the +sake of his grandchildren. + +It being now the Captain's opportunity, he ordered her to leave the +house with all possible speed; and this was the more galling, as he +did not himself retire from active service and occupy the castle as the +old Baron had desired him to do. He was changed about from one garrison +town to another, daily expecting to be ordered on foreign service, and +therefore unable to derive much enjoyment from his possessions. His +wife and children would sometimes stay a few weeks at the castle +in the summer; but the former did not long survive her father. The +children stayed with Von Zwenken in the garrison, until the daughter +was old enough to go to a boarding-school in Switzerland, and the son +to be placed under a tutor, who was to coach him for the university. + +I agree with Aunt Sophia in her assertion that Von Zwenken was not the +"right man in the right place." He made no good use of his possessions; +and the house was entrusted to a care-keeper, who was as incompetent as +he afterwards proved himself dishonest. The old steward, who had been +dismissed to make room for this stranger, was immediately engaged by +Aunt Sophia to stay in the neighbourhood and keep her informed of all +that happened at the castle. For though she had removed to another +province in which her own estates were situated, she could neither +separate her affections nor her thoughts from her old home. + +Sometimes the Captain, who had now obtained the rank of Major, would +come with a party of friends for the shooting, but he never seemed to +observe that the whole place was going to rack and ruin. Further, he +was always in want of money; and when his daughter married an English +officer, Sir John Mordaunt, he was obliged to sell a considerable +part of his estates, so as to be able to give her the portion of the +fortune left her by her mother. + +He had already several mortgages on the property, and as his son led a +wild life at college these went on increasing from year to year; until, +when at last on obtaining his colonel's pension and the honorary rank +of general he was able to retire to the Castle de Werve, all he could +call his own was the house, garden, and surrounding grounds. + +Aunt Sophia, on the contrary, whom it must be confessed was a sharp, +clever woman, had in the meantime doubled her fortune, besides +inheriting largely from a rich cousin who had taken her part in the +family quarrel. + +As the proverb says, "hatred has four eyes," and so she, making use +of the information obtained from the old steward, appointed a lawyer +to buy up on her behalf all the land sold by the General. This lawyer +had further instructions to advance money on the mortgages, and to +exact the interest with the greatest promptitude. In this way my +aunt became so well acquainted with Von Zwenken's money difficulties, +that she could calculate the day, nay, even the hour, when he would +be at her mercy. + +At last, imagining the favourable moment had arrived, she sent a lawyer +to offer him a much larger sum for the castle and the seignorial +rights than any one else would be likely to give, seeing that she +was secretly in possession of the surrounding estates. + +The General's answer was to this effect: "He would not sell the +seignorial rights at any price; and as for the castle, he had promised +his deceased wife to keep her sister out of it at all costs, and he +would rather see it fall about his ears than that Miss Sophia Roselaer +should ever set foot inside it again." + +Poor man, he little knew how much she had him in her power, and all +the precautions she had taken. Otherwise he would have reflected +twice before sending such an answer. Something suddenly occurred +which obliged him to mortgage even the house itself--the cause is a +mystery--and now Aunt Sophia might have been revenged; but for some +inexplicable reason she countermanded her orders to Van Beek, who +does not himself know why. Just before her death she sent for him to +change her will, and it was on this occasion she made me her sole heir. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +I was invited to stay to luncheon by my lawyer, and I accepted the +invitation. + +In the course of the conversation Van Beek said-- + +"The country seat, Runenburg, will be at your disposal on the 31st +of October next; but the house in town is let till the May following, +and the tenants would like to stay on, if it be agreeable to you. They +are very respectable people. How am I to act in the matter?" + +I stared at him in surprise and perplexity. Such a strange feeling +came over me. I who have never possessed a stick or a stone in my life +(in fact, I always felt it a relief when the quarter's lodging bill was +paid), now I had to decide about a house in town and a country seat. + +"I think, Mr. Van Beek, everything had better remain as it is until +the question of my marriage with Miss Mordaunt is settled." + +"The Jonker forgets that that condition is not binding." + +"I look upon it as binding, though such may not be the legal +interpretation of the will." + +"Would you not like to see the house whilst you are in Utrecht? It +is beautifully situated, and well worth a visit, I can assure you." + +"No, thank you, sir; but I should like to see the house in which my +aunt lived: from its surroundings I may be able to obtain a better +idea of her character." + +"Oh, with pleasure, Jonker! I thought I had already told you," began +Van Beek, somewhat embarrassed, "that the old lady had bequeathed +it to me, on condition her maid should occupy it as long as she +lives. It is a splendid legacy; that I do not deny. But consider, +I have served her thirty years in all kinds of business, some of +which cost me much trouble and loss of time. And I may remind you +that there is no extra money set aside for my expenses as executor, +whilst I am recommended to assist the heir in every way, and to serve +him to the best of my ability by my counsel." + +"My dear sir," I rejoined, "it was to be expected that aunt would +treat you generously. It is not my intention to dispute any of her +bequests. It will be a sort of pilgrimage for me." + +"We will drive there at once after luncheon. It is only half an hour's +distance from the town." + +I must confess the interior of my aunt's dwelling did not enable me to +gather any new ideas of the strange personage who once occupied it. The +old waiting-woman received us with coolness, and chanted the praises +of her late mistress in pious terms. The young cook shed a torrent +of tears, and was evidently astonished not to see me do the same; +whilst the man-servant eyed me askance, as if he feared I had come +there to cut off his legacy. The house was furnished in a moderately +comfortable style, most of the furniture being of the good solid +sort common in the reign of King William I., though there had been +an attempt to imitate the style of the First French Empire. There was +only one sofa in the house, and one armchair à la Voltaire, in which +Miss Roselaer reposed herself for just one hour after dinner every +day. She must have been a clever, active woman up to the very last. + +"She was always making up her accounts or writing," said her maid, +"when she was not either reading or knitting." + +"And what did she read?" I asked. + +"Mostly 'unbelieving books'--those in the bookcase there; sometimes, +but very seldom, the Bible." + +The "unbelieving books" were French, German, and English classics. I +pointed out to Van Beek that I should like to possess this small +but well-selected library. All the books are beautifully though not +showily bound, and they bear marks of assiduous reading. Among the +"unbelieving books" are the works of Fénelon, Bossuet, and Pascal, +peacefully assorted with those of Voltaire and the Encyclopædists, +whilst Lavater, Gellert, Lessing, and Klopstock find a place by the +side of Goethe and Schiller, and the plays of Iffland and Kotzebue. + +This was the first moment of unalloyed pleasure I have felt since I +came into my fortune, when I once more cast my eyes over the library +and beheld it with all the pride of ownership. I involuntarily put +forth my hand to snatch up one of the volumes, as if I thereby wished +to signify I was taking possession. Van Beek smiled and twinkled his +cunning little eyes; but the maid, who was standing by, looked at me +as though I had committed a sacrilege. + +"I should rather have thought the Jonker would have preferred my +lady's Bible," she said. + +"I should certainly like the Bible as well as the other books, +Mrs. Jones--that is to say, unless you wish to keep it yourself as +a memento." + +"Oh no, Jonker! such a worldly, new-fashioned book I would not have +in my possession. I can't look upon it as God's word; and I could +never understand how my lady found edification in it." + +"What's the matter with the Bible?" I asked Van Beek as we left +the house. + +"Nothing, absolutely nothing. It is an ordinary States-Bible, only +not printed in the old-fashioned German type." [2] + +Upon my word, I thought aunt must indeed have been pretty +liberal-minded to have put up with so bigoted a servant for so +many years. + +The next day I set out for the small town of Zutphen, which is within +an easy drive of the Castle de Werve. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +Castle de Werve, April, 1861. + + +You see, my dear William, I have entered the fortress. + +But to resume my narrative. Van Beek gave me a letter of introduction +to his friend Overberg, a lawyer in Zutphen, and I called upon this +worthy man of the law as soon as I arrived in the town. This Overberg +was the agent of my old Aunt Roselaer in these quarters, and it was +through his good management of her affairs that she gradually obtained +possession of Von Zwenken's property, as the General usually borrowed +money of Overberg. After all, the General was more fortunate than +if he had fallen into the hands of usurers, who, speculating on his +weakness, would have ruined him in a much shorter time. Overberg had +advised the General to accept the offer of his sister-in-law--with +what result you already know. For this reason he recommended me, +if I wished to obtain a kindly reception at the Castle, not to +present myself there as the heir to Miss Roselaer's property; such +an introduction being calculated to raise a prejudice against me +from the first. Therefore I decided to present myself as a relation +anxious to make the acquaintance of the family. + +Seizing the opportunity, I began to question Overberg about Miss +Mordaunt. + +"I have only spoken to her once," he said; "the General always comes +to see me in person. She is never seen in the town now. Once, indeed, +whilst the General was still commandant of the garrison here, she +came to consult me on a matter personal to herself, but that is a +long time ago." + +The good-natured lawyer, though ignorant of my matrimonial plans, +doubtless read disappointment in my face, for he resumed, as if to +excuse the meagreness of his information-- + +"You see, sir, the General then lived in grand style; and a wide +distinction was also made in society between the military and the +bourgeoisie. I was a widower, my time fully occupied, and I seldom went +into society. Since my second marriage, however, we have parties and +dinners enough--and that reminds me my wife has a soirée this evening; +several young ladies who know Miss Mordaunt are invited. Will you spend +the evening with us? You can leave tomorrow early for the Werve. I will +introduce you to the company as a gentleman looking out for a villa in +our neighbourhood; for as you know, in a small town like ours, it is +necessary to give a reason for your appearance among us, otherwise one +will be invented--and such inventions are not always of a flattering +kind. I can easily give the conversation a turn so as to cause it to +fall on the family Von Zwenken, and you need only keep your ears open." + +This idea took my fancy; I accepted the invitation with pleasure, +for a little society would help me to pass the evening more agreeably +than I could spend it at my hotel. + +We dined quietly en famille, and Overberg and his wife--hospitable, +jovial people--seemed to me to belie the French verse-- + + + "De petits avocats, + Qui se sont fait des sous, + En rognant des ducats." + + +Mr. Overberg is a shrewd, clever lawyer, who perfectly understands his +business and the way to treat his clients politely and persuasively; +he always discourages lawsuits, recommends delay and an attempt at an +arrangement, and thus quietly brings about the desired result without, +as it were, seeming to interfere. Aunt Sophia respected him highly for +his discretion and foresight, though she took care never to let him +see through her intentions, since he was not the man to take sharp +and decisive measures. For any such business she employed Van Beek, +who is a man to carry out the law to the letter, without feeling any +pity for the sufferer. + +It was therefore in keeping with Overberg's character that he +recommended me to temporize with the General, to give him time to +pay his debts, and not to drive such an old man to despair, though +he was a foreigner. The good man little knew he was preaching to one +who already shared his views, and whose inmost wish was to deal as +gently as possible with Von Zwenken. + +I must acknowledge that what I heard at the soirée did not make a +favourable impression on me. The past life of the young lady must +have been a singular one, if there be any truth in the gossip I heard +about her. I know much must be set down to slander in a small town, +where people are at a loss what to talk about when not criticising +their neighbours. + +But, however, you must judge for yourself from what follows. + +Among the ladies to whom I was introduced was a charming young +widow with jet-black eyes and lively features; she is a niece of +the Roselaers, I am told, and at first I felt very sorry her name +was not Francis Mordaunt, the niece-elect of Aunt Sophia. However, +when Overberg had drawn her out a little on the subject of the Von +Zwenkens, I felt exceedingly glad to think our acquaintance would +not extend beyond the present evening. + +I began to feel a most intense hatred against her, so unmercifully +did she attack poor Francis. + +"Yes, they had been well acquainted when her grandfather was commandant +of the garrison, and she herself had visited at the house of the +Colonel. But no, friendship had never existed between her and the +young lady; she was too eccentric and ill-mannered. Just imagine, +Jonker, she came to our house one evening when she knew there was to +be dancing and music. Yes, she dropped in, as nonchalant as possible, +in a dark merino dress, fastened up to the neck, with a turn-down +collar and a silk neckerchief--just for all the world like a boy. And +her boots--they might have belonged to some plough-boy. Upon my word, +I believe there were nails in the soles; a non-commissioned officer +would not have been so rude as to enter a salon in them." + +"Perhaps she had made a mistake about the evening," I said, by way +of excuse. + +"Certainly not! She received her invitation a week beforehand. Surely +that was time enough to get a ball-dress made. And it was not because +she hadn't got any other dresses; for two days afterwards she came +to a house where we were invited to spend a quiet evening, en grande +toilette, a low dress (as if she expected to be invited to dance), +and resplendent with jewellery and diamonds. Now I ask you if that +was not done to annoy us and to wound our feelings?" + +"It seems to me she took more trouble to do honour to the ladies than +she had taken to please the gentlemen." + +"The truth is, she was not at all complimentary to the gentlemen," +rejoined a thin, elderly-looking spinster of an uncertain age, dressed +in an old-fashioned style, who I should have thought would have been +the last person to come to the defence of a sex that had so clearly +neglected her. + +"And the gentlemen--no doubt they reciprocated her nonchalance?" I +asked. "It is very probable she was left in the company of the elderly +ladies all the evening to increase the number of 'wall flowers.'" + +"Yes! but it was because she wished it," replied the widow. "She +would be sure of partners, though she were never such a fright. All +the young officers are, as a matter of course, obliged 'to do the +amiable' to the granddaughter of their colonel. Moreover, Francis +Mordaunt is mistress of the art of attracting or repelling as it +pleases her. Notwithstanding all her strange whims and caprices, +she is never at a loss for a partner, and the moment she enters any +ball-room she becomes the observed of all observers. The gentlemen +flock round her; she is flattered, flirted with----" + +"Yes, flirted with, I grant you; but not respected, I'm sure," +interrupted the elderly spinster. "It is chiefly done to draw out +her smart repartees, and the unladylike answers which have made her +so famous (or rather infamous)." + +"In fact everybody is amused at her scathing replies." + +"Which the ladies are afraid of," said a gentleman, half jestingly, +half reproachfully, "for as a rule they are as true as they are sharp." + +"As a rule she makes the gentlemen the butt of her raillery." + +"How strange then, indeed, that the ladies take her part so little!" I +could not help remarking. + +"That is not strange, Jonker! The peculiar manner she has adopted to +render herself noticeable is just the one our sex cannot suffer. In +all her victories we saw a defeat; the good tone was lost." + +"And how did the party pass off for Miss Mordaunt in that curious +dress?" I inquired, for I had less interest in carrying on a combat +d'esprit with the vicious little widow than in drawing out a more +complete sketch of Francis' character, though it might be coloured +by slander. + +"Just as she wished it, I believe. In the early part of the evening +she was somewhat neglected, and this was evidently her wish, for she +did nothing to prevent it; on the contrary, she had told the hostess +that she had resolved not to dance, in such a loud and decided tone, +that it would have been absurd for any one to invite her afterwards." + +"She's cunning enough," put in the elderly spinster. "She only said +that lest afterwards she should feel ashamed of herself at the close +of the party, in case no one invited her to dance." + +"In fact, it requires more moral courage than the gentlemen in these +parts as a rule possess to lead out a lady dressed as she was," +interposed the widow again. + +"It appears that the custom of not sparing us gentlemen is catching," +whispered an officer, who had been introduced as Captain Sanders. + +I silently bowed, for I wished to listen to Mrs. X., who continued-- + +"Finally, however, when the cotillon was called, she must join, and the +unfortunate leader of the dance had to sacrifice himself. Lieutenant +Wilibald, her grandfather's adjutant, was obliged to take her in tow, +mustering up all his courage. After showing a good deal of resistance, +which appeared seriously meant, she allowed herself to be led out, +but did nothing to lighten her partner's unpleasant task. On the +contrary, she was so recalcitrant, so inattentive and so awkward, +that she often caused confusion, and her partner had the greatest +difficulty to rectify her mistakes. Indeed, the polite young officer +was pitied by the whole company, and the more so because it was known +that he was sacrificing himself to a sense of duty; for he was engaged +to a charming young lady who had been prevented from attending the +ball by a recent death in the family." + +"Pardon, madame; permit me to say that your representation of the +facts is not quite correct," interrupted Captain Sanders, in whose +favour I immediately became prepossessed on account of his serious +and earnest look. "Allow me to set you right as to facts, for I am +a friend of Lieutenant Wilibald's, and I know he would be sorry if +what you have said should go forth to the world as truth. It was by +no means a disagreeable task for him to lead out Miss Mordaunt in any +dress she chose to appear in, for he was too much in love with her +to notice such small matters as dress. Yes, I venture to say, if it +had depended on him alone he would not have married the woman he has; +but he was forced by circumstances, and Miss Mordaunt did her utmost +to promote the marriage and to put him in possession of a fortune." + +I inwardly thanked the Captain for his chivalrous defence of the +absent, and I would gladly have taken him by the hand and done so +publicly, but that this would have prevented my hearing more on the +subject of Francis. + +"And has Miss Mordaunt been married since?" I asked, trying to put +the question as disinterestedly as possible. + +"Why, no!" cried the elderly spinster with a triumphant smile. "So +far as we know (and we know pretty well everything that happens in +our circle), she has never had an offer." + +"Ah! that is very strange; a young lady who seems to be possessed of +so many attractions," I observed. + +"That's not at all strange," interrupted the little widow, in a +coquettish, sentimental tone. "It was never difficult for her to +attract admirers and flatterers for the moment, but it is only by +the heart that a woman wins true affection and esteem; and, with the +Captain's permission, no one could ever believe Francis Mordaunt to +be in earnest, for she has no heart--she never cared for anything +but horses and dogs." + +"You forget her grandfather!" pleaded the Captain. + +"Well, yes, she has been his idol; but this very fact has turned out +her ruin." + +"How are we to understand that remark, madame?" asked Overberg, +whose jovial face grew serious. + +"That he has left the girl far too much to her own whims and fancies." + +"What shall I say, chère amie? He was afraid of her." (It was the +elderly spinster who again began the attack.) "He could roar at his +officers, but he was afraid of a scene with Francis." + +"Excuse me for once more contradicting you, miss. Colonel von Zwenken +never roared at his officers--this I know by experience; but it is +true he was conspicuous by his absence when Francis Mordaunt went +into society. He suffered her to go out when she liked, and with whom +she liked. Alas! he sat at the card table in his club whilst Francis +by her thoughtlessness and certain peculiarities in her character, +was rendering herself a victim to calumny and envious tongues." + +"Bravo, Captain! it's noble of you to defend the absent." + +"I am only sorry I cannot do so without blaming another absent person; +but what I say is known, and well known, in this circle." + +"As well known as the eccentricities of Major Frank. Whatever Captain +Sanders may say, we are not making her conduct appear worse than it +is; we are only speaking of it as it struck us at the time." + +"That everybody must acknowledge," said an old lady, who had thus far +listened with sparkling eyes. "Only remember what talk her conduct +gave rise to when she met the stranger staying at the 'Golden Salmon,' +by appointment, unknown to the Colonel, who had forbidden the man his +house! Did she not set all our ideas of good breeding at defiance by +walking in the plantation in open daylight with a perfect stranger." + +"In fact, I am assured she pawned her diamonds to pay his hotel +bill. She even wished to sell them, for she asked a friend of mine +to buy them." + +Overberg's healthy, blooming face turned pale; but he said nothing. The +Captain, however, spoke again-- + +"It is only too true she would risk all to attain her ends, if she +had once set her mind on a thing." + +"And that for a person who went to a third-rate hotel--did not even +give his own name, as it was said afterwards; and who certainly was +a sharper or a coiner." + +"If such had been the case, the police would have looked after him +sharp," interposed Overberg. + +"That is my opinion also," said the Captain; "and I think Wilibald +Smeekens was right. He said it was some one who had formerly committed +a breach of military discipline, and whom she out of pity wished to +assist in getting out of the country." + +"Ahem! out of pity," said the old lady. "Young ladies should be careful +how they show such pity--carrying on an intrigue. I can assure you +that at the time it was a question whether we ought not to banish +her from our society." + +"But no one dared to pronounce the sentence of banishment," said the +Captain, "for fear of the Colonel, who had it in his power to refuse +the military music for the balls and open-air concerts in summer. And +this he certainly would have done if he had known what was hatching +against his granddaughter. But the ladies were more prudent; they +pulled poor Francis to pieces behind her back." + +"With this result," added the elderly spinster, "that of her own +accord she almost entirely withdrew from our society." + +"No, there is another reason," said the widow, with a significant +shake of the head; "it was not our treatment, but her own conscience +which pricked her after that affair with her coachman." + +"Yes, you are quite right; that was a sad affair," assented the +Captain, to my painful surprise. + +The honourable man, who had evidently combatted calumny and slander, +was now silenced. I wished to ask what had happened, but the words +stuck in my throat; I felt as if they would choke me. The postmaster, +however, who had just entered the room, put the question, which the +tongues of the ladies were quivering with impatience to answer. + +"Unfortunately, no one knows the exact particulars," began the elderly +spinster, whose shrill, sharp voice made itself heard above the rest; +"but it is generally believed she wished to make her coachman elope +with her. Possibly she might have succeeded, but the man was already +married, and when that became known----" + +"She pitched him off the box whilst the horses were going at a furious +rate," put in the old lady, with a demoniacal smile of pleasure. + +"Others who are supposed to know, say she struck him dead with the +whip," added the little widow, who must have her say. "Horrible! most +horrible!" she continued, turning up her eyes with mock sentimentality. + +Yes, horrible indeed, thought I, when both young ladies and old vie +with each other in a wicked desire to give the coup de grâce to one +of their own sex who has erred, or, may be, only taken one false step +in life. + +"I have been told," murmured another voice, "that she fought with him; +and the horses taking fright, he fell from the box under their feet." + +"However it happened, the truth will never be known, for he now lies +in the churchyard." + +"Yes, now you've got the truth without any figures of speech," jested +the widow; "and with him the crime is buried, and hushed up for ever." + +"With your permission, ladies, had there been a question of anything +of that sort, the law would have taken its course," observed Overberg; +"and I know for certain it was never brought before a court." + +"That I can believe," answered the widow. "The magistrate is a +great friend of the Colonel's, plays cards with him every evening, +and to palliate the affair, and silence public indignation, he made +an official visit to the commandant's house. Francis Mordaunt was +examined, and, as might be expected beforehand, came out of the +affair snow-white--at least, according to the magistrate's report," +added the widow, with a satirical shrug of the shoulders. + +"But, madame," interposed Overberg, evidently growing angry, "do you +mean to say you suspect the impartiality of the magistrate?" + +"I suspect no one; I only tell you how the affair ended--namely, +that it was hushed up, and the relations of the coachman bribed to +keep quiet. Such people are easily frightened. One thing, however, +is certain, and that is, Major Frank has not dared to show her face +in our circle since; and besides this, it seems to have been the +cause of her grandfather retiring from the service." + +"He had attained the age to be put on the retired list," said the +Captain; "and with his pension he obtained the honorary rank of +General." + +"Be that as it may, the General retired from the world to Castle de +Werve," observed the old lady. + +"Where, now, Major Frank has the command," put in the spinster. + +"And spends her time in riding and shooting," added the little widow, +turning up her nose superciliously. + +"I venture to contradict the latter part of the assertion with regard +to the shooting," said Overberg; "for the General has not renewed his +shooting license and has leased the shooting over his own estates to +a client of mine, who, however, leaves the hares and partridges in +perfect peace." + +This latter remark led to a long conversation amongst the gentlemen +about the shooting and fishing in the neighbourhood, whilst the ladies +set to work to sharpen their tongues on other absent victims. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +Notwithstanding all my efforts to appear calm and unconcerned, +Overberg observed that the hard judgment passed on Francis had made +a deep impression on my mind. Taking me aside, he whispered in my ear-- + +"We will talk this subject over to-morrow morning before your +departure; in the meantime don't let it trouble you. You know the +proverb: 'The devil's not so black as he is painted.'" + +It was easy for him to talk; but, alas! he knew not yet the reasons +I had for being so deeply interested in this young lady. + +I passed a restless night. In the morning, when the carriage I had +ordered over-night drove up to the door, I was still debating in +my own mind whether I should go to the Werve, or tell my driver to +take me to the nearest station and return to the Hague. After a few +minutes, however, Overberg made his appearance, and accosted me in +the following words-- + +"I believe I have guessed your noble intention, which is to make the +acquaintance of Miss Mordaunt, and, if she please you, to remove all +difficulties in the most amiable manner possible. I cannot tell you how +praiseworthy, how wise and sensible, your plan seems to me; but what +surprises me is that the testatrix never suggested it to you, she being +a woman of such clear and sound judgment in matters of this sort." + +"She has given me such a hint--I will no longer try to conceal it +from you--and it was my intention to follow her advice. But what I +heard last night has quite changed my mind on that point." + +"Nonsense! Never let gossip have any influence over you. Remember +that people living in a small town are possessed by the evil spirit +of slander, and furthermore, that they express their opinions in a +very crude manner." + +"That's all well and good; but in a small town where every one is +known by his neighbour, people would not dare to calumniate and +slander each other without grounds." + +"I will not attempt to contradict your statement; but let me remind +you that certain uncommon occurrences and eccentric acts on the part +of a young lady may be explained in different ways, and why should +you believe the worse account of them, coloured as it certainly is by +envy, hatred, and malice. I willingly confess I could not contradict +all that was said about Miss Mordaunt last night; my business has +always been with her grandfather, who speaks of her in the highest +terms. For this reason I could not foresee that the ladies would be so +severe on her conduct. Otherwise I should have avoided the subject, and +made inquiries for you of people less prejudiced and more trustworthy." + +"Do you know any such people here?" + +"Such people can be found. Why, in my professional career, I have so +often seen the most wicked accusations burst like a soap-bubble when +submitted to the touchstone of cross-examination, that now I believe +nothing which I have not seen with my own eyes, or for which I have +not proofs equal to the same." + +"Then with regard to the diamonds, you have some certain proofs?" I +asked. + +"You are right; I was engaged in that business. The young lady required +more money than the goldsmith was willing to advance on them; and they +were never offered for sale unless he took such a liberty during the +hour he had them in his possession. In her difficulties she came to me, +her grandfather's lawyer. I obtained the money from Miss Roselaer, +as I always did for the General, and she refused either to take the +diamonds or accept the interest on the money she lent; consequently +the diamonds are still in my possession." + +"And do you know for what purpose this money was required?" + +"It was to assist a person who dared not apply to the General (and, +between you and me, the General had not a penny to assist any one +with). What the relationship between them was I am unable to say. The +stranger only stayed four days in the village, and I did not see +him myself. Of course I have heard the flying reports. Some people +say he was dressed like a gentleman, and had a gentleman's manners; +others, on the contrary, describe him as a rogue and a vagabond, +who got drunk in the lowest public-houses in the place. This latter +account may also be true, for, as you know, a woman's sympathy is +often bestowed on the most undeserving creatures." + +"With regard to the coachman, you must allow her womanly sympathy +does not show itself in a favourable light," I interposed, with a +certain bitterness in my tone. + +"I am unacquainted with the facts of that case. Still, I fancy it is +far from such a bad case as the amiable ladies made it out to be; and +in your place I should not suffer it to interfere with my projected +visit to the Werve. Miss Mordaunt has been accused, in my presence, +of brusque manners, imprudent behaviour, and so forth; but she is +renowned for her plain and straightforward dealing, which has brought +her into disrepute with her female friends, they preferring to say +the most impertinent things in the blandest tone possible. I am sure +you will find out the truth if you ask her a plain question. Besides, +a single visit will not commit you to anything, and an interview with +the General to arrange matters will be absolutely necessary." + +There was no refuting Overberg's line of argument. I confessed to +myself that it would be unfair on my part to form an opinion until +after a personal interview and further inquiries. So, accepting his +advice, I stepped into the carriage, and ordered the driver to take +the road to the Castle de Werve. + +The morning was raw and cold, without sun, and the air was so heavy +that I did not know whether to expect snow or hail. At the toll-bar +my driver made inquiries about a short cut through a lane planted +with poplars, which would bring us out near the "fir wood." + +As the country was very monotonous, and there was nothing to attract +my attention, I sank into deep thought, and began arranging a plan for +my conduct on first meeting with my cousin, a little speech to be made +when I was presented to her, and so forth. But then it occurred to me +that our best-laid schemes are generally thrown into confusion by the +circumstances of the event: how much more likely was this to be the +case in dealing with such a whimsical person as Francis? Accordingly, +I gave up all such ideas as preparing myself for the occasion, +resolving only to keep cool and act according to circumstances. + +In the midst of these thoughts the carriage suddenly came to a +standstill, and the driver pointed out to me that the lane terminated +in a half-circle--he had taken the lane on the wrong side of the +wood. Whilst speaking we heard a horse galloping behind us, and in +another moment it shot past us like lightning. + +"That's Major Frank!" said the driver. + +"Major Frank," I repeated, in a tone of anger and surprise. "Whom do +you mean by that?" + +"Why, the young lady of the Castle. They call her so in our village, +when she comes to see the boy." + +Cutting short the conversation, I ordered him to find his way to the +Castle as soon as possible. A few minutes later, however, he had got +his carriage on such marshy ground that he was obliged to request me +to walk until he could lead his horse on to a firmer place. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +Once on my legs I took a view of the surrounding country. We were on +the outskirts of the wood, and separated from the ploughed cornfields +by a half-dry ditch, luxuriantly overgrown with all kinds of marsh +plants. On our right was a heath; on the left potato fields. There +was not a soul to be seen, and on consulting my watch I found it was +just twelve o'clock. Consequently all the farm labourers had gone +home to their midday meal. + +Suddenly we heard a peal of resounding laughter quite close at hand, +only the sound seemed to come somewhat from above us. I looked up in +the direction of the undulating heath; and on the top of a sand-hill, +overgrown with grass, stood the person who was enjoying our perplexity. + +"Major Frank!" exclaimed the driver in his shrill tone of voice, +his astonishment and annoyance causing him to show little respect. + +It was indeed Francis Mordaunt herself who was mocking us. Really, +I could never have anticipated such a reception. + +As she stood there, some feet above me but still pretty near, I had a +good view of her; and I cannot say that this first sight reconciled +me to the person who had already caused me so many disagreeable +emotions. Perhaps it was not her fault; but she was dressed in such +a strange manner that at first sight I was doubtful whether a man +or a woman stood before me. She had gathered up her riding-habit in +a way that reminded me of Zouave trousers, and she had, besides, put +on a wide cloak made of some long-haired material--which was doubtless +very useful this sharp, cold spring day, but which, buttoned up to her +throat, was not adapted to show off the beauty of her form if she was +really well-shaped. Her head-gear consisted of a gray billy-cock hat +with a soft, downward-bent brim, ornamented with a bunch of cock's +feathers negligently fastened with a green ribbon--just as if she +really wished to imitate the wild huntsman of the fairy tale. And then, +because it was rather windy, she had tied a red silk handkerchief over +her hat and fastened it under her chin. She wore no veil. As far as I +could judge of her appearance, she seemed to be rather delicately built +and slim, with a fine Roman nose. Still, I was not in the humour to be +agreeably impressed by a face convulsed with laughter, and bandaged +up as if she had the toothache. Her laugh sounded to my ears like +a provocation, and rendered me little inclined to be courteous to a +woman who had so evidently forgotten all feminine self-respect. + +"Listen," I cried--"listen for a moment, you who are rejoicing so +much at your neighbour's distress. You would do better to direct us +on our way." + +"There is no way. I should have thought you could see that. Any one +who enters this wood except with the purpose of driving round it, +does a very stupid thing." + +"And you?" + +"I?" she laughed again. "I jumped my horse over the dry ditch +yonder. Imitate me if you feel inclined, though I fear with your horse +and carriage it will not be quite so easy. But where are you going to?" + +"To the Castle de Werve." + +"To the Werve!" she repeated, descending the hill and approaching +me as nearly as she could on the opposite side of the ditch. "What +is your business at the Castle, sir?" she inquired, in quite another +tone, no longer speaking like a "somebody" to a "nobody." + +"To pay a visit to General von Zwenken, and his granddaughter, +Freule Mordaunt." + +"The General no longer receives visitors, and what you have to say +to his granddaughter you can address to me. I am Freule Mordaunt." + +"I can scarcely believe it; but, if so, may I request Freule Mordaunt +to appoint a more suitable place than this. What I have got to say +cannot be shouted across a ditch in the presence of a third person." + +"Then you must drive back to the toll-bar. There they will direct +you to the village, from which you can easily reach the Castle, +if your visit is so very urgent." + +"In order to give you time to get home and deny yourself to all +visitors, my little Major," I thought to myself. "But now's my +opportunity, and I will not let it slip me." + +So, giving orders to the driver to go on to the village and wait +for me there, I took my stout walking-stick, fixed it as firmly as +I could in the muddy bottom of the ditch, and reached the opposite +side I scarcely know how. + +"Bravo! well done!" cried Francis, clapping her hands with delight. + +As I approached I raised my hat, and she saluted with her riding-whip. + +"This is an amusing adventure, sir," she said, again laughing; +"if you still wish to go to Werve you must cross the heath." + +"Is it a long walk?" + +"No, it is much shorter than by the high-road, but as you don't know +the way, you run the risk of getting lost again." + +"You forget that I have a claim on your company for the rest of +the way." + +"A claim! how do you make that out?" + +"Miss Mordaunt promised me an interview; is it strange that I should +seize the first occasion that offers?" + +"I don't even know the way myself. My horse has lost a shoe, and I +have left him at the game-keeper's, so I shall have to get home as +well as I can without assistance. Have you really business at the +Castle? I can assure you the General has an aversion to visitors!" + +"I wish to make his acquaintance and yours, as I am staying in the +neighbourhood, and I, remember, I am related to the family Von Zwenken +by my mother's side." + +"So much the worse for you. At the Castle relationship is a bad +recommendation." + +"That I have already heard; but I am not a Roselaer, I am a Van +Zonshoven, Freule--Leopold van Zonshoven," I said, introducing myself. + +"I have never heard the name before. However, as you are not a Roselaer +you perhaps stand a better chance of a kind reception. But is it +quite certain you do not come to trouble the General about business?" + +"In that case I should have sent a lawyer, with orders not to +inconvenience Miss Mordaunt." + +"Then you would have done wrong," she rejoined, becoming serious. "The +General is over seventy, and has had a life full of trouble; and I will +not try to conceal from you that he has many cares and difficulties +to contend with even now. It is for this reason I desire you to +tell me without reserve the object of your visit. Perhaps I can find +some means----" + +"I protest to you that my greatest desire is to assist you in sparing +your grandfather all annoyance." + +"The sentiment does you honour, but it leads me to doubt your +relationship, for it is contrary to all our family traditions." + +"There are exceptions to every rule, as you know, and I hope to prove +myself an exception in your family traditions." + +"Then you shall be welcome at the Werve also by exception, for as a +rule we admit no new faces." + +"That's a pity; for I cannot think it is your wish to live in such +isolation." + +"Quite my wish!" she interposed, with a certain haughtiness. "I +have had sufficient experience of mankind to make me care little for +their society." + +"So young, and already such a misanthrope--afraid of the world!" I +observed. + +"I am not so very young--I am turned twenty-six; and the campaign +years, as grandfather calls them, count double. You may speak to me +as though I were a woman of forty. I have quite as much experience +of life." + +"Ladies talk like that when they wish to be contradicted." + +"Ladies!" she cried, with ineffable contempt. "I very earnestly +request you not to include me in the category of beings commonly +denominated ladies." + +"In which category must I put you? For, to tell the truth, at first +sight I did not know what to call you." + +"I believe you," she said, with a little laugh; "for to any one who +does not know me I must appear very odd. But, tell me, what did you +take me for at first sight--for an apparition of the wild huntsman?" + +"An apparition! Certainly not; that's too ethereal. I took you for +a sad reality--a gamekeeper suffering from toothache." + +She seemed piqued for a moment, her cheeks coloured, and she bit +her lips. + +"That's rude," she said at last, and glanced at me with scintillating +eyes. + +"You asked for the truth," I rejoined. + +"So I did; and you shall find I can endure the truth. Give me your +hand, cousin; I think we shall become good friends." + +"I hope so, cousin. But don't be generous by halves: let me touch +your hand, and not that rough riding-glove." + +"You are a fastidious fellow," she said, shaking her head; "but you +shall have your way. There." + +And a beautiful white hand lay in mine, which I held a minute longer +than was absolutely necessary. She did not seem to perceive it. + +"But call me Francis; I shall call you Leo. The endless repetition +of cousin is so wearisome," she said frankly. + +"Most willingly;" and I pressed her hand again. + +"Your driver will have told you he recognized Major Frank." + +"That's but too true; and don't you, Francis, consider it a great +insult that people dare to call you by such a name?" + +"Oh, I don't mind it in the least! I know they have given me this +nickname. I am neither better nor worse for it. I know, also, that I +am pointed at as a Cossack or a cavalry officer by the people round, +and am stared at because I dress to suit my own convenience, and not +according to the latest fashions." + +"But a woman should try to please others in her way of dressing. In +my opinion, a woman's first duty is to make herself agreeable. Can +we not show our good taste even in the simplest and plainest attire?" + +She coloured a little. + +"Do you imagine, then, that I have no taste at all, because I have +put on this shaggy cloak to protect me from the east winds?" she +demanded sharply. + +"I do not judge from that single article of dress; I am referring to +the ensemble, and one gets a bad opinion of a young lady's taste when +she wraps up her face in an unsightly red handkerchief." + +"Which gives her the appearance of a gamekeeper with the toothache," +she interposed, with a quick, bold air. "Well now, that's easily +remedied, if the wind will respect my billycock;" and hereupon she +untied the handkerchief and unpinned her riding-habit. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +As she stepped forward, the long train of her riding-habit added +to the beauty of her slender figure. Now, indeed, I could see that +she was not ugly, though she had done her best to render herself +unattractive. It is true her features were sharp and irregular, +but neither rude nor coarse. In her face there was an expression of +haughtiness and firmness, that spoke loudly of conscientious strength +and independent character. It was clear that she had struggled and +suffered a good deal, without allowing it to rob her of her natural +cheerfulness and good spirits. Her large blue eyes expressed an +open-heartedness which inspired confidence. That they could gleam +with indignation, or glow with enthusiasm, I had already experienced. + +She walked along with considerable difficulty, for her dress caused +her to trip at almost every step. I offered her my arm, but she +refused it. Suddenly she stood quite still and said-- + +"Forgive me, Leo, for the unmerciful way in which I laughed at you, +when I saw the 'mess' your driver had brought you into. I was not +laughing at you personally; but I am always so tickled when I see +the so-called 'lords of creation' making themselves ridiculous, +that I could not restrain my laughter." + +"Oh, I bear you no malice, Francis, on that account; but how is it +you are so embittered against my sex?" + +"Major Frank," she answered, "has but too often had occasion to study +the character of men." + +"That is to say, that after over-confidence in the brilliant uniforms +which have proved deceptive, Major Frank has decided to revenge +herself on civilians as well as military men." + +"You are quite mistaken. Major Frank is acquainted with all the +ranks from corporal to general; and in civil life she has had an +opportunity of studying men wearing court dress, decorations, and +orders. And this is the conclusion she has come to: that discipline +is the best means of bringing out whatever good there is in a man, +whilst at the same time it keeps the evil within bounds." + +"What you say is not very encouraging for your future husband, +Francis." + +"My future husband!" she cried, with a bitter laugh. "Now I see you +are a perfect stranger in these parts, Leopold. But you need not +trouble yourself about me; I shall never marry." + +"Who knows? Circumstances may induce----" + +"Me to take a husband," she interrupted, growing indignant. "Listen, +Leo: you know nothing about me, and what you think you know will have +been told you by slanderous tongues. Therefore I will not take offence +at what you have said; but I request you not to think so meanly of me +as to believe I would sacrifice my name and my person on the altar +of Mammon, and make a mariage de raison--the most unreasonable and +immoral union that can exist." + +"Many a proud lady who once thought as you do, Francis," I answered, +"has been induced by the counsel of her friends to change her state of +'single blessedness,' which is such a mark for calumny and lies----" + +"And you would have me take a husband to serve as a shield against +these?" she cried, vehemently. "No, Leopold van Zonshoven, when +you once know Francis Mordaunt, you will find she does not fear +calumniators, and that she disdains to seek protection from them in +the way you recommend!" + +"Forewarned is forearmed," and I now understood that it behoved me to +proceed cautiously. Still I determined to try a ruse of war. Looking +her steadfastly in the face, I said-- + +"And suppose my visit to the Werve were expressly for the purpose of +seeking your hand in marriage?" + +"My hand! It is not true you come with such a purpose!" she exclaimed +in a bitter tone. + +"But let us suppose it to be true; what would your answer be?" + +"If I thought you came with any such intentions, I should simply +leave you where you are, in the middle of the heath, to find your +way to the Werve as best you could. There's my answer." + +And she started off as fast as she could go. + +"Listen, Francis," I said, rejoining her. "If such had been my object +in visiting the Castle, your answer would not stop me. I am obstinate +enough myself; but, as I would not willingly wound the feelings of +any lady (pardon me the use of this word), I should take good care +not to make her an offer in such a brusque manner, and, above all, +not until I had some hopes of receiving a favourable answer." + +"Be it so; but I must tell you I see neither wit nor humour in your +kind of pleasantry." + +In another instant a gust of wind carried away her felt hat, and then +her net, causing her golden hair to fall over her shoulders in rich +profusion. At this moment I thought her worthy to sit for a Madonna. I +could not believe my eyes, or rather I could not remove my eyes from +her, so much was I struck with wonder and admiration. She doubtless +read her triumph in my looks, and seemed for an instant to enjoy +it. Decidedly, then, she had not lost all the feminine instincts, +though the time of their duration was short on any single occasion. + +"Well," she said, "you are very polite. You stand as if you were +nailed to the ground, instead of running after my hat." + +I did not suffer her to say this twice, but, running after the +ugly old hat, caught it just before it could disappear in one of +the sand pits. She followed me, but unfortunately caught the train +of her riding-habit in a bush, which tripped her, and caused her to +fall with her beautiful locks of hair amongst the briers. At first +she refused all assistance, but in the end she was obliged to let me +disentangle her hair--a circumstance which annoyed her much more than +the accident itself. I knelt beside her, and heaven knows with what +care I loosened one lock after the other. This, however, was a work +of time, as she was very impatient, and her struggles were every now +and then undoing the little I had accomplished. + +"Now you see into what a predicament your precious advice has brought +me; how much more practical my own arrangement was! The handkerchief +looked inelegant, if you like, but it would have prevented me this +trouble. Why did I swerve from my principles? Why was I led astray +by other people's ideas?" + +At last I could say, "You are free!" at the same time holding out +my hand to assist her in rising. But no, she would have no further +aid from me; and bounding up like a hart, requested me to walk on +in front whilst she arranged her dress. She was not long about it, +and when she overtook me the hateful handkerchief was tied round her +hat again, and I had lost my right to protest against it. + +She now took my arm of her own accord, and said gaily, "This I do, +Leo, to recompense you for being so generous as not to revenge yourself +by laughing at me in my distress." + +"Laugh at you, Francis! I was frightened." + +"There was not much to be frightened about; but I was really afraid +you would mock me and pay me back in my own coin." + +As we walked on we continued to discuss the subject of female +propriety, she claiming the right to live according to her own ideas, +without any regard for public opinion; I maintaining that reserve +and gentleness are more becoming in a woman, from every point of +view, than trying to set public opinion at defiance. She, however, +interrupted the conversation by pointing out the Werve to me as soon +as we came in sight of it. + +"Now," she said, "I request you to tell me plainly the object of your +visit to the General, before I introduce you to the house." + +"I have already told you: I wish to make the acquaintance of my +mother's relations." + +"I shall feel better satisfied," she rejoined, "if you will promise +me not to trouble the poor old gentleman about business matters." + +I had no difficulty in conscientiously giving such a promise. Then +Francis continued-- + +"I must also warn you the General is not alone. We have a certain +Captain Rolf, an old pensioned officer, quartered at the Werve; he +is of rude manners and ill-educated, for he has risen from the ranks; +but he has a good heart, and my grandfather could not do without his +company. Our way of treating each other may surprise you, perhaps +annoy you. Even when I was a child he called me his colonel, and flew +anywhere at a wink from me; and he does so still, though his movements +have been rendered more tardy by his stiff legs and rheumatism. Fishing +is his favourite amusement since he has been obliged to give up +shooting. I employ him as my gamekeeper; and when the cook is ill, +he prefers frying a beefsteak and making the soup himself, to going +on short commons. In fact, he is a gastronome, and since he obtained +his pension his whole time seems to be occupied with the grand +question: 'What shall we eat to day?' And, alas! grandfather is no +less interested in the same subject, so that most of their morning +conversation is about the dishes to be prepared for the dinner." + +As we drew near the manor-house Francis gently withdrew her arm from +mine, and stepped on sharply as we heard the clock in the village +church-steeple strike one, saying-- + +"I know I am being waited for impatiently, and half the garrison will +have turned out in search of me." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +The Castle de Werve presented all the appearances of ancient opulence; +but also of dilapidation dating from a long time back. There was the +feudal drawbridge, immovable through long disuse, leading straight +to the large gate, full of those iron rivets used in olden times as +a defence against the attacks of the hatchet and pike. But the wood +itself was rotting, and the rusty hinges could scarcely sustain their +accustomed weight. In the tumbledown walls I could see loopholes +large enough for a giant to creep through. + +The house had been rebuilt in the time of the Stadtholder William + III.--King William III. of England--and the rich, solemn style then +in vogue had been adopted. There was a sort of rotunda in the centre, +kept, relatively speaking, in better repair than the rest of the +building, flanked by two wings, which seemed uninhabited, and in fact +so neglected as to be uninhabitable. Most of the panes were cracked +or broken, and only in some cases had the broken glass been replaced +by gray paper. The aloe-trees, set out to ornament the front of the +house, were planted for the greater part in cracked or broken vases. + +As Francis had remarked, before I could follow her into the house +"half the garrison turned out" to salute us in the person of the +Captain, whom I immediately recognized from the description I had +had of him. He wore a blue jacket and trousers, a waistcoat buttoned +close up to his chin, and the military black-leather collar, which +he had not yet been able to dispense with. The William's Order [3] +adorned his breast; and he stood erect in spite of his stiff leg, +which obliged him to support himself with a stick. He had placed +his cap jauntily and soldier-like on one side of his head, and his +entire bearing called up the idea of a military man only half at +his ease in civilian dress. Though deep in the fifties, his hair is +still jet black, and the length and stiffness of his mustachios, à +la Napoléon, indicate a constant use of cosmetics. His face is very +red, his eyes brown and bold, his features rude, and his thick red +lips and short round chin give him a sensual appearance. He had in +his mouth a long German pipe, from which he puffed clouds of smoke, +and after a military salute he accosted us in these words-- + +"Well, Major, what's this? Have you made a prisoner? or is this some +one to be quartered on us?" + +"A visitor for the General, Captain," replied Francis, stepping past +him, and giving me a hint to follow her. + +"Had a deuced bad luncheon! Waited half an hour for the Freule; +the eggs too hard, the beefsteak like leather, his Excellency out of +humour--and all this because the Freule takes it into her head to ride +out at inconvenient hours, and return on foot to the fortress leading +the hero of this pretty adventure in triumph behind her," growled +the Captain, in a half-angry, half-jesting tone, as he followed us. + +Francis turning round said-- + +"All this, Captain, is because your Major--you understand me, +your Major--has had the pleasure of meeting with her cousin, Jonker +Leopold van Zonshoven; let that suffice you, and if you have any more +complaints, put them in your report-book." + +After this I followed Francis through the vestibule, where a servant +received us with a military salute, and showed us into an immense +drawing-room hung with embossed gilt leather. Here the General was +taking a nap in a high-backed easy-chair. Francis entered the room +softly enough, but the loud heavy step of the Captain, who thought +fit to follow us, awoke the sleeper with a start. + +Instead of the pourfendeur I had conjured up in my fancy from old +Aunt Roselaer's accounts, I perceived a little, thin, grey-headed old +man, the traits of whose face showed him to be a person of superior +breeding, wrapped in a very threadbare damask dressing-gown. His +nose was long and straight, his lips thin and pale, his eyes of a +soft blue, with an expression of lethargy or fatigue. His white, +dry hands had very prominent veins; and he wore a large signet-ring, +with which he kept playing in a nervous, agitated manner all the time +he was speaking. + +Francis introduced me in her own peculiar way-- + +"Grandfather, I bring you Jonker Leopold van Zonshoven, to whom you +must give a hearty welcome, for he is a curiosity in our family." + +"In our family! Jonker van Zonshoven--ah! yes, I remember, I +understand," he said, in a surprised and embarrassed tone, which +proved his recollection to be of the vaguest; but he bowed politely, +and offered me his hand, which I shook cordially. + +"Sit down, Jonker," he said, pointing to a chair behind which the +Captain stood as if he intended to dispute the place with me. + +Francis rang the bell, and asked Fritz if the luncheon were still on +the table. + +The servant, with a surprised look, answered-- + +"It is half-past one." + +"Right, Fritz. It is the rule of the house: he who is not here at +roll-call is not expected. Bring a plate of cold meat and bread into +this room." + +"And a glass of port-wine for the gentleman," put in the Captain. + +When Fritz had left the room, the Captain came and stood straight +before me, saying-- + +"Pardon me, Jonker, I must have a good look at you. There must be +something peculiar in a young man who has so quickly found favour in +the eyes of our Major." + +I hesitated about giving him the answer he deserved in the presence +of the General; and, besides, Francis had warned me he was a man of +no education. + +However, the General, speaking in a soft yet authoritative voice, +said-- + +"Rolf, there are jests which may pass amongst ourselves, but you +seem to forget we are not now alone, and you are wanting in respect +to Miss Mordaunt." + +"Because I call her Major in the presence of a relation of the +family! Excuse me, your Excellency, but you ought to have given me +the watchword beforehand. I shall not forget again." + +"It is no good, grandfather," said Francis; "at his age we cannot break +him of his bad habits, though we might expect him to be respectful +to the granddaughter of General von Zwenken, in spite of his having +taught her her drill when a child. And now, as you have asked for +the watchword of the day, Captain, attend: it is this, 'Politeness +to my visitor.'" + +It became clear to me that the Captain had long been indulged in +his vulgar familiarities, and that I ought not to attach too much +importance to them. As soon as Fritz brought in the port-wine he filled +three glasses brimful; presented the first glass to me, then one to the +General, and taking up his own, said in his rough, good-natured way-- + +"The health of our commandant, and a welcome to you, +Jonker!" apparently thinking this the best amends he could make. + +As soon as Francis had taken a slight repast she left the room, and, +at a hint from the General, Rolf did the same. + +Now that we were left to our two selves, the General, drawing himself +up with dignity in his chair, said-- + +"A word with you, Jonker, if you please." + +I bowed assent. + +"But be so good as to move your chair nearer to me; I am a little +deaf." + +I complied with his request. + +"Pardon me for asking you a question which may seem somewhat out of +place. Is this the first time you have met my granddaughter?" + +"The first time, General;" and I rapidly sketched an account of our +meeting and walk to the Castle. + +"Well, I am glad of it," said the old man with a sigh of relief. "My +granddaughter is possessed of many excellent qualities, that I can +truly say; but she has her peculiarities. At times she can be very +brusque, and she has a foible for braving the laws of good society, +and setting all the world at defiance, which has made her many +enemies. It occurred to me she was now trying to make amends for some +misunderstanding which had arisen between herself and you." + +I assured him this was not the case, and that I felt my kindly +reception to be the more flattering since Miss Mordaunt was not +accustomed to flatter. + +"Then explain to me," he continued, "your relationship to the family, +for, though I remember having heard of a Van Zonshoven who was related +to my deceased wife, it is so long ago----" + +"My grandmother, General, was a Freule van Roselaer." + +"She married a French nobleman, if I recollect aright?" + +"A Belgian, General: Baron d'Hermaele." + +"Well, yes, it was during the French occupation of the country under +Napoleon I.; and in those days one did not pay so much attention to +nationality. Our disagreement with Freule Sophia prevented our making +his acquaintance. He settled in Belgium, and I heard afterwards that +Baron d'Hermaele stood in high favour at court in the reign of King +William I." + +"This court favour cost him his life," I added, "for he remained +faithful to his king during the Belgian Revolution; his castle near +Larken was pillaged and burnt by the populace, and he himself cruelly +murdered whilst defending his wife and children." + +"Another fact out of those sad and confused times which I so well +remember. My men were burning with rage to punish such rebels and +brigands, but, alas! they were kept inactive. What became of the +widow and children?" + +"She returned to Holland with one son and seven daughters, of whom the +eldest married my father, Jonker van Zonshoven. I am their only son." + +"Then I am your great-uncle, Jonker." + +"I have made the same calculation, General, and it is for this +reason----" + +"You don't come to talk to me about family affairs, I hope?" he +interrupted, growing uncomfortable. + +"But, my dear uncle, we can speak of family affairs without their +necessarily causing unpleasantness." + +"Hum! Well, you are a Van Zonshoven, a stranger to all the pitiful +feuds which have separated me from the Roselaers. Whole treasures +have been thrown away on the lawsuits they have brought against +me. Francis and I are both still suffering from such losses. Look +here, if you bring any painful news for Francis, or any humiliating +tidings for me--I know that even the validity of my Swiss marriage is +contested--I beseech you, be generous, spare her as long as possible, +for she is ignorant of this fact. Perhaps, old and broken though I +be by trials, I can ward off the evil day a little longer; but be +sincere and tell me plainly----" + +"I assure you, General, my chief desire--as I have already told Miss +Mordaunt--is to save you every kind of trouble I can. I wish simply +to draw family ties closer, and my most ardent desire is that a Van +Zonshoven may have the good fortune to heal the wounds caused by +the Roselaers." + +"Many things are necessary! Much money! As we soldiers say, gold +is the sinews of war--and, pardon me if I make a mistake, the Van +Zonshovens are not rich." + +"You are not mistaken, General. My grandmother and her children +had to live on the pension allowed the widow of Baron d'Hermaele, +and this pension ceased with her life." + +"And did the king do nothing for the daughters?" + +"What would you expect from him, uncle? The only son was promoted and +rewarded, but he died in the flower of his age. It was impossible +for the young ladies to keep William II. in constant recollection +of their father's loyalty. Besides, we decided not to petition or +supplicate for favours, preferring to rely on our own energies and +self-help. This principle was instilled into me whilst I was young." + +"You surprise me. But is there not a Van Zonshoven Minister for +Foreign Affairs in the present Government?" asked the General. "He +must be a rich man, I fancy. What is your relationship to him?" + +"He is my uncle; but I esteem him little. He is married to the +coffee-coloured daughter of a rich Java merchant--for her money, +of course. She is neither intelligent, amiable, nor educated; and +indeed, has got little from him in return for her money except the +right to bear his name and title." + +"A pitiful mésalliance, certainly! But for you the consequences are +a rich and childless uncle?" he observed by way of a query. + +"Yes, and he is already old. But, unfortunately, I am estranged from +him, for I consider it beneath my dignity to beg favours from him." + +The General shook his head. "There spoke the blood of the Roselaers." + +"No, General, the Van Zonshovens are not vindictive, but proud. Though +poor, I have always prized my independence above all things. I +have lived soberly, and never indulged in pleasures above my means; +consequently I have not been forced to sacrifice my liberty, which, +to tell you the truth, is dearer to me than my patent of nobility." + +"Bravo! bravissimo!" resounded in my ears from the bottom of the +room; and it came from the deep, clear voice of Francis, who had been +entering the room as I spoke these words. + +"You see, Jonker," said the General, somewhat fretfully, and knitting +his brows, "your style of speaking has touched my granddaughter's +weak side. Her dreams are of independence, and her illusion is to be +indebted to nobody." + +"Not my illusion, grandfather. My principle is rather to be poor and +independent, and appear so; and rather to suffer privations and make +sacrifices, than be guilty of meanness for the sake of supplying +imaginary wants and desires which we ought manfully to resist." + +The General bit his lips, shut his eyes, and sank back in his chair, as +if he had received a blow from a club; but unwilling to acknowledge a +defeat, after a few seconds he raised himself up and said to Francis-- + +"I allow that you far surpass me in bearing privations; but it would +be well for you to learn a little self-restraint. At my time of life +it is hard to bear reproaches. I cannot change my way of living, +though I confess you deny yourself much for my sake." + +"Come, come, grandfather, you know my words sound harsher than I +mean them; but you cannot expect me to approve what angers me--such +self-restraint I shall never learn." + +"That's unfortunate," replied the General in a bitter tone; "for +what will Leopold think of us if he must listen to such reproaches +at every turn." + +"He will think, uncle, that he is on a visit to a family which is +above dissembling to deceive him, and he will esteem such frankness +as an honour and a privilege----" + +"Well! that's an advantage you'll enjoy to your heart's content, +Jonker, if you stay here long," interrupted the Captain, who had again +entered the room. "Our Major has the praiseworthy custom of speaking +her mind without respect of persons; and when she's displeased, it is +'parade and proceed to execution,' as we say in the courts-martial." + +"Had pardons not been heard of, Captain," retorted Francis, half in +jest, half in earnest, "you would have been dismissed the service +long ere this." + +"That only proves my long-suffering and patience, Miss Major; you know +I permit you to treat me like a corporal would a raw recruit. I would +not bear from the Prince Field-Marshal what I have borne from you." + +"Captain," said the General, who had been listening nervously, +"Captain, I thought I had given you to understand that I desired to +be en famille." + +"And I, General, not guessing the conversation could be so entertaining +for you, came to propose our usual remedy against low spirits: a game +at piquet." + +"Thank you, Captain, no cards this afternoon; I am anxious to talk +to my nephew." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Francis ordered Rolf off in search of her riding-whip which she had +lost on the heath in the morning, making sure this would keep him +out of the way for a time. + +"It's no easy matter to find such a thing in the sand," he growled, +as he limped off. + +"But, you know, I want it very much, and if you can find it you will +do me a great pleasure," Francis called after him. + +"Well, since I need not be on duty with the General, I will do my +best," he answered. + +"You are a cruel despot," I could not help saying to Francis. She +smiled and coloured slightly. + +"Oh, Jonker, this is nothing!" sighed the submissive vassal; "when Miss +Major was a child, you should have seen what I had to do and suffer." + +"Just so," replied Francis; "then you spoilt me, and hence your +penance is so hard. Give me your hand, my good Rolf; I won't promise +you absolution, but a truce for to-day." + +The old soldier took the hand held out to him, and I saw a tear +sparkle in his eye, which reconciled me to him in spite of his vulgar +familiarities. He, ashamed of his weakness, tried to hide it from us +by a prompt retreat. + +Almost immediately afterwards he entered the room again, and +approaching Francis he said-- + +"I know I disturb you, Freule, but it is better that I come instead +of Fritz. I met the driver who brought the Jonker, at the gate, +and he wishes to know at what hour our visitor intends leaving." + +Whilst hesitating about my answer, I overheard him whisper to Francis-- + +"I have passed the turkeys in review, and there is one just ready +for the cook, but not to-day: I am sorry for le cher cousin." + +I hastened to say-- + +"There is nothing I should like better than to spend the day here; +and as for the dinner, I prefer to take pot-luck with my friends." + +"Well, of course you will stay to dinner, Leopold," said the General, +eyeing Francis, who had not yet given her consent. + +After some hesitation she said, in a decisive tone-- + +"We will dine early to-day; order the carriage for seven o'clock." + +"You shame me with such meagre hospitality," interposed the +General. "Why not invite your cousin Van Zonshoven to stay the night; +he can leave early to-morrow morning?" + +"Sleep here, grandfather! But you don't understand; really we are +unprepared to lodge visitors." + +"What!" exclaimed Rolf, with a loud laugh, "we could lodge half +a company." + +"Half your company!" Francis cried bitterly; "but you forget that +Jonker van Zonshoven is accustomed to the luxuries of the Hague." + +"To a modest chamber on the second floor, Francis; and he can sleep +comfortably on a mattress of straw, if well wrapped up." + +The old man was again visibly affected, and murmured gently-- + +"This is another caprice of yours, Francis." + +"If you are determined to stay," responded Francis, with a cold and +sorrowful look at me, "I will try to find you a room where there are +no broken panes. Come, Captain, never mind about the whip to-day; +you must now act as my quartermaster. Forward, march;" and taking +him by the arm, she led off her willing slave. + +When we were once more alone, the General began-- + +"Believe me, she means well and kindly towards you; but as we +don't reckon on visitors, you have taken us by surprise, and that's +what vexes Francis. It is so difficult to procure anything in this +out-of-the-way place." + +"Every lady has her faults and her little caprices," I interposed. + +"Yes, but others can hide them better under a little polish. Francis +cannot understand our social laws; unfortunately she has not had an +education suitable to her rank and station. Her own mother she never +knew; and my son-in-law, Sir John Mordaunt, did not understand the +kind of training necessary for a Dutch lady of position." + +"Don't despair, General; who knows what effect a good husband will +have on her!" + +"That's just my difficulty, Jonker; Francis would refuse to marry +any man she suspected of such intentions." + +"You are right, grandfather," exclaimed Francis, who had again +entered the room. "Major Frank will never give up her command to +an inferior; she can only endure slaves and vassals around her, +and the sooner Jonker Leopold understands this, the better for him, +if he has intentions of conspiring against her freedom." + +This was said half jestingly; but I replied, quite seriously, that +I thought Major Frank would do wrong to refuse a good husband. + +Francis reddened to the roots of her hair, and then grew pale, as +she answered with a forced smile-- + +"Well, you are not a dangerous suitor. As the General will have told +you, Miss Mordaunt can only accept a very rich husband; and I think +you have already acknowledged that the Van Zonshovens are not among +the people who pay the highest amount of income-tax." + +"But Francis!" exclaimed the General, deprecatingly. + +"Well now, dear papa, that's the standard by which people are judged +nowadays, and you would wish Major Frank to be sold to the highest +bidder, if sold she must be. But come, Leopold, let me show you the +grounds before dinner. Grandfather can go with us, for the wind has +gone down and the sun come out, so that it is quite a mild spring +afternoon." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +We directed our steps towards the back of the Castle, passing by the +aviary, which had fallen into decay like its surroundings. The Captain +had, however, turned it into a poultry-walk, and held undisputed +sway over the turkeys with which he had stocked it. The General, +who had come out against his will, leaned on the arm of Francis, +and I walked by her side. Ascending a small rise in the grounds we +came to a summer-house, whence we could obtain a splendid view of +the surrounding country--a sweep of undulating heath as far as the +eye could reach. Francis said this was her favourite place in the +grounds, and that she never grew tired of the charming prospect; +but I could see that her grandfather's thoughts were occupied about +something quite different from the picturesque view. All the farms in +the neighbourhood, and all the woods around, formerly appertained to +the lordship of the Werve; and all these ought to have descended intact +to his granddaughter, to whom he would not leave a foot of earth. + +"By the way, nephew, what has become of the six other Miss d'Hermaeles, +your mother's sisters?" asked the General, breaking the silence +briskly. + +Francis burst out laughing. + +"Grandfather beginning to take an interest in the fate of six young +ladies all at once! That's too much! But he wishes to know, Leo, +whether you have a chance of inheriting anything from a rich aunt," +she said, displaying a quickness of perception peculiar to her. "Isn't +it so, grandfather?" + +I hastened to answer-- + +"Three of them died long ago; two others made good marriages, but +they have children of their own; and one, Aunt Sophia, is maintained +by the rest of the family, I contributing in proportion to my means." + +"Aunt Sophia," repeated the General; "had the d'Hermaeles the foresight +to make Sophia Roselaer godmother to one of their children?" + +"It is possible," I answered, "but I don't know for certain; my mother +seldom talked to me about her relations." + +"At any rate it appears to me she has been made heir to the property +of that mischief-loving woman, Miss Roselaer," continued the General; +"and probably you, Leopold, were not informed of the death, nor invited +to the funeral any more than ourselves? As far as I am concerned I +expected such treatment; yet I cannot understand that she should allow +her hatred to deprive the only granddaughter of her eldest sister of +the property." + +I now felt myself on dangerous ground; but Francis came to my rescue +by saying, in a tone of pleasantry-- + +"Neither did I ever expect anything from her; and yet, who knows, +if I had liked--I have only seen her once in my life; and though as a +rule people are not prepossessed in my favour at a first interview" +(hereupon she gave me a malicious look), "she seems to have had no +reason to complain of me;--in fact, if I had only cultivated the +acquaintance, probably at this moment my name would be in her will +for a good round sum." + +"What! you have seen the old gossip?" interrupted General von Zwenken, +"and you have never told me of it. When and where have you met her?" + +"At the beginning of this year, when I went to Utrecht on certain +business about which it is not necessary to trouble cousin Leopold." + +"She never likes to hear her good deeds spoken of," the General +murmured to me. + +"Oh, it was only a simple duty I had to fulfil; I had to consult +the celebrated Dr. D. about an unfortunate woman who had lost her +reason. At his door I had an altercation with his man-servant, who +wished to put me off till next day under the pretext that the hour for +consultation was passed, and that his master was taking his luncheon +with visitors. However, I insisted upon his taking in my card, and +finally I obtained admission to the dining-room. Dr. D. politely +invited me to take luncheon with them, and introduced me to two +elderly ladies, one his sister, and the other his sister's friend. As +I was very hungry, I accepted without ceremony. I was soon sensible +that his sister's friend was observing my every motion with sharp, +penetrating eyes. Her conversation was amusing. She was lively, +and criticised persons and events cleverly, though with unsparing +severity. This was just to my taste, and excited me to the contest, +till, from repartee to repartee, we got almost to a dispute. It was +my great-aunt Sophia in person, as I afterwards learnt; and just fancy +her mixing up her own name in a malicious manner in the conversation, +and then asking me if I knew her, and what my opinion of her was! I +simply answered: 'I had heard her spoken of; that there had been +quarrels between her and my relations, but that I did not think it +fair, on my part, to attack her behind her back in the presence of +strangers.' She answered that she approved of my conduct. The doctor, +who had for some time been appearing ill at ease, now invited me to +go to his surgery. After the consultation I met the old lady in the +passage; she invited me to accompany her as far as the house of a +friend, where her carriage would await her. I consented, but now I +was on my guard, as I knew who she was; and when she invited me to +spend a day with her I declined----" + +"It was imprudent and impolite," interrupted the General. + +"It was acting in conformity with the spirit of all your dealings +with her, grandfather. I said I could not spend a single hour longer +in Utrecht than business demanded. Before she could say more, a band +of students, of that class better known outside the lecture-room than +inside, began to form a circle round us, and treat us to a piece of +by no means flattering criticism as to the style of our dress. It is +true I was negligently dressed, far behind the fashions; and aunt's +bonnet and shawl gave her much of the appearance of a caricature. I +felt my blood boil, and yet I retained sufficient calmness to tell +these seedling lawyers, authors, and clergymen they ought to be +ashamed of themselves, as their conduct was worse even than that of +street Arabs. My words took effect; one or two dropped off in silence, +others stepped aside, and one of them even attempted to stammer out an +apology. We were near the house of lawyer Van Beek, where Miss Roselaer +was going; and as we took leave of each other she warmly pressed my +hand, thanking me for my protection and presence of mind, but added +that 'such conduct was scarcely ladylike in the public streets.' + +"It might have been more becoming to swoon, but such farces are not +in keeping with the character of Major Frank. + +"If I had known the story would amuse you so much, grandfather, I +would have told it you three months ago; but I was afraid it would +be disagreeable to you to hear I had seen Aunt Sophia." + +"And you have never since heard a word of Miss Roselaer?" demanded +Von Zwenken, fretfully. + +"No; but I have reason to suppose she wished to oblige me. I had +to make arrangements at Utrecht for the proper nursing of my poor +patient. The most important point was the money, and at the time +I had very little; but the same evening I received a letter from +Dr. D., informing me a rich friend, who desired to remain unknown, +had promised to pay all the expenses. So here you have my reasons for +surprise that Aunt Sophia should have included me in hatred of the +family; for the rich unknown friend could be no other than herself." + +The General muttered between his teeth-- + +"Oh, from that woman you might expect anything!" + +To me this account was as a ray of light. Aunt had changed her will, +after this incident, in favour of Francis, and not, it was clear, +for purposes of revenge. Now I felt more bound than ever to win the +love of Francis, and to marry her; and I confess my inclinations were +tending in that direction. Her straightforward, upright character, +her original and piquant style of beauty, were already beginning to +act like a charm upon me; still it would be well not to precipitate +matters, and I controlled a desire which came over me to demand her +hand on the spot. There were also mysterious events in her past life +which required clearing up. Besides, I had to consider how it would +be possible to change her aversion from marriage, the male sex, and +social life in general. And I was convinced if she once pronounced +the fatal word "No," my suit was hopeless. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +Fritz, who came up at a trot, after the usual military salute to +Francis, interrupted our further conversation. He addressed her in +the following words-- + +"Freule, the Captain sends to inquire if you have thought of the sauce +for the pudding, and if you will let him have the key to the pantry?" + +Turning to me she said-- + +"Excuse me, Leo--duty first and pleasure afterwards; my worthy adjutant +reminds me I have duties in the kitchen." + +In a moment she had tripped away out of sight, and the General, +rising, said-- + +"I must also go and dress, for I never dine in my dressing-gown." Then +calling to Fritz, he said, "Show the Jonker to his room, if it +is ready." + +"Certainly, General; I have taken up his bag." + +"So you have brought a travelling-bag?" asked the General, with a +smile, and giving me an inquiring look. + +"What shall I say, uncle; did I take too great a liberty in reckoning +on an invitation for a few days?" + +"Certainly not, my boy!" he replied frankly; "a change is very welcome +to me--only try to make it all right with Francis." + +Fritz led the way up a broad oaken staircase to the first floor of the +left wing, the very one which had struck me as the least habitable. I +was shown into a large room that had once been well furnished, but +which now appeared rather sombre, as all the shutters were closed +except one, and this was only left ajar. I asked Fritz to open them, +telling him I was fond of plenty of light. + +"Sir, Freule gave me orders to keep the shutters closed, otherwise +there would be too much light, for there are no blinds." + +"Never mind, man; open them for me." + +"Yes, but there will be a draught; we never have guests, and therefore +the broken window-panes have been neglected, and there is no glazier +in the village." + +I dismissed the good fellow, whose fidelity to his mistress was +evinced by his reticence. + +When I had opened one shutter entirely so as to obtain sufficient +light, I found the room contained a large old-fashioned bedstead, +with red silk hangings; a splendid couch, the covering of which was +torn in several places and the horse-hair peeping out--then, even +worse, I found it had lost a leg; moreover, there was not a chair in +the room I dared seat myself on without the fear of coming to grief. + +In the middle of the room was a marble-topped table, standing on +its three gilt bear-paws; but it was cracked in several places, +and the mosaic star in the centre had almost disappeared piece by +piece. A simple modern washstand, of grey painted wood with light +green borders, had been placed just under an oval rococo mirror, +and formed a striking contrast to these neglected antiquities. + +From my window I was enjoying a view of the beautiful country of +Guelderland, and forming plans for the renovation and embellishment of +the fallen greatness around--always provided Francis consented--when +I heard the second dinner-bell, and hastened downstairs, having +been warned that the General still kept up his military habits of +punctuality. + +I was very curious to see whether Francis had dressed for dinner, how +she looked, &c. But, alas! my hopes were disappointed. Her beautiful +hair was loosely confined in a silk net, which seemed scarcely capable +of sustaining its weight. She had not changed her dress, and had only +thrown over her shoulders a small faded shawl, which served to hide the +white and slender form of her neck. She perceived my disappointment; in +fact, her beautiful eyes regarded me with an air that seemed to say-- + +"Make up your mind that I am totally indifferent as to the impression +I may produce on you." + +Otherwise she performed her part as hostess with exemplary zeal and +great ability. She served the soup, carved the meat, and even changed +the plates herself--as Fritz seemed to consider his duty done when +he had placed the things on the sideboard. To my great surprise, +the dinner was abundant and even recherché. + +After the soup, which was excellent, roast beef with choice preserved +vegetables was served up--"surrogate of the primeurs," as the General +expressed himself; then partridges in aspic and a poulet au riz, +followed by young cabbages with baked eels, which, the Captain said +playfully, had only gone into his net for my sake. As plat doux, +we had a pudding with the wonderful sauce Francis had been called +into the kitchen to make; and to wind up, a complete dessert. It was +difficult for me to reconcile all this with the idea of people living +in straitened circumstances. + +The different kinds of wine, furnished in over-great abundance and +variety by the Captain, who acted as butler, completed the luxuries +of the table. The wines were of the best brands, and my host and +his aide-de-camp took care to call my attention to them. My habits +of abstinence obliged me to exercise great moderation, and I could +plainly see that they were disappointed at my want of enthusiasm. + +Neither the crockery nor the table-linen was in keeping with the +luxury of the courses. The former was French china, dating from the +same period as the furniture and the golden leather tapestries, and +had evidently suffered a good deal from rough usage and servants. It +was cracked, riveted, incomplete; and modern blue ware had been +purchased to supply deficiencies, thus enhancing its splendour and +emphasizing the contrast. The large damask tablecloth, that represented +the marriage of a Spanish Infanta, had certainly done duty when Aunt +Sophia ruled as mistress of the establishment. It was exceedingly +fine but worn, and the rents had not always been neatly darned. As for +the silver, the speed with which Francis sent the forks and spoons to +the kitchen and ordered them back, proved to me that the dozens were +not complete. On the other hand, there was an abundance of cut glass, +to which the Captain directed my attention lest I should overlook it, +adding, however-- + +"I do not attach much value to such things. Many a time during the +campaign I have drunk beer out of a milk-pail, and champagne out of +teacups; and I did not enjoy it the less for that." + +"Provided the cups were not too small," interrupted Francis. + +"But the General," continued Rolf, without noticing the remark, +"the General would rather go without Yquem than drink it out of a +common glass; and as our Major (I mean Freule, the commander-in-chief) +always manifests the greatest indifference in this respect, I have +charged myself with the care of the General's wine-cellar." + +I neither liked nor approved the tone of the Captain's observations; +but Von Zwenken said nothing. Francis did not, however, fail to +retaliate in her vehement way. + +"Fie, Captain!" she interrupted. "Are you afraid Jonker van Zonshoven +will not observe how great your merits as quartermaster are? If every +one in this house would follow my régime, and drink clear spring-water, +your zeal and care for the wine-cellar would be superfluous." + +I had already noticed that she drank nothing but water. The General +now came to the Captain's aid with a French expression: "Le luxe, +c'est le nécessaire." + +He had drunk a good deal, and his pale cheeks were growing +rosy. Francis rang for Fritz to hand round cigars to the gentlemen, and +then retired to the drawing-room in spite of the furious looks of her +grandfather. As the door was open, I could follow her movements in the +large mirror which faced me. I saw her throw herself on the sofa, wring +her hands, and bite her lips as if to suppress her sobs. The General +soon dozed off, and the Captain applied himself to the cognac bottle, +as he said it was necessary to warm up his stomach after eating cold +fruit; so I walked over towards the drawing-room, trying to hide my +cigar. Francis was disconcerted at being surprised in her disconsolate +mood; but she composed herself, and said, with an attempt at a smile-- + +"You may smoke here, cousin, if you wish to have a talk with me." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +"I am not in the habit of smoking in the presence of----" (I had +almost said ladies). + +"Nonsense! I am not so fastidious; and you know that quite well. Shall +I make you some coffee? The gentlemen yonder do not take any; they +smoke and drink till----" + +I interrupted her with-- + +"I want nothing but to talk confidentially with you for a quarter of +an hour. Will you grant me that favour?" + +"Certainly; take the easy-chair and sit down opposite; that is the +best position for a talk." + +I obeyed, and she began-- + +"Tell me, first of all, do you now understand why I do not like +receiving company?" + +"Perhaps. I venture to suppose that you wish to simplify the way of +living, and that the gentlemen do not approve of it. And visitors +cause expense." + +"Now, indeed, it is clever of you to guess after what you have +just seen!" and she laughed a merry laugh. "I see I must explain +matters. But let us talk about yourself, Leopold; that will change the +current of my thoughts--and they want changing in my present state of +mind. You see there my constant and daily society," she continued, +looking towards the dining-room. "They have now reached the topmost +point of their enjoyment--the General asleep with a cigar in his mouth, +and the Captain absorbing his quantum of cognac. Afterwards he will +fill his German pipe, totter off to the billiard-room, and smoke and +sleep till tea-time. Come, now, as we have a full hour before us, +confess yourself. Why have you not studied for a barrister?" And +she fixed her large eyes on me as if she suspected that I had been +rusticated. + +"Simply because my good father died too soon." + +"A good father always dies too soon. Even a bad one who neglects his +child is a great loss. Yours left nothing?" + +"Except a widow with a very small pension--too small to maintain +me at Leyden, and therefore I left after one year's residence, as +I wished to earn my own living and obtain comforts for my mother, +who was in very weak health." + +"I admire you for that, Leo; a man who is not selfish, and can make +sacrifices for his mother or his wife's sake, is a rarity. It does +me good to hear such men still exist." + +"Now, Francis, give me your confidence. Perhaps I can assist you in +your troubles." + +"Don't attempt the impossible, Leopold," she replied in a tone of +profound sadness. "However, as I believe you to be loyal and generous, +I will be explicit with you; and if I am deceived in you, as I have +often been in others, one deception more or less cannot make much +difference in the grand total. When my grandfather had obtained his +pension we came to the Werve, as it was urgently necessary for us +to economize. His rank as commandant in a small fortified town had +necessitated our living in grand style. He had to invite the mayor and +other dignitaries to his table, as well as his own lieutenants; and let +me acknowledge we had both got into the habit of living in abundance +and of being very hospitable; consequently we had nearly always an +open table. Owing to many events and painful family circumstances, +our fortune with the last few years has shrunk so visibly that it was +impossible to continue our old style of living. And grandpapa at last +saw things as I did. We retired to the Werve; we did not want company, +and we severed ourselves from all parasites at one stroke. + +"I counted on the kitchen garden, the orchard, and the home farm +(which in those days still belonged to the Werve) providing for all +our wants; and I cherished a secret hope of saving money, so as one +day to make some repairs and raise this castle from its state of decay. + +"At first everything went on tolerably well. We came in the +summer-time. We both needed rest; the splendid and varied scenery +enticed us out on long rides and drives; in fact, everything combined +to make us enjoy our solitude. But, alas! the autumn came with its +long evenings and chilly days; the General suffered from rheumatism +and could not mount his horse. Then weariness overmastered him like +a plague, and I tried music and reading in vain. He is not fond of +music, and he does not care for reading. He cannot bear to see me +with a book in my hand, unless it be an illustrated book to ornament +the drawing-room table. When I had read the paper there was nothing +more to say. I played dominoes with him and piquet-à-deux. I could +hardly do it any longer; but he never had enough of it. He grew +fidgetty and melancholy, began to languish, and was less and less +satisfied with our simple way of living. I could not bear to see +him so cast down, without the means of helping him. Just about this +time one of his former comrades, who had also obtained his pension, +invited grandfather to visit him in Arnheim. I thought it would be a +nice change, and encouraged him to go. He was quite happy and quite +at his ease there, and stayed the three winter months." + +"And you?" + +"I stayed at home. They had forgotten to invite me; and when they +thought of it, it seemed to me such a formal invitation that I made +up my mind to decline it, as I had before reflected it would save a +great deal of expense in ball dresses and other ways of squandering +money which such visits necessarily bring with them." + +"Yet, even here, a little attention to dress would not be out of +place," I interposed, seizing the opportunity to tell her my opinion +on the subject. + +"Oh, it does not matter for me. I can speak as a certain French woman +du temps que j'étais femme. That time's past; what does it matter +how Major Frank dresses?" + +"Major Frank," I replied, "should wear a uniform suitable to her rank +and the position in which she finds herself. That is no coquetry, +it is only decency--seemliness." + +"But, Leopold," she cried, feverishly beating the devil's tattoo with +her little foot, "since I have been here I have bought nothing new, +and part of my wardrobe I have given away to the daughter of a poor +officer, who had obtained a place as governess in a rich family, +and had scarcely the wherewithal to clothe herself decently. Now, +cousin, that you are initiated into the mysteries of my wardrobe, +you understand why I could not come to table in a ball costume. But +don't trouble me with any more of your silly remarks about dress; +let me continue. + +"My grandfather returned from Arnheim, cured of his melancholy and +more deeply in debt than ever. His stay, even with a friend, had cost +him much money in dress. He had had to order a new general's uniform, +as he could not go into society in that of a colonel; then there were +fees to servants; and, worst of all, that abominable high play which +is the curse of our nation. In short, on his return he was obliged to +sell the home-farm, and even this did not bring in sufficient money +to satisfy his creditors. This time my grandfather solemnly vowed he +would never enter society again, and he has kept his word; but he soon +fell into a black melancholy, from which he is only just recovering. + +"Rolf, a brave soldier, but one who, in spite of his merits, would +never have obtained the rank of officer without grandpapa's protection, +called upon us. He was a sort of servant in the house before I +was born, making himself generally useful as only soldiers can. His +sister was my nurse, my mother having died soon after I came into the +world. Unfortunately, she had neither education nor character to fit +her for the task. With the best intentions, she thoroughly spoilt me, +a work in which she was assisted by her brother, Sergeant Rolf, who +would sooner have thought of disobeying his colonel than of opposing +any caprice of his 'little Major,' as he already called me. Well, +when he got his pension as captain he stayed here a few days, and his +company seemed to be a welcome change to grandfather; and perceiving +that a third person would be an agreeable addition to our society, +I proposed to him to take up his quarters here, as he could live +on his pension in one place as well as another. My proposition was +eagerly accepted, and I took the command, as he expresses it, whilst +he did his best to cheer up the General, and the winter has passed +less monotonously than I anticipated. + +"Meantime Rolf has inherited some property in North Brabant, and now +he insists upon paying his quota towards the housekeeping expenses, +to which I have consented for the General's sake, because he is so +fond of delicacies. But you don't know how I suffer when I see them +rivalling each other in the pleasures of the table, and think of the +humiliation and abasement of my grandfather----" + +Fritz entered with the lamp, and asked if Freule had not rung for the +tea. The General and the Captain followed. The conversation languished +over the tea-table, and Francis became silent; when suddenly the +Captain exclaimed, pointing to her hair-- + +"Ah, the lioness shakes her mane to frighten us!" + +"It's true," she answered coolly; "excuse me, gentlemen." + +And away she went to her own room. + +"It is curious how Francis has these attacks of nonchalance," muttered +the General. + +"And just now, when we have a visitor whom she herself brought," +assented the Captain. + +But to change the subject the General proposed a game at cards. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + + +The Captain arranged the card-table, whilst Fritz removed the +tea-things. We took our seats, and the General, as I thought, fixed +the counters tolerably high. + +The old man seemed to undergo a thorough change the moment he +held the cards in his hand. His dull, sleepy eyes brightened with +intelligence and sparkled with enthusiasm. Every limb moved; the tips +of his fingers trembled, and yet they still held the cards firmly +whilst he examined them to calculate, with mathematical precision, +what was wanting in ours. His pale cheeks flushed a deep red, his +nostrils expanded or contracted according to the chances of the game; +and the melancholy man, who usually sat with his head bowed down as +though overburdened, was of a sudden seized by a spirit of audacity, +of rashness, of foolhardiness, that not seldom gained him splendid +success, and reminded me of the saying, "Good luck is with the rash +man." It certainly is with the audacious player. + +As for myself I made many blunders, which greatly amused my +companions. I had already lost a considerable sum, when the door +opened and Francis appeared in evening costume. + +I threw down my cards on the table to offer her a chair. The General, +who sat with his back to the door, looked at me angrily, whilst the +Captain cried-- + +"Our Major in full dress." + +"What strange whim is this?" growled the General, with difficulty +suppressing his anger, for he had an excellent hand of cards this +time. "The whole day you have gone about like a Cinderella, and +now----" + +"The fairy has come, and I appear as a princess," replied Francis. + +"And the famous glass slipper is not wanting," I said, admiring the +beautiful little slippers peeping out from under her dress. + +"Perhaps; but I will take care not to lose it." + +"Why not?" I asked, looking fixedly at her. + +"Because I will not make the romance of an hour a question for life." + +"All you are saying to Francis may be very gallant and witty, nephew," +cried the General, "but it is not polite to leave the card-table in +the midst of a game." + +"If the Freule would join us we could play quadrille," said Rolf. + +"Thanks, Captain, I prefer playing the piano, if it does not disturb +you." + +Her playing was like herself, fantastic and bizarre; gradually, +however, it became sweet and melancholy, and moved me almost to +tears. My thoughts were with the music, and I lost every game +afterwards. The General was furious, and let me perceive it. I was +about to pay my debt, when Francis entered precipitately, and said +in a decided tone--so decided, indeed, as to displease me--that I +should not pay. I answered in the same tone, and to cut short all +arguments I placed the money on the table. She then tried to snatch +out of Rolf's hand the note I had given him. I told her I thought +her interference very unbecoming. + +"Oh, very well; it's all the same to me if you wish to be plundered." + +And with this she returned to the piano; whilst the General, who seemed +to gloat over his gains, remained silent during this little scene. It +gave me a painful insight into his character. I pitied the old man, +who played not for amusement but for the sake of money, and would +take it in large or small sums from a poor relation or a richer man. + +But at the same time, as I went to join Francis at the piano, I +thought my money well spent in discovering the General's weakness, +which had so influenced his granddaughter's past life. + +"Will you play?" she asked, brusquely. + +"I don't feel disposed." + +"As you like," she said, turning to the instrument and striking the +keys as if she would break them. + +I took up an old newspaper and pretended to be reading it. + +In the end she played a prelude, and then began the air of Bettly in +the châlet-- + + + Liberté chérie, + Seul bien de la vie, + Règne toujours là! + Tra la, la, la, tra la, la, la! + Tant pis pour qui s'en fâchera! + + +I threw aside the paper, and, approaching the piano, I whispered-- + +"Do you remember how this charming little opera ends?" + +"Certainly, like all other pieces suitable for the theatre; but in +real life it is just the contrary, and I like reality." + +Fritz came to announce supper. The gentlemen were cheerful, the +Captain noisy and jovial; Francis only gave short and dry answers, +and showed me her ill-humour by only giving me the tips of her fingers +when she wished us all good-night. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + + +Unromantic though it may sound, I must confess to having slept +well on the first night I spent under the roof of my mother's +ancestors. Sleep surprised me whilst I was reflecting on the +strange and incomprehensible character of Francis. Proud, generous, +noble-hearted, quick-witted, beautiful--and yet with all her charms +(which I could feel had already begun to work upon me) spoilt by +a detestable education, by the manners of a sutler and a rudeness +of the worst kind. And then, in addition to all this, there was the +question of her past life which I had heard painted in such black +colours. It seemed doubtful whether Major Frank could ever become +Lady Francis van Zonshoven. + +When I awoke the sun was streaming through the one window whose +shutters I had purposely left open, with the intention of taking +an early morning walk. I crept silently down the stairs so as not +to awake anybody, but I met Fritz in the vestibule, and he made his +military salute in silence. The hall door was wide open. I took the +direction of the home-farm, where I hoped to obtain a glass of new +milk, and draw the tenants out a little about the inhabitants of the +Castle--one in particular. + +I had not gone very far before whom should I see coming from the farm +but Francis herself, with a basket of fresh eggs. + +After a moment's hesitation I asked-- + +"Are we again good friends?" For I had an idea she would have taken +another path if she had seen me a little sooner. + +"I never knew we had ceased to be so," she answered, colouring +a little. + +"Hem! Towards the close of the evening, in spite of what you may say +to the contrary." + +"Say, rather, in spite of myself. Believe me, Leo, I was not morose +out of caprice; I was troubled and anxious. I saw my manner displeased +you, but I was afraid that to flatter grandfather's weakness you were +suffering yourself to become his dupe." + +"And even in that case I could not permit you to interfere." + +"You had told me you were poor, that you must economize, and then +to squander your money in such a way in our house--it seemed to me +like card-sharping." + +"No, no; nothing of the sort. But supposing it had been, you have +tact enough to understand that it was beneath my dignity to take the +money back." + +"That's true, I am of your opinion; but I warned you beforehand that +my manners were bad." + +"I think it less a question of bad manners than a certain arrogance, +a certain despotism----" + +"Well, then, pardon the arrogance, the despotism," she said jestingly; +"still, if I confess you were in the right and that I deserve +correction, will you on your part acknowledge that you are making +somewhat too much ado about a little mistake?" + +"But you, who are so proud, how can you suppose that a man will +consent to be protected by a woman?" + +"Again you are right, Leopold; such a man would be like so many others +I know." + +"Pardon me, Francis; our friendship is like a tender plant, and we +must cultivate it so as to prevent its taking a crooked turn." + +"If you regard our friendship in such a serious light," she resumed, +whilst a slight blush suffused her cheeks, "I will capitulate on +condition that our little quarrel of last night be forgotten and +forgiven." + +I felt myself under the charm again, and seizing her hand in a +transport of joy, I covered it with kisses. + +"Leo, what are you doing?" she cried, pale and with tears in her eyes. + +"Sealing the bond of our friendship." + +"Leo, Leo! you know not what you do," she said softly; "you forget +to whom you are speaking--I am Major Frank." + +"I will have no more of Major Frank; my cousin Francis Mordaunt must +suffer me to offer her my arm." And taking her hand again, I gently +drew her arm within mine. She submitted in silence, with a singular +expression of dejection on her face. + +"I feel it will do me good to talk to you for once in this way, +though it may be the first and only time. Where are you going, Leo?" + +"To the farm yonder; I see you have been there already for eggs; +let me carry the basket for you." + +"No, thank you. I had not reckoned on the eggs, but the good people +insisted upon my taking them; I went to see a patient." + +"A patient! Do you play the doctor?" + +"I do a little of everything; but the patient in question is a dog, +a dear, faithful creature, my poor 'Veldher,' who has broken his leg, +and will suffer no one to touch him but myself. Another trouble I +have brought on myself; and yet, if the others could be remedied as +easily!" she said, with a profound sigh. + +She became pale as death, her lips quivered, and, withdrawing her arm +from mine, she stood still, covering her face with her hands as if she +would force back the tears already rolling down her cheeks. I remained +by her side, and after a pause I said, with gentle earnestness-- + +"Tell me what has happened, Francis; it will be a relief to you and +ease your mind." + +"Yes," she resumed, calmly, "I must confide my sufferings to some +one, but not now. I will not spoil our morning walk by calling up +such a frightful scene. I can myself scarcely understand how it is +possible that I, who cannot bear to see dumb creatures suffer, have +to reproach myself with the death of one of my fellow-men." + +"I beseech you to tell me all, trusting in me for my sincerest +sympathy." + +"Not now," she cried; "what good would it do? It would only embitter +the few minutes we have to spend together." + +"May I help you with a word it seems to cost you trouble to +pronounce? Is it not a certain unfortunate incident with regard to +your coachman?" + +"Just so, that's it," she replied, assuming her defiant and bitter +tone. "If you wish to know more about it, ask the people at the +farm--they know all the particulars." + +"I shall take good care not to go making inquiries into your secrets +behind your back, Francis." + +"My secrets!" she exclaimed, her voice quivering with +indignation. "There is no secret in the matter. It is a question +of a dreadful accident, which happened on the public high-road +in the presence of a crowd of spectators attracted by the noise; +but the occasion was not lost to set public opinion against me. Was +it not Major Frank, who never acted like anybody else--Major Frank +the outlaw! It would have been a pity to let such an opportunity +of blackening her character pass. I ought to have reflected that +you would have heard the story; and very likely you are come here +'to interview' the heroine of such a romantic adventure. It would +be a pity you should lose your pains. There's the farm--go straight +on and ask the people to tell you all about the affair between Major +Frank and her coachman Harry Blount; both the man and his wife were +witnesses. And, Jonker van Zonshoven, when they have satisfied you, you +may return to the Werve to take your leave, and return as you came." + +And off she ran, without giving me time to answer, leaving me in a +state of terrible confusion. + +One thing at last seemed clear to me; I had lost her for ever. Should I +follow and overtake her? She appeared resolute to tell me no more. Yet +I must know more! I could neither stay at the Werve nor go away until +my doubts were cleared up. + +I went on to the farm, and was soon served with a glass of milk. The +farmer's wife seemed to know all about my visit, and thought it quite +natural for the Freule to send me there for a glass of new milk. She +was loud in her praises of the Freule, said her equal was not to +be found in the whole aristocracy, "so familiar and kind-hearted, +but at times flighty, and then she goes off like a locomotive"--she +pronounced it "leukemetief." But it would be impossible for me to +reproduce her Guelders dialect; and, to confess a truth, I had myself +sometimes great difficulty in understanding her. + +She showed me the farm and the dog, a splendid brown pointer who +allowed me to stroke him, probably for his mistress' sake. Once the +good farmer's wife had loosened her tongue, she rattled away with +great volubility-- + +"Yes, she was sorry the General was no longer their landlord; but +Overberg was not a bad fellow--he had made many repairs, and even +promised to build a new barn which the General would never consent +to. It was a pity for the man! A good gentleman, but he took no +interest in farming; the whole place must have gone to wrack and +ruin if the General had not agreed to sell it before it was too +late. The Freule was sorry, for she liked farming; she had learned to +milk, and talked to the cows just as if they were human beings. And +horses--yes, Jonker, even the plough horses, before they go out into +the field in the morning, she talks to them. My husband was groom to +her grandfather, in his youth; I think I can see the greys she used to +drive with so much pride, and Blount the coachman at her side, as proud +as a king, with his arms folded, and looking as if the team belonged +to him. Oh dear, yes! And now all that grandeur has disappeared. The +beautiful carriage-horses are sold, and the Freule has only her English +horse which my husband stables and grooms for her. What a sin and shame +it is when the gentry fall into such decay! And the family used to be +the greatest in these parts, and good to their tenants. My parents and +grandparents always lived on the estate; but oh, oh! since the marriage +of the eldest Freule Roselaer, they have never prospered. What can I +say? 'A house divided against itself cannot stand,' as the Scriptures +tell us. The Jonker has certainly heard of all these things?" + +"Enough, Mrs. Pauwelsen, more than enough," I responded, for the good +woman's chatter was becoming insupportable. I hastily took my leave +of her and arrived just in time for breakfast; in fact, I was in the +breakfast-parlour before either the Captain or the General. Francis +was alone, but when she saw me she left the room under the pretext +of seeing if the tea-water boiled. + +"Stay, Francis--I think I have a right to a kinder reception." + +"On what do you ground your right? Have you now satisfied your +curiosity?" + +"I know nothing, Francis; I asked no questions." + +"Asked nothing! on your word of honour?" + +"I have not asked two words, Francis. I did not ask, because I did +not want to hear anything." + +"Forsooth! You have shown more self-control than I thought a man +capable of." + +"Are the women so much our superiors in this respect?" + +"If it be necessary, we can keep quiet." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + + +The Captain made his appearance, and put an end to our conversation, +without for a moment being aware how unwelcome his presence was to +me. I could scarcely give a civil answer to his question-- + +"Slept well, Jonker?" + +He went on, however, in his jovial tone-- + +"The General will be here directly." + +And, indeed, the General's entrance followed like an echo to the words, +and the breakfast began. + +Francis was silent and preoccupied--yet she gave me a look as if +she regretted her want of confidence in me--making all sorts of +mistakes. The General's tea was sweetened twice over, and the Captain +found he had no sugar in his, a defect which he remedied as furtively +as possible, whispering to me-- + +"Our Major's got out on the wrong side of the bed this morning. We +must take care, or the orders of the day will be severe. She----" + +"But Francis! What's the matter with you today; the eggs are too hard," +growled the General. + +"What a pity, just when we have a visitor," sighed the Captain; +"otherwise they are boiled to perfection." + +"By the way, Leopold, what hour is your carriage ordered +for?" interposed the General. + +"Well, uncle, I left it to the Captain," was my reply. + +As we spoke a carriage drove up, and Francis rose from the table to +look out of the window. + +"It is indeed too early," said the General, reproachfully, to Rolf. + +"Wait a moment, Excellency," replied Rolf, with a roguish twinkle of +the eye; and he walked over to the window where Francis stood. Then +with a loud laugh he said, "The Jonker left the matter in my hands, +and perceiving he would like to stay a little longer with us, I simply +sent off to Zutphen for his luggage." + +It was now my turn to speak, and I asked Francis if she would keep +me there a few days longer. Her answer, however, was in the negative. + +"Leave at once; it is better for both of us." + +In the meantime the Captain, like a worthy major-domo, had not only +assisted in bringing in my box, but also a number of packages, bottles, +tins, &c., which he spread over the table, and clapping the General +on the shoulder, as he said-- + +"Now, what says your Excellency; have I not made a splendid foraging +party?" + +"No more of your 'Excellency' and insolent nonsense," burst out +Francis, her eyes striking fire and her cheeks burning with rage. "You +clearly forget, you d----d rascal, that you are an inferior; otherwise +you would not dare to act like this. Bless my soul, what a foolish +throwing away of money is this--perdrix rouges, pâté-de-foie-gras, +all kinds of fish in jelly, all kinds of preserved fruit. Why, it +looks as if you were going to start a business here. Why have you +brought all these useless dainties again?" And she struck the table +with her clenched fist till the pots and bottles danced again. "The +General ought to turn you out of doors; and he would if his tongue +and sense of honour had not grown dull." + +"Francis, Francis!" murmured Von Zwenken in a pitiful tone. + +"No, grandfather," she continued, more loudly and rudely, "it is a +shame, and if you had the least fortitude left you would put a stop +to such extravagance." + +"Major, Major!" interposed Rolf, deprecatingly. + +"Silence, you miserable epicure--I am no longer your major; I have +had enough of your quasi-pleasantry. If I had my will all this should +be changed. But I have lost my authority; you let me talk----" + +"Scream, you mean," corrected Von Zwenken, with a quivering voice. + +"And you go on just the same," resumed Francis, pitching her voice +still higher. "But I will not suffer you to take such liberties any +longer; and if grandfather does not call you to order, I will myself +put you out of doors, and all your delicacies with you." + +"For heaven's sake, Francis, calm yourself," said Von Zwenken; +"remember that Jonker van Zonshoven is a witness of your unseemly +conduct." + +"All the better. The Jonker chooses to become our guest, and he +shall see and know into what a mean and miserable a household he has +entered. I will put no blind before his eyes." + +"There is, however, a difference between trying to blind people, and +tearing off the bandages from the sores in this way, Miss Mordaunt," +I replied, with emphasis. + +"Possibly, Jonker; but I cannot hide my meaning in fine words. I +must speak plainly. I would rather live on bread and water than be +beholden to another for these luxuries." + +With this she left the room, giving me a defiant look, which I +returned by a shake of the head, to signify how much I disapproved +of her conduct and the intemperance of her language. + +Whilst we stood staring at each other, we three gentlemen, in a state +of stupefaction, she just put her head in at the door and said-- + +"Captain, you will attend to the housekeeping duties to-day; I am +going for a ride." + +"At your service, Commandant," answered Rolf, bringing his hand to +his cap in military fashion. + +I could not help expressing my amazement at the coolness with which +he treated the whole affair. + +"What could I say, Jonker; such outbursts are not new to me. I saw +this morning that the weather-glass stood at storm. The quicker and +more violent the storm, the sooner it is over; and you know an old +soldier is proof against weather." + +"I am glad I warned you beforehand, nephew, of my granddaughter's +temper," said the General, with a deep sigh, without raising his +head to look at me. "Once she's got an idea into her head, there is +no opposing her; she'll drive through anything, like a man on his +hobby-horse; she never reasons." + +I thought to myself, she reasons only too logically for you; and he +evidently felt it, for throughout the whole scene he had sat with +his head down, nervously playing with his ring. + +"Come, General, don't be cast down," said Rolf, cheerily: "we'll +maintain our alliance against the common foe, and the wind will +change again." + +As he spoke he unfolded a long, small parcel; it contained a +riding-whip. "I am afraid the moment is inopportune," he said; +"and yet she will need it. Who knows but she'll accept my present?" + +"I hope not," I said to myself; "that would lower her in my esteem." + +"She deserves to be chastised with it," interposed the General, +now giving vent to his pent-up rage. + +"Yes, Excellency, that we ought to have done twenty years ago. It +was a mistake to promote her to the command before we had taught her +the discipline." + +"A great mistake," sighed the General. + +Rolf now set to work to attend to his housekeeping duties, and I +excused myself under the pretext of having letters to write; for I +had a great wish to be alone and reflect on all I had seen and heard +this morning. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + + +Once in my room, I threw off my coat, loosened my collar, and made +myself quite comfortable before commencing a letter to Overberg. + +Suddenly there came a polite rap at my door, and, when I opened it, +who should stand before me but Major Frank in person. She was dressed +in her riding-habit, and brought me an inkstand, which she placed on +the table, then took a chair quite at her ease, though she could see +I was not pleased at being surprised in my shirt-sleeves. However, +I put on my coat and demanded the object of her visit, as I scarcely +believed her sole object was to supply me with an inkstand; and I +pointed out to her I had got my own writing-case with me. My freezing +manner seemed to disappoint her, so she said-- + +"I wished to ask a favour of you, but I see I disturb you." + +I was still silent. + +"Have you a strap amongst your luggage which I can use as a +riding-whip? You know I have lost mine." + +"I can lend you my ruler. Will that do?" + +She grew very red, and after a pause she said-- + +"I see you are in no humour to render me a service." + +"I am always ready to serve a lady who exercises the privileges of her +sex. Why did you not send for me, if you wished to ask me anything?" + +"Ah!" she exclaimed, in an injured tone, "my want of etiquette causes +your ill-humour. I have come into your room. Well, pass it over--you +know I am so little of 'a lady.'" + +"That's only too true, Major." + +"Major!" she repeated angrily, opening her large eyes in +astonishment. "I thought you disliked my nickname." + +"Not since I have seen the soldier in action. But I should like +to know to which class of majors you belong, tambour-major or +sergeant-major? For I believe the command of a regiment is usually +given to a man of refinement--to a person, in fact, who can make +himself respected by his gentleman-like behaviour and dignity; but +after the scene I witnessed this morning----" + +"Leopold!" she cried, deadly pale, her lips quivering, "this is a +personal insult. Do you mean it as such?" + +I was surprised at the change, for I had expected her to wreak her +anger on me now. But she sat quite still, as if nailed to her chair; +so I continued-- + +"My remarks only apply to the disagreeable character it pleases you +to assume." + +Still no answer. And I began to be embarrassed in my turn, which +embarrassment was only increased by her breaking out in a plaintive +tone-- + +"Leopold, you strike deeper than you suppose." + +"Francis," I cried, changing my tone, "believe me, it is not my +intention to wound you; I wish to cure you." + +I was going to take her hand, when she sprang up as if she had received +an electric shock, and said in her bitterest tone-- + +"I will not be cured by you; I am what I am, and don't you waste your +precious time on such a disagreeable creature as you think me to be." + +"Oh, Francis! I am not deceived in you, and I will try to cure you in +spite of yourself. When you made such a terrible scene in my presence +this morning, I understood you. It meant this: He is staying here +to study the character of Major Frank; well now, he shall see it in +all its rudeness and insufferableness, and we shall see how long he +will stay in spite of me. Miss Mordaunt, I have seen through your +intentions, and I am not to be frightened away by the rude mask you +have put on." + +"A mask! I am no masker!" she cried, stamping her foot with rage. "You, +Jonker van Zonshoven, come from the Hague, a town full of maskers, +to tell me this, me whose chief defect or merit--which you like--is +to have broken with all social hypocrisies, me whose chief pride is +to speak my mind plainly without regard of persons. I did not think +it necessary to measure my words in your presence; it appeared to me +you had made yourself one of the family, and I thought it best you +should know the relationship in which we stand to each other." + +"Just so," I replied, smiling. "You acknowledge that in raising your +voice several notes too high when you gave those two humiliated men +a piece of your mind, your real object was to drive a third person +out of the house. Be sincere, Francis, confess the truth." + +I tried in vain to look her in the face whilst I spoke. She had turned +her head away, and was kicking the leg of the table. + +"I observe, and not for the first time, that you can be disagreeable +when you like," she remarked, after a long pause. + +"I confess it; but an evasion is not an answer, Francis." + +"Well then, yes, it is true; I wished you to leave for your own +sake. But never believe, Leopold, whatever stories you hear about me, +that I am deceitful, that I would play a part. I was myself when I +made the scene--violent, angry, and burning with indignation. I have +my whims and fancies, that I know; but I never feign--that would +ill become me; for, I may say, I have too much good in me to act +falsely. Yet there are so many contradictory feelings in me that I +sometimes stand surprised at myself. And let me tell you, Leo, I came +here to seek consolation from you, but your tone and your words have +bitterly disappointed me, so much so that for a moment I have asked +myself whether you were one of those snobs in patent-leather boots, +who, while expressing horror at an ungloved hand, are yet not afraid +of soiling its whiteness by boxing your wife's ears. Because I did not +observe the form of sending a servant to ask you to come to my room, +you receive me as you did, and repulse me with mocking words!" + +It was now my turn to feel piqued, and I should have answered sharply +had I not succeeded in controlling myself. + +"Pardon me, Francis, I should consider myself the greatest of cowards +to strike a woman; but it was no question of a woman just now. We were +speaking of Major Frank--Major Frank who is angry when reminded of +the privileges of the fair sex, because he will not be classed amongst +'the ladies,' and who, in my opinion, ought not to be surprised when, +after his own fashion, one tells him the truth roundly, and without +mincing matters." + +Francis listened this time without interrupting me. She was staring +at the panes of the window, as if to put herself in countenance again; +her paleness disappeared, and, turning round, she said, without anger, +but with firmness-- + +"I confess, Leopold, it is not easy to contradict you; and now I +think we are quits. Are we again good friends?" + +"There's nothing I desire more ardently; but, once for all, with +whom? with Major Frank or----" + +"Well, then, Francis Mordaunt asks for your friendship." + +She offered me both her hands, and her eyes filled with tears she could +no longer keep back. How gladly I would have kissed them away, and +pressed her to my heart and told her all! But I could not compromise +my commencing victory. + +"Should I have spoken to you in this way, Francis, if I had not been +your sincere friend?" + +"I see it now, and I have need of a sincere friend. Well then, the +Captain is ruining himself for our sakes; and grandfather, in a most +cowardly fashion, lends himself to such doings. Is it not horrible?" + +"It is very wrong, I admit." + +"Now, suppose the General were to die--I should be left shut up in +this place for life with the Captain. When he has rendered himself +poor for our sakes, I cannot send him away. Now do you understand I +had reasons for being angry this morning?" + +"That you had reasons, I don't dispute; but the form----" + +"Come, come, always the form!" + +"I don't say the form is the main thing, but a woman who gives way +to such fits of violence puts herself in the wrong, even though she +have right on her side. Just think for a moment what a scene if the +Captain had retaliated in the same coarse language of the barracks, +which he has probably not forgotten." + +"I should like to see him try it on with me!" + +"However, he had a perfect right to do so. I agree you are right +in principle; but let me beseech you to change your manner of +proceeding. The gentleness of a woman is always more persuasive than +the transports of passion. You have told me your early education was +neglected; but you have read Schiller?" + +"Die Räuber," she replied, tauntingly. + +"But not his 'Macht des Weibes,' nor this line-- + + + 'Was die Stille nicht wirkt, wirket die Rauschende nie!'" + + +She shook her head in the negative. + +"This part of your education has been much neglected." + +"I will not deny it." + +"But it is not yet too late. Will you listen to my advice?" + +"Not now; I have already stayed too long here, and--and--you stay at +the Castle----" + +"As long as you will keep me, Francis." + +"Well, stay as long as you can--that is, if you can fall in with our +ways. I am going out for a ride; I need fresh air and movement." + +"Apropos the service you came to ask of me--the strap?" + +"Oh, I shall pluck a switch. The Captain came to offer me a whip, +and----" + +"And you would rather accept it at my hands," I said, laughing. + +"No; but I should like to borrow ten guilders of you for a couple +of days." + +I handed over my purse, and told her to take out of it as much as +she required. What a strange creature! What a comic conclusion to +our battle! + +I also felt as if a little fresh air would do me good, and so I walked +off to the village post-office with my letter to Overberg. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + + +Downstairs I met the General ready for a walk, and he offered to +accompany me. He had also a letter for the post, which was a secret +to be kept from Francis; and he expected to find a packet awaiting +him, which could not be entrusted to a servant. The packet was there +amongst the letters marked poste restante; but when he had opened +it with precipitation, a cloud of disappointment covered his face, +and he heaved a heavy sigh. + +"Don't say anything to Francis about the packet," he said to me, as we +walked back from the post. "Such business I must manage unknown to her; +she does not understand these things, and she would not agree with +me; and with her temper--at my age I have great need of quiet--that +you comprehend. The Captain is entirely indebted to me for his rank, +and it is but natural he should pay me some little attention. Yet you +heard how my granddaughter took the matter up this morning. Instead of +being content with me for retiring to this wilderness of a place, which +I did to please her, she does nothing to render my life supportable." + +"And yet the Werve is beautifully situated, uncle." + +"I agree with you there; but when one must give up all field sports, +this becomes a very isolated place. The village offers not the +slightest resource, and the town is too far away." + +"Why don't you sell the Castle, uncle?" + +"Ah, my dear boy, for that I must have money, much money; and that +I have been in want of all my life. There are so many mortgages +on the Castle that nobody would give the sum necessary to pay +them. Besides, the person who bought it would like to possess the +neighbouring estates. My sister-in-law, who possessed the Runenberg +estates bordering on my property, wished to buy it, but I refused +her; family hatred would not suffer me to make room for her. Thank +heaven, she's gone. She instituted proceedings against me about a +strip of land of no real value to either of us; and the lawsuit cost +me thousands of guilders. She won, as a matter of course, and then +laid claim to a small bridge which connected the land in question +with my grounds. Again I lost my money and my case; and now I must +make a long round to reach places quite near, because the use of the +bridge is forbidden me. Oh, that woman has been the curse of my life!" + +"But to come back to the question. Overberg has commissioned me to say +that the heir to the Runenberg is likely to make you an advantageous +offer for the Werve." + +"It could be done privately--as in the case of the farms? Overberg +arranged that for me--and there are reasons for avoiding a public +sale," cried the old man, brightening up with a ray of hope. + +"Yes, Overberg said as much; the only question was whether you could +be induced to sell it." + +"For myself, yes, with all my heart. But Francis--there's the +rub! She has an affection for this old rats' nest, for the family +traditions, and for heaven know's what; nay, even for the title which +its possession carries with it. God bless the mark! She has got it +into her head that at some future day she will be Baroness de Werve; +and it is an illusion of hers to restore this old barrack. But her +only chance of doing it is to make a rich marriage. Formerly she had +chances enough amongst the rich bachelors, but she treated them all +slightingly; and now we see nobody in this lonely place." + +"But you do not need her permission to sell the Castle?" + +"Legally I do not require it; but there would be no living with her +if I sold it without her consent. Besides, she has a right to be +consulted. When she came of age I had to inform her that her mother's +fortune was nearly all spent. It was not my fault. Sir John Mordaunt +kept up a large establishment, and lived in English style, without +English money to support it; for he was only a second son, and his +captain's pay was not large. A little before his death he lost an +uncle, to whose property and title Francis would have succeeded if +she had been a boy. Shortly after this event my son-in-law died of +apoplexy, and I was left guardian to Francis. My evil fate pursued +me still, and being in want of a large sum of money to clear off a +debt, which would disgrace the family if not paid at once, Francis +generously offered me her whole fortune. I accepted it, as there was +no alternative, but only as a loan; and promised to leave the Werve +to her at my death." + +"But Francis is your only grandchild--or stay, I have heard you had +a son, General; has he children?" + +"My son is--dead," Von Zwenken answered, with a strange kind of +hesitancy in his voice. "He was never married so far as I know--at +least, he never asked my consent to a marriage; and if he has left +children I should not acknowledge them to be legitimate. In short, +you now understand why I cannot sell the Castle without Francis' +consent; after my death my creditors cannot take possession of it +without reckoning with her." + +It struck me that Aunt Sophia had never foreseen this, and the mine +she had been digging for Von Zwenken would have blown up Francis in +the ruins if things had been allowed to take their course. I had, in +fact, at my side, a type of the most refined selfishness, profoundly +contemptible, recounting to me his shameful scheming under the cover +of a gentlemanlike exterior and a polite friendliness, which might +deceive the shrewdest man alive. Could I any longer wonder why Francis +had so great an aversion to outward forms and ceremonies. + +"But," I resumed, "are you not afraid that after your death your +granddaughter will be sadly undeceived, and perhaps cheated out of +her all by your negligence." + +"What can I say, mon cher? Necessity knows no law; and I still hope +to better my fortune before the end comes." + +"At his age, by what means?" I asked myself. + +Then I thought of the packet he had been to fetch from the +post-office. I believed I had seen it contained long lists of numbers; +they were certainly the official numbers of some German lottery. The +unhappy man evidently rested all his hopes on this expedient for +re-establishing order in his affairs; and probably invested every +penny he could scrape together in such lotteries. I though him an +idiot to trust to any such means. + +"Nephew," he exclaimed, briskly, and with vivacity, as if a bright +idea had struck him, "if it be true Overberg intends to treat with me +about the sale of the Castle, would it not be well for you to break +the subject to Francis, just to sound her? It appears to me you have +some influence over her; and the greatest obstacle would be removed +if you could change her fixed ideas on the point." + +"I will do so, uncle." + +"You can make use of this argument, that the company of the Captain +would become less of a necessity for me if I were in some town where +other society is to be found." + +Fortunately I did not need to answer him: we were at home, the luncheon +bell was ringing, and the Captain came out to meet us, jovial as +ever. Francis had not returned, and we took luncheon without waiting +for her. Only at dinner-time did she put in an appearance. Her toilette +was simply made, but she was dressed in good taste, and her beauty +brought out to perfection. I was charmed. She seemed to tell me in +a silent way that Major Frank had given place to Miss Mordaunt. She +was quiet and thoughtful at dinner, and did not scold the Captain, +who watched all her movements with dog-like humility. She paid much +attention to the General, who seemed absent and out of sorts, for he +only tasted some of the dishes. The dinner itself was a much simpler +affair than on the preceding day; yet there was sufficient, and one +extra dish had been made specially for Von Zwenken, who did not ask +for the finer sorts of wine, but made up for this want by drinking two +bottles of the ordinary wine without appearing any the worse for it. + +The only difference between him and the Captain was, that unlike the +latter, he did not frankly confess that he lived to eat, and that +his belly was his god. I began to feel a most hearty contempt for +this grand-uncle of mine, and more especially when I reflected on +the conversation we had had during our morning's walk. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + + +Dinner over, I did not hesitate about leaving the gentlemen +to themselves. I declined a cigar, and followed Francis to the +drawing-room. Rolf soon joined us, and demanded humbly-- + +"What says my Major--do I not deserve a word of praise?" + +"Yes, certainly," she replied, but her face clouded. + +Guessing the reason, I whispered to the Captain-- + +"Don't you perceive you annoy my cousin by always addressing her by +that hateful nickname? Can't you see by her elegant dress she desires +to appear herself--Miss Mordaunt?" + +"Indeed I am a blockhead not to pay better attention; but the truth +is, Jonker--excuse me, Freule--the custom is such an inveterate one." + +"You and I must break with old customs, Captain," she said softly, +but with emphasis, "for we have been on the wrong track--have we +not, Jonker?" + +"May I say one word," interposed the Captain, "before the Freule and +the Jonker begin to philosophise; should the General come in I cannot +say it. You know the day after to-morrow is the General's seventy-sixth +birthday. I had intended the celebration to be a brilliant affair; +but when I hear of wrong tracks, changes, and such farrago, I begin +to fear all my plans will fall through." + +"Oh! was that the reason you brought in all those dainties this +morning?" + +"Yes, and I thought the Jonker would be an agreeable addition to +our party." + +"I give you full leave to arrange it all in your own way, +Rolf. Grandfather must be fêted." + +"Hurrah! of course!" he cried merrily; and off he went to make his +arrangements, carefully shutting the folding-doors behind him so as +to isolate us from the dining-room. + +I was just going to compliment Francis on the change in her style of +dressing, when she complained of the closeness of the room, and skipped +off into the garden. Left thus to my own resources, I lit a cigar +and walked out in front of the house, where I soon espied my lady; +and when I joined her she proposed to walk as far as the ruin to see +the sun set. Instead of taking the regular path, Francis preferred +making direct for the object in view; and we had to trample through +the underwood, and were many times tripped by the roots of felled +trees. In answer to my remarks on this whim of hers, she replied-- + +"People say my education was neglected, which is not quite correct. I +am not altogether a child of the wilderness. In fact, much trouble +was given to my training, only it was not of the right sort. I was +brought up as a boy. As you know already, my mother died a few days +after my birth, and Rolf's sister was my nurse. Her own child had +died, and I replaced it for her. She had a blind affection for me, +almost bordering on fanaticism; she obeyed all my wishes, giving as +an excuse to any remonstrances that she was the only person in the +world who loved me. This was an exaggeration, for my grandfather, who +lived in the same house with us, made much of me, though it is true +Sir John Mordaunt took little notice of his child. He had previously +had a son called Francis, like myself, on whom all his hopes were +fixed during the six months the child lived. I was a disappointment, +as he wished to have a son to take the place of the lost infant; and +he received me with so little welcome that I have heard the last hours +of my poor mother's life were embittered by this knowledge. My nurse, +who could no longer bear the indifference with which he treated me, +one day took me into his room, to show him what a healthy, strong +child I was. 'Indeed,' she said, 'it might have been a boy.' + +"Rolf has since told me that my father seemed suddenly struck by an +idea. From that day forth he devoted much attention to my training, +and this has made me what I am. Under pretext of hygiene and English +custom, I was dressed in a loose costume, 'a boy's suit,' as my nurse +called it, and I was taught all kinds of gymnastic exercises. They +hardened me against heat and cold like a young Spartan. Rolf taught +me the military exercise, and made me quite an adept at fencing, +and all the young officers who dined with us were invited to have a +bout with me. Out of complaisance to papa, they allowed me to come +off victor; and Sir John was sure to reward me splendidly for any +praise I won. At this time grandfather held the rank of Major, and +I suppose it was an idea of Rolf's to give me the title of 'Little +Major,' with which my father was so pleased that he often addressed +me by this sobriquet, and so gave it the stamp of his authority. I +well remember, on one occasion, an officer, evidently a stranger, +addressed me as Miss Francis, which so much surprised me that I +uttered a good round oath in English--it was Sir John's favourite +expression; whereupon my father took me in his arms and kissed me, +so far as I can recollect for the first time in my life." + +"It is less to be wondered at that the bad habit has clung to you +even to this day." + +"My nurse of course told me it was wrong, and tried to break me +of it; but in my childish way I was a match for her, replying, +'But papa does so--is it a sin, then?' + +"'Oh, for gentlemen it is different.' + +"'Very well, I will be a gentleman; I won't be a girl.' + +"Indeed, my childhood was embittered by the idea that I was a girl +and could never become a man. I never went to children's parties; I +was always with grown-up people, officers, and lovers of the chase, +and at eight years of age I was no bad match for some of them on +horseback. When my nurse acknowledged she had lost all control over me, +a tutor was engaged--yes, a tutor: don't be surprised. Sir John had +never either announced the death of his son or the birth of a daughter +to his relations in England. For this reason I was isolated from my +own sex, and even learned to regard it with somewhat of an aversion, +owing to the conversation of Sir John and Dr. Darkins. I profited by +such training, though perhaps not exactly as they desired, for I hated +a lie, and my chief desire was to show myself such as I was, proud +and frank in all my dealings with men. I am convinced grandfather +had no hand in this plot, but he was too weak to speak out and set +his face against it. Sometimes, however, he gave me needlework to do, +and he had a strong aversion to Dr. Darkins. Disputes arose between +him and Sir John, and he shortly after moved to another garrison, +taking Rolf with him. When I was close upon my fourteenth year, +Dr. Darkins was suddenly cashiered, and it was announced to me that +I should be sent to an aristocratic ladies' boarding-school. There I +played all sorts of pranks, smoked like a grenadier, and had always +a supply of extra-fine cigarettes wherewith to tempt my schoolfellows. + +"The cause of this great change in my life was brought about in this +way. Aunt Ellen, a sister of my father's, had come over to Scheveningen +with her husband for the bathing season, and thence she made a flying +visit to see her brother, taking everybody by surprise--nobody more +so than Sir John himself. + +"'Francis must be a big boy now; what are you going to make of him?' I +heard her ask my father. + +"'There's nothing to be made of him,' my father answered angrily in +his embarrassment, 'for Francis is only a girl. The eldest child, +a son, is dead. I have only this one.' + +"'John, John,' cried the lady reproachfully, 'the whole family believed +you had a son, and you have done nothing to undeceive us; and the +old baronet, who pays you the yearly income set apart for his heir, +is expecting to see you both in England very soon. What do you mean +by it? Have you acted like a gentleman?' + +"Papa lisped something about 'absolute necessity,' and seemed anxious +to induce her to co-operate in his schemes. The proud lady burst +forth in indignation-- + +"'Can you imagine I would become a party to such deception?' + +"Sir John, to relieve his disappointment, uttered his usual oath, +and ordered me out of the room, as he now perceived I was listening +with all my ears. + +"I obeyed very unwillingly, and not until I had spoken to Aunt +Ellen. He ordered me to hold my tongue, and there was a mingling +of menace, of anxiety, and embarrassment in his looks which drove me +sheer out of the room. I had never seen him look like that before. What +passed between them I cannot say. Aunt Ellen afterwards gave me fifty +pounds, and promised to make me that yearly allowance if my conduct +was satisfactory at school. I told her I hated girls' schools, and +that I should much prefer going to England with Dr. Darkins, as had +been promised me. + +"'That's out of the question, my child.' More she did not say, and +I knew better than to ask Sir John any questions. + +"Well, as you may imagine, I did not stay a whole year at school. In +some things I had the advantage of the eldest girls, whilst in others I +was more stupid and ignorant than the children in the lowest class. My +knitting was always in confusion; I broke my needles in my impatience; +I spoilt the silk and sampler if I had any marking to do; and, to +make matters worse, if any one laughed at me for my awkwardness, +or punished me for my carelessness, I flew into the most violent +passion. I fought with the assistant-mistress, and boxed the ears +of any girl who called me Major Frank--a girl from the same town as +myself having betrayed me. Before I had been there six weeks I ran +away, and had to be taken back by Sir John himself; but six months +later I was dismissed as an untractable, incorrigible creature, whose +conduct was pernicious in its effect on the rest of the school. The +dismissal, however, was an injustice to me. Music was the only thing +I liked at school, and the music master was the only teacher who had +never had reason to complain of me; on the contrary, he praised me, +he flattered me, and one day he even gave me a kiss." + +"The wretch!" + +"Yes, this liberty aroused all my feelings of feminine dignity, +and I boxed his ears for him." + +"That was just like you!" + +"The other girls rushed into the room; the headmistress followed +to inquire into the cause of the disturbance. Of course the master +had the first word, and he was base enough to say I had become so +violent on account of his correcting my fingering. When asked for my +explanation, I answered that I would not contradict a liar--it was +beneath my dignity. + +"I declined to apologize, and was threatened with the severest +punishments known in the school. They shut me up in a room and fed +me on bread and water, but all in vain; the mistress was obliged to +write for my father. + +"He sent my old nurse to fetch me away, and I confided the truth +to her with many tears. She was very anxious to make a scene, give +'madame' a piece of her mind in the presence of her pupils; but I was +so glad to get away from the school that I prevented her carrying out +her intentions. I told her I should not be believed. The fact was, +one of the elder girls told me I was very foolish to make so much fuss +about a kiss. The music master kisses me,' she continued, 'and all the +others who are pretty,' as he says. Still, we are much too sensible +to tell any one, for he lends us French novels forbidden by madame, +and improvises invitations for us when we want to go out: in short, +he is ready to do us all kinds of services that we could not trust to a +servant of the establishment. What folly to make such a man your enemy! + +"I have since met this same girl--Leontine was her name--in society, +and experienced the advantages of her education. She was ever +very polite to my face, and calumniated me directly my back was +turned. Thus, you see, under these forms of decorum all kinds of lies +and infamy are hidden." + +"Francis, I am quite of your opinion that a man's fine manners are +no guarantee of his morality or uprightness; but do you think society +would be improved by turning all its sin, wretchedness, and ugliness +to the surface?" + +"It is certain we should then fly from it in disgust and horror." + +"But every one cannot fly from it. There are people who are obliged +to live in society; and, provided that we do not become its dupe, +it is better that what you call the mantle of decorum should give to +social life an aspect which renders it supportable." + +As we returned from the ruin the sky had become misty, and the sun +was setting behind the clouds, its presence being only marked by the +orange and purple rays struggling through the mist; the fields were +already invisible under this wet sheet of nature's procuring. It +was time for us to seek shelter from such humidity as surrounded +us. Francis proposed to enter the house with all speed. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + + +Now that Francis was once in the humour to give me the history of +her past life, I encouraged her to continue her story. + +She went on to say that a Swiss governess was engaged to teach her +needlework and other ladylike accomplishments. + +"My father," she said, "seeing all his plans foiled by the unexpected +visit of my English aunt, left me entirely in the hands of my +governess. And as I no longer wrote a letter every year to the +old uncle telling him of my progress in fencing and horsemanship, +and signing myself Francis Mordaunt (I had been told this was the +accepted orthography in England), Sir John received no more bills of +exchange from that source. It was these bills of exchange which had +enabled him to keep up such an expensive establishment. He ought now +to have adopted a plainer style of living; but he preferred drawing +upon his capital. + +"I thought it my duty to write to Aunt Ellen, and to tell her the truth +about my having left the school. She answered me in affectionate terms, +and enclosed the annual fifty pounds with many exhortations to industry +and much good advice. She even promised me I should come to London on +a visit, as she had much to tell me. But, alas! next year she died, +and my pension ceased--nor have I ever heard a word of my English +relations since. + +"Mademoiselle Chelles, my governess, was a woman of tact, and won +my affection and esteem. In the long walks we took together our +conversation was confidential, and she spoke of the sufferings of the +poor, and the pleasures to be derived from relieving them; in short, +she showed me the serious side of life in a manner no one else had +ever done before. She inspired me with a love for the beauties of +nature, and awoke the better feelings which, thus far, had lain +dormant; assisting me in my preparation for confirmation. Perhaps +she would have succeeded in extirpating 'Major Frank' altogether, +but that my nurse grew jealous of her influence; and, worse still, +Rolf, now promoted to the rank of lieutenant, fell in love with +her. She could not bear the grand soudard, the 'ogre,' as she called +him; for his manners frightened her, and he made his offer in such +a maladroit fashion that she walked off to my father, and said she +would leave the house if ever that man were allowed to put his foot +into it again. This, as everybody said, was assuming the 'high tone' +on her part. Grandfather and nurse were on Rolf's side, and my father +answered--'It's only a governess, let her go.' I myself said little +for her; I was too anxious to regain my ancient liberty--though I have +since known the loss I sustained in losing her. I was young then; +my father ought to have known better. Even to the present day this +is one of my grudges against Rolf. + +"Again I became 'Major Frank.' I accompanied my father on his rides, +and I saw he was proud of my horsemanship. Sometimes we hunted +together, and when he allowed me to drive I was ever ready to show +off my daring and skill. In the meantime my nurse died, and now, +indeed, I felt the truth of her words--that she was the only person +in the world who really loved me. I had to take her place, and fulfil +the duties of mistress in the household. My father was expecting a +visitor from England----" + +She stopped abruptly, and fixing her beautiful blue eyes on me with +a strange expression, asked-- + +"Leopold, have you been in the society of women much?" + +"When I lived with my mother I saw many of her friends and visitors; +but since----" + +"That's not the question. I ask you if, like most men, you have +sometimes suffered from the intermittent fever called love?" + +"I have done my best, cousin, to escape it. Knowing myself to be +too poor to maintain a wife in these expensive times, I have always +observed a strict reserve in my relations with them in order not to +be led away from my principles." + +"Then you have never been 'passion's slave,' as Hamlet puts it." + +"My time has always been too much occupied for anything of the sort." + +"So much the better for you; but I am sorry for myself, because you +will not be able to give me the information I am seeking." + +"Tell me what you want to know; possibly I can enlighten you." + +"I wish to know if you think it possible for an honourable man, who +is neither a fool nor a coxcomb, but who, on the contrary, has given +evidences of his shrewdness and penetration, not to observe pretty +quickly that a girl--how shall I express myself?--that a girl is +deeply attached to him, even though no word of love has been exchanged +between them?" + +I was greatly embarrassed. What could be her meaning? Was this +simplicity or maliciousness on her part, to address such a question +to me? After a few moments' reflection, however, I answered-- + +"I believe that, in general, both men and women very quickly discover +the mutual feelings which they entertain towards each other, even +though no words on the subject have passed between them." + +"That is my opinion also now; but at the time I am referring to I was +as inexperienced as a child. My father's friends always regarded me +as an ill-bred girl, whimsical and capricious, a sort of savage whom +nobody cared to invite into society either for the sake of their sons +or daughters. The young officers who visited at our house would try +to make themselves agreeable; but their conduct appeared so insipid, +so ridiculous, that I only mocked them, and gave such biting replies +as to disconcert the most intrepid amongst them. + +"It was at this time that Lord William came to stay with us. He +was introduced to me as a schoolfellow of my father's; at Eton he +had been Sir John's fag, and indeed was his junior by only a few +years. For some reason, unexplained to me, it was said he had been +obliged to leave England, and my father offered him the suite of +rooms left vacant by my grandfather. Lord William appeared to be +rich; he brought over an immense quantity of luggage, and paid right +royally for any service rendered him. I believe, indeed, he had a +private agreement with my father about the housekeeping expenses, +though neither of them ever told me so. Now a housekeeper was engaged +to assist me in the management of the house, and yet it was with +the greatest difficulty that I could adapt myself to the duties +of mistress of such an establishment. The presence of our visitor, +however, greatly aided in reconciling me to my position. + +"Lord William (I never knew his family name) was a man of letters, +and had had a very valuable and expensive library sent over for his +use. Moreover, he was highly gifted with the faculty of communicating +his knowledge to others in a pleasant and agreeable manner. He was an +enthusiastic lover of art and poetry; he could read and even speak +several modern languages, and was passionately fond of antiquities +and ancient history. He knew--what we were all ignorant of--that the +library of our own small town possessed works of inestimable value on +these subjects, and I think this was his reason for choosing it as +his place of sojourn on the Continent. At all events he made great +use of the library. You may understand my surprise at seeing a man, +evidently of high rank, who cared neither for hunting nor noisy +pleasures of any kind, and who declared the happiest moments of his +life to be those spent in his study, and yet withal he was a perfect +gentleman and man of the world. The gentlemen said he was ugly; +the ladies were silent on that point, but appeared delighted with +the slightest attention he paid them. I thought he bore a striking +resemblance to our Stadtholder William III., though less pale. He had +a high forehead, strongly marked features, and dark eyes, which made +you think of the piercing regard of the eagle." + +"Had he also the beak?" I asked, growing impatient. + +"I have told you he was like William III. (of England)," she replied, +looking at me in astonishment; "his nose was curved sharply. But not +to detain you too long, I will at once confess he exercised a powerful +influence over me for good. I soon discovered that my manners were +displeasing to him, and that he evinced towards me a compassionate +sympathy, as if he regretted the sad turn my tastes had taken. One +day I overheard him ask my father why he did not take me out into +society. He gave as a reason my wild and brusque manners, and the +kind of society to be found in a small town like ours. Lord William +was not a man to be easily discouraged. He spoke to me privately +about my previous life, and put all sorts of questions to me about +my education. I told him everything, in my own way, without trying +to hide any of the particulars from him. + +"'Do you like reading?' he asked me. + +"'Not at all,' I answered. 'I like society, men and action.' + +"'But any one who does not read, and read much, becomes idiotic, +and makes but a poor figure in society.' + +"'If that's the case, tell me what I ought to read.' + +"'I cannot answer your question right away; but, if you are willing, +we will read together and try to make up for lost time.'" + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + + +"And so it was settled. He undertook to educate me and to form my +tastes. He soon made me acquainted with the masterpieces of German and +French literature, and discovered to me the beauties of the classics +in his own language; and I learnt from him most assiduously that +which Dr. Darkins never could have taught me----" + +"And so well, that you fell in love with each other!" I interrupted, +giving way to a movement of anger. + +"Not exactly; but if you interrupt in that way I shall lose the thread +of my narrative. It is at your desire I recount to you the story of +my past life; and how much wiser would you be if I were to compress +it into a sentence like this for instance: 'Lord William came to our +house in the autumn, and left us the following spring'?" + +"Without having become your fiancé?" I said in agony. + +"Without having become my fiancé," she answered in a dry, cold tone. + +I was angry with myself. I had only too plainly shown that I was +jealous of the praise lavished on this stranger. And what right had +I to be jealous? + +She was the first to break the silence which ensued. + +"Leopold," she said, "I perceive that this account of the events of +my youth is anything but agreeable to you. If you had left us as I +wished you to do this morning, I should not now be wearying you with +my recollections of the past." + +"Believe me, Francis, I have remained on purpose to listen to them; +I promise not to interrupt you again if you will continue." + +"Well then, now I will confess to you that I loved Lord William with +all the strength of a first love, and with all that innocency of a +young heart which does not yet even know that the passion which sways +it is love. I soon found that Lord William was dearer to me than all +the world beside, and that my chief delight was to obey him in all +things, to consult him on all occasions, and to accompany him when and +wherever it was possible. I even found means to interest myself in his +archæological researches. I translated for him Dutch documents which +formerly I would not have taken the trouble to read. Besides, finding +that, like most men, he was fond of a good dinner, I took care to have +such dishes prepared as I knew to be to his liking. I began to pay +attention to my dress, because he himself, without going to extremes +or exceeding the bounds of good taste, was always well dressed. He +introduced me into the society of our small town, and I felt vexed +every time he paid the least attention to another lady, though I took +care not to let him see it. We also gave dinners and received company, +and the ladies were greatly astonished at the manner in which Major +Frank played the hostess. The winter was drawing to a close, and it +had been settled that, on the first fine day which offered, we should +all make an excursion to the Werve. My grandfather had returned to +the garrison, and I was soon aware he disapproved of my sentiments +towards Lord William. And it was not long before I knew the reason why. + +"One fine spring morning I was sitting on the balcony with a book in +my hand, when I heard my grandfather and father, who sat on a bench +underneath, speaking of Lord William and myself in terms which excited +my curiosity. + +"Grandfather, in a very bad humour, said: 'She is always parading him +about, and he pays no attentions to anybody but her. In your place, +I should ask him to declare his intentions, and then the engagement +can be publicly announced.' + +"My father burst out in a loud laugh. + +"'Major,' he said, 'what are you thinking of? William, whose intentions +are perfectly honest, was at school with me; he is only two or three +years my junior, and Francis has not completed her seventeenth year.' + +"'What does that matter? He does not look much over thirty, and I +tell you she's madly in love with him. How is it possible you have +never perceived it yourself?' + +"'Bless me, Major!' cried my father, 'you must know that William is +married; and, moreover, I am very grateful to him for acting the part +of mentor to Francis; indeed she had need of one!' + +"'In truth, Sir John, either you are too simple, or you indulge a +confidence in your friend I cannot approve of.' + +"'You would have the same confidence in him that I have, if you knew +him as well. He is every inch a gentleman, sir, and if I hinted the +slightest suspicion he would leave the house instantly. And, besides, +he is generous, very generous--I am deeply indebted to him. His stay +with us is almost at its close. He must return to London to preside +at the meeting of some society of antiquarians of which he is the +president. The disagreeable affair which obliged him to come to +the Continent is almost arranged. He was afraid of a lawsuit which +would have caused much scandal in high life, but the mediators are +now hopeful of success. His wife, who is travelling in the South with +his relations, has written him a very humble letter, imploring him to +forget and to forgive. He has told me his mind is not yet quite made +up, but that he has a great repugnance to a divorce; probably then----' + +"Hereupon the two speakers got up and walked away into the garden. As +for myself, I remained for a long time leaning against the balustrade, +immovable as a statue of stone. When I found myself quite alone, +I could not suppress a cry of grief. Yes, my grandfather had read +me! I loved--I loved with passion, and all at once I discovered my +passion to be a crime. And he, had he not deceived me by leaving me in +ignorance of what it was most important for me to know? Ought he not to +have foreseen the danger into which he was leading me by his kind and +affectionate treatment? Without doubt he felt himself invulnerable; +without doubt he still loved his absent wife. It is true that with +his kind manners he always maintained a certain reserve with me; once, +indeed, and once only, he had kissed my hand with marks of tenderness +for some attention or other I had shown him. That night I could not +sleep for joy; on the morrow, however, he resumed his habitual reserve. + +"My first idea was to go and reproach him to his face for what I +considered his deception towards me; but he was not at home, and +would not return before dinner. At table I could not help showing +him how much my feelings towards him had changed. This he observed, +and when the other gentlemen lit their cigars after dinner, instead +of following me to the drawing-room, as was his wont, he took a cigar +and stayed with them. I remembered that I could smoke also, and I +followed his example. I saw him frown; he threw away his cigar, and +invited me to go with him to his study. This was just what I wanted. + +"'What is the matter with you, Miss Francis?' he asked. 'I cannot +understand the reason for this change in your behaviour towards me.' + +"'On a little reflection, my lord, you will easily discover the +reason. You know how much I love plain-speaking.' + +"'Very good.' + +"'What can I think of you when I hear from other people that you +are married?' + +"I saw he grew pale, but he answered with great coldness-- + +"'Has Sir John only just told you that? and why to-day above all +others?' + +"'Sir John has told me nothing; I have heard it by accident. By +accident, you understand, my lord, and now I think I have the right +to hear from your own lips more particulars about your wife.' + +"He drew back some paces; his features became so contracted under an +expression of violent suffering that I myself was afraid. For a time +he was silent, pacing up and down the room; and finally he said to me, +with a mingling of sadness and discontent-- + +"'I am sorry, Francis, but I did not think the time had arrived +when I could give you such a mark of confidence. There is too much +of bitterness in your tone for me to suppose your question arises +out of an interest in my sorrows, and only those who have such an +interest have a claim to my explanations. Is it a young girl like +you that I should choose out by preference, in whom to confide the +sad secrets of my unhappy marriage? And how could I begin to speak +about a subject on the termination of which I am still in doubt?' + +"'And it never occurred to you, my lord, that there might be a danger +in leaving me ignorant of your marriage?' + +"'No, certainly not. I came here to divert my thoughts from my +troubles, and to seek solace--which I have found--in my favourite +studies. I made your acquaintance in the house of your father, who +received me hospitably; and I thought I perceived your education had +been neglected, nay, that even a false turn had been given to your +ideas. This I have tried to remedy and I must acknowledge you have +gratefully appreciated and seconded my efforts; but it does not follow +that I ought to acquaint you with all my personal affairs and all +my griefs and troubles. I fled from England to escape the condolence +of my friends and the raillery of my adversaries. I wished to avoid +a lawsuit in which my name--a name of some renown in England--would +have been exposed to the comments of a public ever hungering after +scandal. Could I have talked to you on such a subject? It would have +cast a gloom over the golden dreams of your youth, and rendered the +autumn of my life still more cloudy!' + +"'The clouds surrounding you, my lord, must be pretty thick already,' +I replied, exasperated by his cool manner, 'to prevent your seeing +that my ignorance of your marriage has caused me to embark on a sea of +illusions, where in the spring-time of life I shall suffer shipwreck.' + +"A movement of fright escaped him. I broke forth in complaints and +reproaches; he fell back on a divan and covered his face with his +hands. He protested he had never guessed at such an idea, never even +suspected anything of the sort. Afterwards, when I had eased my mind +and was sitting sobbing before him, he recovered himself, and coming +over to me he said, in his usual calm and affectionate tone-- + +"'My child, there is much exaggeration in all you have told me. Your +imagination has been struck, and you have suffered it to carry you +away, so that you believe all you say now; but I can assure you, you +are mistaken. You are impressionable, susceptible, but too young to +understand the real passion of love. At your age, young girls have +very often some little love affair with the engaging young dancer +they met at the last ball. You, who have been kept out of society on +account of the masculine education you had received, have known no +such temptations; but perhaps for this very reason you were the more +exposed to illusions of another kind, which I confess I ought to have +foreseen, namely, that of falling in love with the first gentleman +who showed you more than the usual attentions of common civility. I +happen to be this man. We have read several plays of Shakespeare +together. Every young girl may imagine herself a Juliet; but that +is no reason why she should imagine her teacher to be a Romeo. Now, +seriously, Francis, could you take me for your Romeo? Look at me, +and consider how ridiculous any such pretension on my part would +be. I am about the same age as your father; I am turning gray; I +should also be as stout, but for a disease which threatens me with +consumption. All this is far from poetic, is it not? Exercise your +reason, your good sense, and you will be the first to acknowledge +that I am most unfitted to become the hero of a love affair.' + +"I was silent; I felt as if some one were pouring ice down my back. He +approached me, and laying his hand on my shoulder, with the greatest +gentleness said-- + +"'I was married one year before your father, and though I have no +children, I might have had a daughter of your age. I had accustomed +myself, gradually, to regard you as my own daughter; you deprive me +of this pleasure, for the present at least, though I am sure you will +one day recover from your folly. It is your head which is affected, +not your heart, believe me, for I have had experience in the depths of +abasement to which the passions may lead a woman who has not energy +enough to overcome them. If I had a son--I have only a nephew, who +will be heir to my title and property--and if----" + +"'Thank you, my lord, I could never address you as my uncle!' and +I burst out in an hysterical laugh. There was a beautiful edition +of Shakespeare lying on the table, a present from him; I took it up +and tore it leaf from leaf, scattering them about the room. At the +same instant my maid knocked at the door; she came to remind me it +was time to dress for the ball. We had accepted invitations for this +evening to the house of a banker, one of the most prominent men in our +province. My pride having been touched to the quick, I determined to +seek solace in the wildest excitement. I flirted with the only son +of this banker, who all through the winter had been very attentive +to me. I felt much pleasure in showing Lord William how easily I +could forget him; but my eyes were all the while furtively following +him to see the effect my conduct might produce. He remained calm and +cool as ever. After a while he seated himself at the card-table, and +lost a considerable sum of money to my grandfather. On the morrow, +I perceived preparations were being made for his departure in all +haste. Lord William had received the letters he had so long expected, +and seemed to have no time to notice me. I became transported with +passion, when my father told me at luncheon that the banker's son had +asked permission to wait upon me in the course of the afternoon. You +can understand my rage. 'What a falling-off was there!'--from Lord +William to a Charles Felters! + +"I answered my father that I would not speak to the simpleton. + +"'You must!' he replied, in a tone of authority I was little accustomed +to in Sir John. 'You have given the young man encouragement, and you +had better reflect on the consequences of refusing such a good offer.'" + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + + +"Poor Charles Felters was quite thunderstruck at the reception +I gave him. His gay partner of last evening's dance had changed +into a veritable fury. I told him plainly I didn't care a jot for +him. He hesitated, he stammered, and couldn't make up his mind to +go. I was expecting Lord William every moment to take leave of me, +and I would not have them meet. In my confusion my eyes rested on a +'trophy of arms' with which my father had decorated one side of the +room. Scarcely knowing what I was about, I seized a foil, handed it +to my would-be lover, and taking another myself, I took up my position +on guard, exclaiming-- + +"'The man who wins my love shall win it with the sword.' + +"The miserable ninny never even observed that the foils were buttoned, +but, throwing down his, rushed out of the room in the greatest alarm." + +"I have heard of this feat of arms, Francis," I said, laughing; +"and, moreover, that Felters is still running away from you." + +"'Voilà comme on écrit l'histoire.' I have myself heard he made a +voyage round the world to escape from me; but the truth is he only +made a tour up the Rhine, fell in with the daughter of a clergyman, +and married her. She has made him a happy man, and he is now the +father of a family; nevertheless, all his relations bear me the most +intense hatred, and lose no opportunity of serving me a malicious +turn. I still held my foil in my hand when Lord William entered the +room. His look was sufficient to show me his disapprobation. + +"'If your father had taken my advice, Francis,' he said, 'he would +have waited some little time before informing you of the intentions of +Felters; still there was no reason for your acting in this way. For +shame to treat a poor fellow, who perhaps never had a foil in his +hand before, in such a manner. But, well! I have always hesitated +about putting you to the test; permit me now, however, to take the +place of the miserable fugitive.' + +"And without waiting for an answer he picked up Felters' foil, +and cried-- + +"'En garde!' + +"I literally did not know what I was doing. I would not decline +his challenge, and I determined to show him that he was not fencing +with an inexperienced girl. He handled his foil with a lightness and +firmness of hand I had little expected to find in a man of letters, +confining himself, however, to parrying my attacks only; and yet this +he did so skilfully that I was unable to touch him. I exhausted myself +in my desperate efforts, but I would not ask for quarter. + +"'You see such exercise requires more than the arm of a woman,' +he said coolly. + +"My wild despair and anger seemed to give me strength, and falling +in upon him I broke my foil upon his breast. He, with a smile, had +neglected to parry this attack, and I saw a thin stream of blood +trickle down his shirt-front. Now I was overwhelmed with sorrow and +repentance. Sir John and grandfather immediately came upon the scene. + +"'It is nothing, gentlemen,' he said to them, 'only a scratch; +a little satisfaction which I owed to Miss Francis, and which will +perhaps cure her of her taste for such unladylike weapons.' + +"'I will never, never more touch them,' I cried in terror when I saw +his pocket-handkerchief, which he had applied to the wound, saturated +with blood. + +"And I have kept my word, though it has not prevented my obtaining +a wide reputation as a duellist. Neither Charles Felters nor the +servant of Lord William could hold their tongues, though the latter +had been forbidden by his master to say a word on the subject. I was +reminded very unpleasantly, next time I appeared in the town, that +the affair had become public property. Lord William would not allow us +to send for a surgeon, but had the wound dressed by his own servant; +and, fortunately, it turned out to be less dangerous than I feared +at first. I sought my own room, and hid myself there with all the +remorse of a Cain. I resolved to throw myself at his feet and beg his +pardon. But the reaction to my excited state of feelings had now set +in, and I fell exhausted on a sofa, where I slept for several hours +a feverish kind of sleep. When I awoke Lord William was gone. After +this I was seriously ill; and on my recovery my grandfather took me +as soon as possible to the Werve for the fresh country air. Sir John +told me, when I was quite well, that Lord William had certainly given +proof of his good-nature to allow me to touch him; for while at Eton +he had been considered one of the best fencers in the school, and +just before quitting England he had fought a duel with an officer in +the Horse Guards, and wounded him in a manner that report said was +likely to be fatal. + +"My answer to this was that I had never suspected Lord William of +being a duellist. + +"'That he never was; but in this instance his honour was at stake. He +could not leave the insult of this captain unpunished. Perhaps, +however, he would have acted more justly if he had put his wife +to death; and though an English jury would certainly have brought +him in guilty of murder, yet, considering the great provocation he +had received, public opinion would have sympathized with him in the +highest degree. Now he is reconciled to her again, at least in outward +appearance; but he has written to me that he is going to make a tour +all over the world.'" + +"And you have never since heard of this 'My lord?'" I asked Francis, +to whose story I had listened with as much sorrow as attention. + +"Never; and I don't even know his family name to this day. Changes now +followed in rapid succession. My father died suddenly; my grandfather +was promoted in rank, and we removed to Zutphen, where I proposed +to begin a new life. But though we break with our antecedents, it is +impossible to sponge out the past. However, more of this hereafter. I +must attend to the other gentlemen, otherwise I shall be accused of +neglecting my duties. I will tell you more of this history at another +time if it interests you; for it is a relief to me to confide it to +a friend. Only never begin the subject yourself, as there are moments +when I cannot bear to think of it." + +"I promise you this, Francis," I replied, pressing her hand. + +It would be impossible for me to recount all the feelings which passed +through my mind in listening to Francis's trials. I will not weary you, +dear William, for I acknowledge I felt sad and irritable. And yet I +tried to think these were her "campaign years," as she calls them, +though it was evident her heart had suffered long before she attained +her twenty-fifth birthday. If she had told me of deception, so common +in the world, of an engagement broken off, of a misplaced affection, +such things would not have troubled my peace of mind. What affected +me was to think this Englishman had won the place in her affections +which I wished to be the first to occupy--that place which permits +a man to inspire a woman with confidence, and exercise over her an +influence authoritative and beneficial. Time had done much to cool +her love for him, but she had not forgotten him; and it was certainly +a devotion to his memory which rendered her so indifferent to the +merits of other men. I wondered if she had told me all this history +in order to make me comprehend the improbability of my being able +to replace her ideal. Had she not told me on the heath, on our first +meeting, that if she suspected I came to demand her hand in marriage, +she would leave me there and then? I felt myself diminishing in her +estimation. And there was a portrait of William III. hanging over +the mantelpiece which seemed to say to me, ironically, "Too late, +too late!" + +Yet again I asked myself whether I was not growing jealous of a vain +shadow. Eight years had passed since these events. She was no longer a +little girl, who could imagine she saw a Romeo in her mentor who was a +long way on the wrong side of forty. Who could say that the comparison, +which she could not fail to make now, would be to my disadvantage? + +I determined not to remain in this perplexity. At the risk of +committing an imprudence, I made up my mind to ask her whether she +regarded the loss of her Lord William as irreparable. It was necessary +for me to know what chance of success was left me. + +This night I slept little, for I was rolling over in my mind all +sorts of extravagant declarations which I intended to make to my +cousin next day. This, however, was the day preceding the General's +birthday, and Francis was fully occupied with the Captain in making +all sorts of preparations; so that during the whole day I never once +could find a suitable moment to begin the subject. The master of the +village school would bring up to the Castle his best pupils to recite +verses made for the occasion; the clergyman and the notables would +also come to offer their congratulations. + +Francis sent me to the post-office to fetch a registered letter for +her. [4] General von Zwenken was in a bad humour because Rolf had no +time to amuse him, and finding myself rather in the way I went off +to my room to write. + +Here in the afternoon I found on my table a little Russian leather +case, on which my initials had been embroidered above the word +Souvenir. Inside I found a bank-note equivalent to the sum Francis had +borrowed of me; on the envelope which inclosed it she had written, +in a bold hand, the word Merci, her name, and the date. The case +itself was not new. Poor dear girl! she must have sat up half the +night to work my initials in silk, as a surprise. I now felt more +than ever how dear she was become to me, and I promised myself not +to temporize any longer. Then the idea occurred to me: If I can get +her permission, I will ask her hand of the General to-morrow after +I have congratulated him on his birthday. + +This idea threw me into a transport of joy. I got up from my chair +with the intention of seeking my cousin and bringing matters to a +crisis at any risk. My hand was already on the handle of the door, +when I thought I heard a tap at the window. Immediately a hoarse +voice called several times-- + +"Francis! Francis!" + +Astonished, and wishing to know who this could be, I stood +motionless. The voice cried again-- + +"Francis, if you don't open the window I will break the sash all +to pieces." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + + +As, for very good reasons, Francis gave no answer, a vigorous arm +forced open the window, and a man sprang into the room, seemingly +quite indifferent about any damage he might have caused. + +"What is your business with Miss Mordaunt?" I asked, advancing towards +the intruder. + +"A stranger here?" he answered, with an expression of surprise; +"I thought they never had visitors now." + +"I think the manner of your entrance is much more astonishing, and +I am the person surprised." + +"Well, yes, my entrance is somewhat irregular," he replied, in the +most familiar style possible; "however, Mr. Unknown, I am neither a +thief nor a housebreaker. I have entered in this way because I wished +no one but Francis to know of my arrival, and I was sure I should find +her here; but, now I am here, allow me to rest myself whilst I reflect +a little upon the best means of obtaining an interview with her." + +And he threw himself at full length on the old sofa, which creaked +under his weight. + +"Ah! ah!" he continued, examining the walls, "the family portraits +are gone--eaten away, no doubt, by the moths and the damp." + +It was quite clear to me the stranger was not here for the first +time. Though his manners were free, there was something gentlemanly +in his personal appearance. Still his dress was fantastic. He wore +a short velvet jacket with metal buttons, and a silk handkerchief +loosely tied around his neck; tight trousers of a grey pearl colour, +and polished riding-boots with spurs, and a soft felt hat. + +"You've got nothing to drink here?" he asked, after a pause of some +minutes. "I have ridden for three hours, and my throat is almost +choked with sand and dust." + +He spoke Dutch with a foreign accent. His age seemed to be about fifty, +though he might be younger. His lively, active features were never at +rest for a moment; his greenish-grey eyes, the fine wrinkles on his +high sunburnt forehead, and the paleness of his cheeks, all marked +him as the adventurer endued with strong passions--an impression +that was increased by his thick-set face, large nose, and the tufted +mustachios hanging over his thick, sensual lips. I could not refuse +him a glass of water, unwelcome as I found his presence. As I handed +it to him I said-- + +"You seem to know this house well." + +"Yes, and that's no wonder; I played many a prank here in my +boyhood. But you, sir, who are you? An adjutant of the Colonel's, +or a protégé of Francis's?" + +"I think I have the best right to question you, and to ask who +you are?" + +"That's true enough; and I would tell you with pleasure, but it's a +secret which concerns others besides myself. Call me Mr. Smithson--it's +the name I am known by at present." + +"Very well. Now what is your business here, Mr. Smithson?" + +"I wish you to tell Francis I am here." + +"Do you think the news will be agreeable to her?" I demanded. + +"I cannot say, but she will come all the same." + +"Here, into my room?" + +"Bah! our Major Frank is no prude." + +"Mr. Smithson, I give you fair warning that if you say a single word +derogatory to the character of Miss Mordaunt, I shall instantly make +you take the same way out of this room by which you entered it." + +"Oh! oh! Mr. Unknown, I am a first-rate boxer. But easy, man, +easy! For I should be the last person in the world to say an offensive +word about Francis. Now, since you know her, you ought to be aware +that she would never refuse to assist a person in distress out of a +sense of prudery. Just you ask her to come here to see--not Smithson, +because she does not know me under that name, but a relation of hers, +who calls himself Rudolf." + +"And if she refuses to come?" + +"Oh, you make too many difficulties. Ah! is it possible you are +her----I should have thought Francis Mordaunt more capable of +commanding a batalion than of bowing herself under the yoke of +marriage. But, after all, women do change their minds. Then you are +the happy mortal?" + +"A truce to your suppositions," I answered him in a firm voice; +"I am here as a relation, a grand-nephew of the General's; my name +is Leopold van Zonshoven." + +"Well, upon my word! Probably we are cousins, for I am also related to +the General. Francis will not refuse to come, I assure you--especially +if you tell her that I do not come to ask for money; on the contrary, +I bring some with me." + +Hereupon he drew from his pocket a purse containing a number of clean, +new greenbacks. + +"Tell her what you have seen; it will set her mind at ease, and +possibly yours also--for you seem as yet only half-and-half convinced +that I am not a highwayman." + +I no longer hesitated; but took the precaution to lock my door on +the outside, lest he should follow me, and surprise Francis before +I had warned her. Having reached her room I knocked gently, and she +answered "Come in." It was the first time I had penetrated so far, +and I began in a serious tone-- + +"Something very singular has happened, my dear cousin----" + +"It is not an accident you come to announce to me, I hope?" she +exclaimed. + +"No, but a visit which will not prove agreeable, I am afraid." + +"A visit at this time of the day! Who is it?" + +"A person who says he is a relation of the family, and refuses to +give any name but that of Rudolf." + +She knit her eyebrows. + +"Good heavens! Unfortunate man! Here again!" + +I explained to her how he had forced his way in at the window, and +offered to make him retrace his steps if she desired it. + +"No, there must be no disturbance," she said, in a state of +agitation. "My grandfather must not even suspect he is here. I will +go with you, Leopold; this once you must excuse me if I do anything +you consider in bad form. How dare he show his face here? I can do +nothing more for him. You will stand by me, won't you?" + +I took her hand and led her to my room. Rudolf lay on the sofa, fast +asleep. When he saw Francis standing before him, he jumped up as if +to embrace her, but she drew back. He did not seem hurt, but he lost +his tone of assurance. + +"I understand, Francis, that my return is not a joyful surprise +to you." + +"You have broken your promise. You gave me your word of honour you +would stay in America. At any rate, you ought never to have set foot +in your native country again----" + +"Don't judge me without having heard----" + +"Is it not tempting fortune to come back here to the Werve, where +you may so easily be recognized?" + +"Oh, don't make yourself uneasy on that score, my dear. I have taken +precautions; and as for breaking my promise, I beg your pardon on my +bended knees." + +And he made a gesture as if he would fall on his knees before her. + +"Don't be theatrical," she said severely, and again retreated some +steps from him. + +"Heaven forbid! On the boards, to gain a livelihood, it is another +thing; but in your presence, before you, Francis, whom I honour and +love, I wish to justify my conduct. You may condemn me afterwards, if +you like. It was really my intention never to appear before your eyes +again. Alas! man is but the puppet of fortune, and I have not been able +to swim against the stream. I have had all sorts of adventures--but +can I tell you all now?" he added, looking significantly at me. "To +tell you the truth, I had reckoned on our being alone." + +"Stay, Leopold," she said, in answer to an inquiring look I gave her. + +"Francis," resumed Rudolf, with tears in his eyes, "you know you need +no protector where I am." + +"I know that, but I will not again expose myself to calumny for your +sake. As for your security, Rudolf, I can answer for my cousin Van +Zonshoven's discretion. You may tell him who you are without fear." + +"It is a question of life and death," he said in French, with a most +indifferent shrug of the shoulders, and he again stretched himself at +full length on the sofa. "The least indiscretion, and my life will be +forfeited. What of that? I run the risk of breaking my neck every day." + +And then, turning towards me, he began to sing, or rather to try +to sing, with a voice quite hoarse, and with a theatrical pose, +the following lines out of the opera "The Bride of Lammermoor"-- + + + "Sache donc qu'en ce domaine + D'où me chasse encor ta haine, + En seigneur j'ai commandé. + + +At least," he put in, "during the absence of the Baron, for I was +heir-presumptive--a presumption which, alas! is destined never to be +changed into certitude----" + +Francis, visibly affected by his jesting style, interrupted him, +and said to me-- + +"Rudolf von Zwenken, my grandfather's only son." + +"It would cost my charming niece too great an effort to say 'My +uncle.' It is my own fault. I have never been able to inspire people +with the necessary respect for me. Well, now, Cousin van Zonshoven, +you know who I am, but there is one point I must rectify: Rudolf von +Zwenken no longer exists--he is civilly dead." + +"And morally," murmured Francis. + +"And if he were to rise again under that name," he continued, +without heeding Francis's interruption, "he would commit something +like suicide, for he would be arrested and shot." + +"And knowing that, after all that has been done to put you beyond +danger, you show yourself in this place again! It is inexplicable," +cried Francis. + +"But, my dear, who told you I had come to show myself here? It is +true we give representations in the provinces; but the person who +appears in public is Mr. Smithson, so well begrimed that Baron von +Zwenken himself would not recognize his own son." + +"That's very fortunate, for it would be the death of him," retorted +Francis, harshly. + +"How you exaggerate, dearest. Monsieur mon pere never had so much +affection for me. He shall never know Mr. Smithson. His son Rudolf, +however, seeks an interview with him, and requests you, Francis, +to assist in bringing it about." + +"It is useless, sir; you may neither see nor speak to your father +again." + +"Can you be so hard-hearted, Francis?" + +"My duty obliges me, and I must have some regard for the feelings of +your father in the first place." + +"But, my dear child, try to understand me. I only wish to kiss his +hand and beg his pardon. With this object I have run all risks, and +imposed on myself all kinds of fatigue. I have just ridden hard for +three hours, hidden myself in the old ruins, climbed the garden wall +at the risk of breaking an arm or a leg; then, seeing a light here, +I broke in--and all this for nothing! No, my darling, this cannot +be; you will still be my good angel, and arrange the meeting I so +much desire----" + +"I say No; and you know when I have once said a thing I mean it." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + + +Rudolf, after a pause, began once more-- + +"You have a good heart, Francis. Ah! I know your reasons. You think I +am returned again like the prodigal son, with an empty purse, 'after +eating of the husks which the swine did eat.' It is just the contrary." + +"Don't be profane, Rudolf," said Francis, severely. + +"But it is true--I bring money with me, over two hundred dollars in +clean greenbacks, as a commencement of restitution, an earnest of +my reform. What do you think my father would say if he found them +to-morrow morning on his pillow? Don't you think he would receive me +with open arms?" + +"No, Rudolf, certainly not. You have broken your word of honour, +and for this your father will never forgive you. Don't talk of +restitution. What is this sum in comparison with what you have +cost him, and all the suffering you have caused him and me? Such +sacrifices as we had made gave us the right to hope you would leave +us in peace--forget us." + +Rudolf bowed down his head and heaved a deep sigh. I could not help +pitying the unfortunate man. I should have liked to say something +in his favour; but the cold, haughty, nay, contemptuous attitude of +Francis seemed to impose silence on me. There must be some reason, +I felt sure, for her inexorable severity; consequently I remained a +passive spectator. + +At length Rudolf roused himself from his despondency, drank off a glass +of water, and, turning towards Francis, said in his most serious tone-- + +"Just listen, Miss Mordaunt. It appears to me that, under the pretext +of acting as guardian to my father, you oppose a reconciliation between +us, without even consulting his wishes; and it is strange that a niece, +a granddaughter only, should usurp the position of the eldest son, +and refuse to listen to the returning prodigal." + +"Don't talk to me about your prodigal son," cried Francis, angrily; +"you are not the prodigal son. It is only a passing whim, and you will +be carried away again to-morrow by some new idea as you always were." + +"Don't you be afraid you will lose anything by it," he said in a +bitter tone; "you know I shall never lay claim to my father's property, +even though we were reconciled." + +"Must I then be suspected of cupidity, and by you indeed!" exclaimed +Francis, in the greatest indignation. + +"I should never accuse you of anything of the sort. On the contrary, +I am only too sensible of your generosity. I only mentioned this to +set you at ease about any consequences which might result from my +reconciliation with my father. To the world I am Richard Smithson, +American citizen; but let me have the pleasure of being for the few +minutes I stay here Rudolf von Zwenken, who would speak to his old +father once more, and take a last farewell of him. How can you oppose +such a desire?" + +"Your last farewells signify nothing; you always come back again." + +"But if, in spite of your opposition, I go at once and seek my father +in the large drawing-room--I have not forgotten my way about the +house--who shall hinder me?" + +"Do as you like; only I warn you you will find Rolf, who knows you, +with grandfather; and Rolf knows his orders, which he will carry out +like an old soldier." + +"The devil take Rolf! What's the old ruffian doing here?" spitefully +exclaimed Rudolf. + +"The old ruffian does all he can to cheer the declining years of your +father, whom you have rendered unhappy by your conduct." + +"My misery would not be complete without your contumely," sobbed +Rudolf. "I came here so cheerful and well disposed." + +"Mr. Rudolf," I said, "allow me to arrange an interview for you with +the General, since Miss Mordaunt declines." + +"Don't you trouble yourself, Jonker van Zonshoven," retorted Francis, +in her most cold and haughty tone. "I do not decline, but I know +it is impossible, and therefore better to say nothing. Rudolf well +remembers I threw myself at the feet of my grandfather, and besought +him not to send his son into exile unforgiven, and it only added +to the pain and sorrow of the scene. Don't forget, either, that you +yourself caused the report of your death to be spread abroad. The old +man believed it, and I have since heard him say it was a comfort to +him. His fears lest you should be arrested, tried, and condemned, +were only set at rest when he heard the news. Would you renew his +distress, and put him to these tortures again?" + +"It is true, too true--you are right," said Rudolf, quite breaking +down. + +"But you shall not leave the house without some refreshment," returned +Francis in a kind tone, now she felt her victory to be certain; "I +will go and fetch you something to eat immediately. Cousin Leopold +will allow you to have supper and to repose yourself in his room." + +Whereupon she left the room, and I was left alone with this singular +cousin of mine. + +"Bah!" he said, "our Major is not to be trifled with. What eyes she +gave me! I felt as if she would pierce me through and through; and +yet she has a good heart--there's not one in a thousand like her." + +"I think she might have shown a little more of its tenderness towards +a relation," I interposed. + +"What shall I say? She knows only my evil deeds as she has heard +them recounted by my father. When chance or misfortune has thrown us +two together, it has always been under circumstances which could +not dispose her in my favour. I have cost her both trouble and +money--nay, I even fear her reputation has been called in question on +my account. When I was in trouble she came to my assistance, regardless +of what public gossip might say. It was at Zutphen. My father's door +was shut upon me. She agreed to meet me in a lane outside the town, +a public promenade little frequented at certain hours of the day--in +fact, very seldom except on Sundays. But we were discovered; certain +idlers took it into their heads to play the spy on us, and Heaven +only knows what sort of reports they set flying about the town. The +generous girl had pawned her diamonds in order to assist me, unknown +to her grandfather. This act of devotion was of course interpreted to +her disadvantage. You may think it would be more noble on her part +not to remind me of what she has suffered when she sees me again; +but, my dear sir, a perfect woman is as scarce a thing as a horse +without a defect. Though she were to scratch and to bite me, I would +still bow my head in submission to her----" + +The entrance of Francis with a bottle of wine, bread and meat, &c., +interrupted what he had to say further. He attacked the eatables with +a most voracious appetite. + +When he had somewhat allayed his hunger, he began-- + +"Francis, my darling, where am I to pass the night? I cannot go +into that part of the house occupied by the General and Rolf, that's +certain. I would go into the stable and sleep in the hay, but that +I am afraid the coachman might recognize me." + +"We have no coachman now," replied Francis, quite pale. + +"What! You have sent away Harry Blount?" + +"Harry Blount is dead." + +"Dead! Why he would scarcely be thirty years of age. I taught him to +ride----but Francis, my angel, you are quite pale; have you also sold +your beautiful English saddle-horse?" + +"No, Tancredo is stabled at farmer Pauwelsen's; but it is the +recollection of Harry Blount which causes me to turn pale. I--it is +dreadful--I was the cause of his death." + +"Nonsense; come, come! In a moment of passion?" (here he made the +gesture of a man who horse-whips another). "I did so more than once, +but that does not kill a man--and you will not have murdered him." + +"Nevertheless, I was the cause of the brave fellow's death. It occurred +during a carriage drive. We had sold the beautiful greys----" + +"What! that splendid pair. My poor father!" + +"We had a new horse which we wished to run with the only one left +us. Harry wanted to try them himself for the first time, but I took +it into my head I would drive them. I got on the box by his side, +seized the reins, and, as soon as we were on a piece of level road, +they went like the wind. I was proud of my skill, and was rejoicing +in my triumph; but still Harry shook his head, and recommended me +to be prudent. The sky became clouded, and a thunderstorm threatened +us. In my folly, I urged the horses on still faster, though they were +already taking the bits between their teeth. Harry became alarmed, +and tried to take the reins out of my hands; but I resisted, and +would not give them up. In an instant the thunder began to roll, +and lightning struck right across our way; the horses took fright and +began to rear on their hind-legs. Blount jumped off the box to go to +their heads, but tripped, and they passed over his body. In despair, +I also jumped from the box at the risk of my life, and the violence +of the shock caused me to swoon. When I was again conscious, I saw +the unfortunate Blount lying on the road, crushed, with scarcely a +breath of life left in him. Within an hour he was a corpse." + +Here Francis burst into tears, and covered her face. + +"It is a pity, Francis, a great pity," replied Rudolf. "For your +sake, I would that I had been the victim of this accident rather than +Blount. You would have had one burden less to bear. Don't take it so +to heart, my child. I have seen others fall from their horses never +to rise again alive. What can we do? Wait till our turn comes, and +not make life miserable by thinking too much about it. But," said he, +"you have not yet told me where I am to sleep. Must I go back to the +ruin? It is a cold place, and doubly so when I think of the parental +castle close by." + +"The truth is, I cannot offer you a room, Rudolf. There is not one +suitable for the purpose." + +"But why cannot Rudolf share mine?" I asked; "I will give up my bed +to him." + +"No," he replied quickly; "I will be content with the sofa, if Francis +will consent to my staying here." + +"Very well," she answered; "only you must promise that to-morrow, +before daybreak, you will be far away. It is your father's birthday, +and there will be many visitors at the Castle." + +"I will start early, I promise you, Francis." + +"Well, I will once more trust to your word of honour. And now +good-bye. It is time for me to go; otherwise my absence will be +remarked upon by the gentlemen of the house." + +"Take this purse, Francis; it is a little commencement of restitution; +I would I could offer you more, but I have not yet become a veritable +Yankee uncle. I have not discovered a gold mine. Accept at least what +I can return to you." + +And he spread out the American greenbacks before her. + +"Are they real ones, Rudolf?" she asked in a grave tone. + +"By heavens, Francis, what do you mean by such a question? I +have committed many follies in my life--I have been a fool, a +ne'er-do-weel, a spendthrift, I am a deserter--but a forger of false +bank-notes! Francis, could you suspect me of such infamy?" + +"I wish I had only suspicions, Rudolf; unfortunately I have the +proofs." + +"The proofs!" he cried, in a sorrowful tone of voice; "but that's +impossible." + +"What am I to think of the false letters of exchange in which you +forged your father's signature? We have got them under lock and key, +these terrible proofs, and they have cost us dear. I have pardoned +this fault with the rest, Rudolf; but facts are facts." + +"It is impossible, I tell you!" he answered with firmness. "There +must be some terrible mistake in this case, and I trust you will +assist me in clearing it up. If my father believes that of me, I am +not surprised he should rejoice at my death, nor am I astonished you +despise me. However, I solemnly protest to you by all that's dear to +me, I am innocent, Francis." + +"Yet these bills were presented to Baron von Zwenken, and we paid +them to prevent a lawsuit. It could not have affected you very much, +for you were in America; but my grandfather would have been obliged +to retire from the army." + +"Francis, you are possessed of good, sound sense. How dared I have +committed such an offence just at the time I was in hiding near +Zutphen, at the moment when you were so generously raising funds +for my enterprise in America; nay, at the moment when my sincerest +desire was to carry my father's forgiveness with me into exile? Show +me these accursed bills, and I will prove my innocence." + +"They are in the General's possession; I cannot get at them to show +you them." + +"If we had them here, I would soon prove to you that it is impossible +for me, with my wretched handwriting, to imitate the fine and regular +hand of my father. What is your opinion, Mr. Leopold?" + +"I believe what you say," I answered. + +"Ah, that's a relief; it does me good!" he murmured, his eyes filling +with tears. "My father has been accustomed to spend his leave in +fashionable watering-places; is it not possible for him there to have +made the acquaintance of some wretch wicked enough to serve him such +a turn?" + +"For the last few years the General has not been from home, except +one winter which he spent in Arnheim." + +"Can Rolf have done it?" + +"No, don't suspect Rolf; he never had any education, but he's the +honestest man living, and he would pluck out an eye rather than cause +the old General any trouble." + +"Then I don't know whom to suspect. Now take these notes, Francis--they +are real, I assure you; take them as a proof you still believe +my word." + +"I believe you, Rudolf; but I think you have more need of them than +I have." + +"Never mind me; I have a good position now: first rider in the Great +Equestrian Circus of Mr. Stonehouse, of Baltimore, with a salary +of two hundred dollars a month--is it not splendid? You see I have +not lost my old love for horses. Formerly they cost me much money; +now they bring me in a living." + +"Well, Rudolf, you might have sunk lower; your business demands +courage and address. But I will not accept your money; I never take +back what I have given. To-morrow morning we shall see each other +again. You need not jump from the balcony and scale the garden wall; +I will let you out myself." + +"Ah! you wish to make sure of my departure----" + +"I have already said I would trust to your promise. Good night, +gentlemen." + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + + +She was scarcely out of the room, when Rudolf, who had drained the +bottle, began in his usual tone of banter-- + +"I don't know whether I ought to congratulate you, Mr. Leopold, +but I am firmly convinced our charming Major has found her colonel." + +I only shrugged my shoulders; for I felt a repugnance to making +Francis a subject of conversation with such a fellow. + +"Do you imagine I have no eyes? I know the women, I can assure you. I +have come across all sorts, and all sizes and colours, in my vagabond +life; and my niece, though she were a thousand times Major Frank, +is still a woman--a woman with a man's heart, as good Queen Bess used +to say of herself. I don't know what you intend to do, but it appears +to me you have only to propose-- + + + 'Et bientôt on verra l'infante + Au bras de son heureux vainqueur.' + + +She is smitten by you, that's certain! Why, she's like a thoroughbred +horse. With much patience, much attention, and a firm hand that knows +when to be gentle, so one succeeds. As for myself, I was always too +rash, too impatient. These gracious devils soon perceive it, and once +they know it, you are thrown--there's no help for you. After all, +perhaps I am mistaken," he said, seeing I remained silent; "otherwise +I would add that I hope you are rich. Her grandfather is ruined----" + +"And by whom?" I interposed; a little hard upon him, I confess, +but his volubility had become insupportable. + +"By whom? that's the question. I have contributed my share, I +acknowledge, yet not more than my own fortune which came to me from +my mother, as the eldest and only son. John Mordaunt could tell us +something if he were alive. He got his wife's fortune when they were +married, and Francis ought to have had something when she came of +age; that is if anything were left, for they lived in style--yes, +a style that would have run through any amount. I was sent off to +the Werve with my tutor, for I had begun to understand and to make +observations. After the death of my sister I was never invited to +the house of John Mordaunt. But perhaps it will not interest you to +listen to my old stories?" + +"Certainly, I should much like to hear an account of your adventures." + +"Well, then, my father was the first cause of my misfortunes, +for he opposed my wishes in everything. I wanted to be an officer; +and my father would not let me go to the military college at Breda +because he was prejudiced against it. He insisted upon my studying +law at Leyden: this, he said, would lead to a fortune. Ah, I have +found a fortune!" he repeated, with a bitter laugh. "Since I was +sent to study for my father's pleasure, I thought it only right +to seek my own; and, as he made me a fair allowance, I was soon +noted as the wildest and most extravagant of students. I kept my +horses and a Tilbury, and ran up enormous bills. Still I attended +those lectures which interested me, and I had just put on a 'coach' +for the final examinations, when my father lost a lawsuit against my +Aunt Roselaer. The supplies were stopped, and I left college without +having passed my examination as Master in the Law. My father's +interests obtained for me a place in the financial world, but with +the condition I should marry a rich heiress. The misfortune was, the +heiress in question was of an over-ripe age, with a nose too red for +my taste, and I neglected her. My father grew furious, and declared +he would discard me. Moreover, I could not settle down to the regular +routine of a counting-house for several hours a day, and sometimes +extra work in the evening after dinner. I found in the office an +old clerk, a regular old stager, who had sat on the same stool at +the same desk for twenty years without a chance of promotion. This +is my man, I thought, and I left the responsibility in his hands, +whilst I amused myself with my friends at the club. But one fine day, +when I was out picnicing with a party of friends, my worthy clerk +started off with the cash-box. I was of course held responsible, +and my father's guarantee was forfeited. + +"I dare say the whole of Francis' remaining fortune was swallowed +up by this affair and a lawsuit arising out of it. What could I do +now? I had a good voice, and I proposed to go to some music academy +abroad, and return as an opera singer. My father would not consent +to this, and told me the best thing I could do was to enlist in the +ranks as a common soldier. I caught at this idea in the hope of +being promoted to the position of an officer at no distant date; +but I had never been habituated to discipline. I was sent to a +small fortress on the frontiers; Rolf was my lieutenant, and he +did not spare me either hard work or picket duty. To cut it short, +I had enlisted for five years, and I did not stay five months. One +fine morning I walked off altogether. I was caught, and I wounded an +under-officer in self-defence; the charge against me was as clear as +the light of day. But I succeeded in breaking out of prison. I own I +was not very strictly guarded, and Francis, as I afterwards learnt, +had done her utmost to facilitate my escape. Again I was free as +the air; but I must live. I tried everything. I gave lessons in +French and in Latin to little German boys, and I taught the little +Fräuleins music and singing; I was even appointed private singer to an +Austrian princess, who was deaf, and imagined that my voice resembled +Roger's. I wandered about with a travelling opera company, and sang +myself hoarse in the open air. I have been coachman to a baron, and +travelled for a house in the wine trade, but when they wanted to send +me to Holland I had to give up the post. Afterwards I was waiter at +an inn, billiard-marker, valet to the secretary of a Polish count, +who, appreciating my ability at the noble game of billiards, took +me to Warsaw, and hastened to initiate me into his plans for the +'Independence of Poland.' As a matter of course, his enterprise was +unsuccessful; but he got sent to Siberia, and I myself was kept in +prison for some weeks because I refused to give evidence against +him. Again I found myself thrown on the wide world without a penny +in my pocket. But I will not weary you with a recital of all I have +done and suffered. Perhaps the best thing, and the simplest, for me to +have done, would have been to plunge into the Rhine and stay at the +bottom; but I have always had a repugnance to suicide, and, besides, +I have always been blest with a fund of good spirits and health. I +now made a tour of the German watering-places from north to south, +getting along as best I could, and changing my name very often. Once +I was imprisoned with a Moldavian prince accused of murder, but I was +let go, as I could prove my connection with the prince was posterior +to the crime. A report then got abroad in Holland that I was dead, +and I skilfully manoeuvred to obtain credence for it. At last, +weary of my adventurous life, I heard how a member of our family had +succeeded in America, and I decided to try my luck there; but I must +have money. I flattered myself that after ten years my father would +consent to do something for me. I wrote to Francis. The answer was not +encouraging. My father threatened, if I dared to cross the frontier, +he would hand me over to a court-martial. I thought Francis said this +only to frighten me. I came to Zutphen, well disguised, and there I was +convinced she had told me the truth. Francis, poor soul, was the only +person who took pity on me, and you know already what it cost her. And +when I think she could believe me to be guilty of forgery! Oh, the fact +is I would not make her more unhappy by telling her what I suspect----" + +"What then?" + +"Listen; I have my weaknesses, but I have never been ruled by +passions. I am not 'passion's slave.' Wine, play, and pleasant company +have run away with my money, and in some respects I am no more than +a great baby; but a real passion, a tyrannical passion, capable of +making me a great man or a great malefactor, such a passion I have +never known. Some one in our family, on the contrary, has been ruled +by such a passion; and many things I observed in my boyhood without +thinking much about them. But you are a discreet man, otherwise +Francis would not confide in you as she has done; and, besides, +you are a relation of the family--it is better you should be warned." + +After a pause-- + +"Know then that amongst all the trades I tried in Germany, I have had +the honour to be croupier in a gaming-house. There, unrecognized by my +unfortunate father, I have seen him play with a violence of passion +of which you can form no idea; and, believe me, in spite of all my +faults, it is in that way both his own and Francis's fortune have +been lost. I would have thrown myself at his feet, and besought him +not to precipitate himself deeper into this abyss; but my position +prevented me. Still, I watched him without his knowing it, and I soon +found out for a certainty that he borrowed money of a Dutch banker, +to whom he gave bills on Francis's property;--and, you see, rather +than confess this to her, he has accused me----" + +"But such conduct is abominable!" + +"Ah! passions do not reason. I was far away, and my name was already +sullied. I only desire to clear myself in Francis's opinion. But to +conclude my history: I was not more lucky in the New World than I had +been in Europe; I was shipwrecked and lost my all before I could land +at New York. I then went to the far West without meeting with anything +which promised me a future; in short, I felt quite happy when I made +the acquaintance of Mr. Stonehouse, who engaged me to accompany his +circus to Europe. And so it has come about that I once more tread +my native earth under the protection of the American flag. Once so +near the Werve, I was seized with an irresistible desire to see the +old place again. My satisfaction and reception have not been very +flattering, as you have witnessed; but I will keep my promise to +Francis, cost me what it may. And now good night." + +Without awaiting my answer he threw himself at full length on the +sofa, and soon gave me auricular evidence that he was enjoying the +profoundest slumber. I had nothing better to do than follow his +example. When I opened my eyes in the morning he had disappeared, +but he had left his pocket-book and the notes on the table. + +After mature reflection I came to the conclusion that his surmises +were right, and that the father had defamed his own son to escape +the remonstrances of a granddaughter. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + + +When I began to reflect on the coming day, I remembered that it +would be necessary for me to congratulate my uncle on his birthday; +and I felt it would require a stretch of the forms of politeness to +do this in a becoming manner. It occurred to me now that if Francis +could only see through that little glass window in my breast, she +would have the best of the argument in future on the subject of the +conventionalities of society; for I confess to you, dear William, +I had become a convert to Aunt Sophia's opinions with regard to this +same General von Zwenken, and now I admired her prudence in preventing +her fortune from falling into such hands. + +As the birthday fell on a Sunday we all went to the village church, +a duty which the General considered his position as lord of the manor +imposed upon him; and one which he performed as he would have done +any other duty laid down by the military code. The clergyman was old, +monotonous, and wearisome. The greater part of the congregation went +to sleep under the effects of his sermon. Francis took up a Bible +and pretended to read, whilst it seemed to me the wakeful part of the +congregation paid more attention to us than to their minister; and the +remarks they whispered about one to another struck me as not being +very favourable to us. The General alone kept his eyes fixed on the +preacher throughout the sermon; but whether his mind was so intently +occupied with the subject matter, I will not take upon myself to say. + +On our return the fête commenced. The village schoolmaster brought +up his scholars, who recited a string of verses glorifying the Baron +as patron of the school, though I doubt whether he had ever entered +it. And I believe the same verses had done duty for several generations +on similar occasions, when the owners of the Werve admitted the master +and his scholars to an audience. + +Then came the Pauwelsens from the farm, who still address the +General as their landlord; after them some of the villagers. All +these people were regaled with cake and chocolate. The burgomaster +[5] called in his turn; he was a regular rustic, and paid a good deal +more attention to me than to the General. He evidently saw in me a +mystery which excited his curiosity. + +Captain Willibald also put in an appearance, and after congratulating +my uncle, handed him a box of cigars, saying-- + +"They are the old sort; I know your taste exactly." + +"Certainly you do, my good fellow; it is an agreeable present. Here +in the country one must lay in a stock. What say you, Leo?" + +"To my shame, I must own I did not know what to buy you on such an +occasion; but I will take care to make up for this omission of mine +very soon." + +Uncle rejoined in a whisper-- + +"The one thing I should like you to do is to reconcile yourself with +your uncle, the Minister for Foreign Affairs." + +Happily it was not necessary for me to reply to this remark. Francis +entered the room, and quite charmed me by her manner. She was cordial +to all the visitors--I thought I had never seen a better hostess. I +saw how amiable she could be when quite at her ease, and not beset by +fears of what envious tongues might say as soon as her back was turned. + +The dinner was beautifully arranged. The Captain had put on his +full-dress uniform, the General his also, and I had given some extra +attention to my toilette. Francis was dressed plainly as usual, +without much regard for the day or the visitors; and yet there was +something original in her style of dress, an elegance which seemed to +heighten her beauty considerably. I was struck by the richness and +weight of the silver, all engraved with the family coat-of-arms. I +felt sure that the Captain and Francis had put their money together +to get it from the pawnbrokers for the occasion. At table she took +her place between the clergyman and myself. The village lawyer, the +postmaster, and some rough-looking country farmers, together with +the churchwardens and several members of the local board, had been +invited to the dinner. Rolf took his place in the midst of them, and +soon loosened their tongues by pointing out the various sorts of wine, +and filling up their glasses with no sparing hand. Even the clergyman +I found to be much more entertaining at table than in the pulpit, +and the conversation never flagged. Fritz, assisted for the nonce by +one of the sons of farmer Pauwelsen, had donned a livery which I felt +pretty certain was the uniform of an officer metamorphosed. He was +more attentive, and more particular than ever in his manner of serving +every one; it seemed to me as if he had something on his mind, he was +so solemn and serious. In spite of myself I could not help thinking +of the utter ruin this once opulent house had fallen into, and of the +unhappy son banished from his father's table. As for the General, I had +never yet seen him in such good spirits. The table so well served, the +appetizing dishes, and the wines which he had such a delicate manner +of tasting--all this just suited his epicurean habits. Afterwards +we drank coffee in the garden, and Rolf insisted upon our drinking +a bowl of May wine; for he was most anxious to display his skill in +the composition of this very famous German beverage. + +This completed the entertainment, for the country people are accustomed +to retire early; and the evening was still young when a great lumbering +coach drew up before the hall door, to convey the visitors back to +the village. + +I had hoped to meet Francis and propose a walk round the garden, +but she was nowhere to be found. It appeared she had run over to +the Pauwelsens with some of the dainties for the old bed-ridden +grandmother. And her first care on her return was to inquire the +whereabouts of her grandfather. + +"He must not be left alone for a moment to-day," she said to me; +"I have not been at my ease all this day." + +"Because of Rudolf?" I inquired. + +"I can never be sure what whim he will take into his head next. But +you are sure that he is gone?" + +"Certainly, before I was awake; but he left his pocket-book on the +table. I will take it to him to-morrow." + +"Don't do anything of the sort, I am sure he will come back; this +thought has pursued me like my shadow all this day. But tell me what +you thought of my dinner." + +"You were a charming hostess, Francis. How I should like to see you +mistress of a well-furnished house of your own!" + +"And one in which it would not be necessary to take the silver out +of pawn when I expected visitors," she replied bitterly. + +"My dear cousin, I know this must have been a bitter trouble to you," +I answered compassionately. + +"This I feel the most humiliating of all; but I did it to please +my old grandfather, upon whom I can be severe enough at times about +his weaknesses. Rolf, who in spite of his faults is the best-natured +fellow in the world, went to the town of----, and we polished it up +ourselves. We would not let Fritz into the secret." + +"And to me, Francis, to whom you owe nothing, you have given much +pleasure, by surprising me with this little Russian leather case----" + +"Don't mention such a trifle. I only wished to mark the day on which +you became my friend." + +"Yes, indeed, your friend for life," I answered, gently drawing her arm +within mine. This word had given me courage, it rendered me bold. "I +thank you for that word, Francis; but it is not yet enough. Let me +be to you more than a friend; permit me----" + +"More than a friend?" she cried, visibly agitated. "I beseech you, +Leopold, let us not aim at what cannot be realized, nor destroy +this relationship which is dear to me, by striving after the +impossible. Promise me seriously, Leopold, you will not mention this +subject to me again, or use any such language to me." + +This answer seemed very like a formal refusal, and yet I remarked an +emotion in her voice which to a certain extent reassured me. + +"And why should it be impossible, Francis?" I resumed, mustering up +all my courage. + +This time I got no answer; she uttered a shriek and rushed off to the +summer-house, I following her. There a frightful spectacle awaited us. + +Rudolf, the miserable Rudolf, was on his knees before his father, +kissing his hand. The latter was seated on the bench, to all appearance +motionless. Suddenly Rudolf uttered a cry of terror and despair. + +"I warned you," said Francis; "you have been the death of your father." + +"No, Francis, no, he has fainted. But I found him in this condition; +I swear to you by all that's dear to me that I found him thus." + +The fact was that the General had become stiff and motionless as +a corpse. The trellis work alone had prevented his falling to the +ground. His face had turned a little blue, his eyes were fixed and +wide open, and his features distorted. Francis rubbed his temples with +the contents of her scent-bottle. This friction revived him a little; +but prompt medical aid was necessary. + +"Tell me where the village doctor lives," cried Rudolf, beside himself +in his agitation, "that I may fly to him." + +"It will be better to send Fritz," replied Francis, in a cold, +decided tone. + +I ran off in search of the old and faithful servant, to whom I +explained the state of affairs. + +"The General has had an attack!" he exclaimed, with tears in his eyes, +"and it is my fault!" + +"How so?" + +"I ought not to have allowed it--but I--I could not drive away the +only son of the house." + +"Of course not, but keep your own counsel and make haste." + +And the old soldier started off at a speed I had thought him little +capable of. + +When I returned the General was in the same condition; Rudolf, +leaning against a tree, was wringing his hands. + +"That will do no good," Francis said to him; "help me to carry him +to his room; Leopold will give us a hand." + +"That's not necessary--he is my father, and it is my place to carry +him." + +In an instant he took up the old man with so much gentleness, and yet +with such firmness of muscle, that you would have thought he carried +a babe. He refused my assistance even up the staircase. He laid the +old Baron on his bed, with his eyes still fixed, and quite unconscious. + +"Thank God! there he is safe," said Rudolf, falling into a chair. "I +have had many a hard piece of work in my life, but never one in which +my heart was so deeply concerned. May I stay here until he regains +consciousness?" he asked of Francis like a supplicant. + +"I feel that it is impossible for you to leave at such a moment," +she answered; "but we must call in Rolf, and if he sees you here----" + +"Oh, if he makes the slightest to do I'll twist his neck about like +a chicken's." + +It occurred to me that the more simple and prudent plan would be for +me to go and make the Captain acquainted with what had happened, and +obtain his promise to keep silent and to pretend not to know anything +about Rudolf's presence. He was enjoying his after-dinner nap when I +found him, and I was afraid he would have an attack of apoplexy when +I told him about the coming of Rudolf. His anger seemed to make him +forget the gravity of the General's position. I endeavoured to make +him understand that the accident might possibly be attributed to a +fit of cold, caused by drinking May wine in the cool of the evening so +shortly after the copious dinner of which the General had partaken; but +he had made up his mind that Rudolf was the cause of the misfortune, +and he asserted that his duty as a soldier and an officer was to have +him forthwith arrested as a deserter. + +It was only with the greatest difficulty that I could get this fixed +idea out of his head. I succeeded, however, at length in proving to +him that the duty which he owed to humanity far surpassed all others at +present; that it would be an unheard-of cruelty to arrest the son now +at the bedside of a father, dying, for all we knew; that even Francis +herself had consented to his staying, and that we were in duty bound +to cast a veil over the family secrets. Finally the inborn good-nature +of Rolf triumphed, and we went together to the General's room. + +The doctor had just arrived. He considered the case serious, and said +it would be necessary to bleed the patient. Fritz and Rolf were left +to aid the doctor and undress the invalid. Meantime I led Francis +into a cabinet where Rudolf had taken refuge and was breathlessly +awaiting the doctor's verdict. + +As we had left the door ajar we heard the patient recover +consciousness, and call for Francis in a strangely altered voice, +and address questions to her in a frightened tone; which questions +the doctor, not understanding, put down to delirium, though they +made it clear enough to us that he had seen and recognized Rudolf, +although he mentioned no names. + +"If the patient is not kept strictly quiet, I fear it will turn to +brain fever," said the doctor on leaving. + +"Would you like to see the person you referred to just now?" I asked +the General in a whisper, as soon as we were alone. + +"No, indeed! I know he is here; he must leave in peace, and at once, +never more to appear before my eyes, or--I will curse him." + +We could hear a suppressed sigh in the neighbouring cabinet. Rudolf +had understood. + +Rolf and Francis undertook the duty of watching at the bedside of +the patient during the night; and I led Rudolf to my room--I may say +supported him, for the strong man reeled. He threw himself on the +sofa and wept like a child. + +"It is finished," he said. "I could not, after all, have expected +anything else, and I have my deserts." + +"Francis was in the right, you see; you ought not to have broken +your promise." + +"It is not my fault I broke it. Fritz caught me this morning just as I +was scaling the garden wall, and I was obliged to make myself known to +him, otherwise he would have given me in charge as a housebreaker. He +then offered to hide me in an unoccupied room on the ground floor until +to-night. Thence, unseen, I could watch the movements of my father; +and when his guests were gone, I saw him walking alone towards the +summer-house, where he sat down, and, as I thought, he had fallen +asleep. Then it was I ventured out of my hiding-place and approached +him. It appears, however, he must both have seen me and recognized +me. But now I have said enough, and this time I will go away for +good. God bless him! May the Almighty strengthen dear Francis." + +I persuaded him to spend this night with me, and try to get a little +rest. From time to time I went to make inquiries about the General, +and towards morning I was able to inform Rudolf that his father had +passed a fair night and was now sleeping calmly; he could therefore +leave with his mind more at ease. I accompanied him a part of the way +outside the grounds, and promised to keep him informed of the state +of his father's health. He gave me his address, as I was to write +to him under the name of Richard Smithson, and he then parted from +me with the most passionate expressions of gratitude for the little +kindnesses I had been able to show him. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + + +The General escaped for this time, but his recovery was slow. He was +weak, and both his arms and legs seemed as if they were paralyzed. I +allowed myself to be easily persuaded to prolong my stay at the Werve, +and I was able to render Francis many little services. One of us two +had to be constantly at the side of the convalescent, for Rolf had +better intentions than judgment. He let the General have just what +he asked for, and would soon have brought on a relapse if we had not +watched them both. Francis was very thankful to have me with her; and +yet she could not be satisfied that it was possible for me to spare +so much time from all my business. She little suspected that my most +pressing and agreeable occupation was to remain at her side and win +her affections. Her devotion to her grandfather was sublime; she forgot +all the wrongs he had done her, and only reproached herself for having +caused him pain by her plain speaking. Notwithstanding, as the old +man gradually grew better, she was soon again convinced that a certain +amount of firmness was absolutely necessary to manage him. During his +illness he had requested me, in his first lucid moments, to receive +and open all his letters. And in this way I became aware that he +was engaged in "risky" speculations, and that he was making debts +unknown to Francis. When he was well enough to talk on such a subject, +I ventured to remonstrate with him, and to point out the consequences +of persisting in such a course, both for himself and for Francis. He +promised me he would give up all such speculations, and excused the +past on the grounds that he wished to leave Francis something when he +died. I was to make the best conditions I could for him in the sale +of the Werve. It was time. Overberg consented to wait; but Van Beek, +the executor of the will, a man as inflexible as the law itself, had +lost all patience. And I was not yet sure of Francis. Weakness on my +part, you will say; but no, it was delicacy--it was the fear of having +to cut short my stay. I was afraid of the obstinacy of Francis--that +she would not consent to a marriage even though I might have won +her heart. I was constantly calling to mind that terrible sentence +she had uttered in the garden: "You will not use such language to me +again." I shuddered at the very idea that a new attempt on my part +might draw from her lips a definite and decided No. + +The old General had discovered my intentions--of that I was +convinced. He was continually insisting upon a reconciliation with my +uncle the minister, and that I should prepare Francis for the sale of +the Werve. On this latter point, I assured him Francis would listen to +reason, and, armed with his power of attorney, I went over to Zutphen +to arrange the preliminaries with Overberg. Van Beek was growing +less and less manageable; he had sent in reams of stamped paper to +Overberg, and the interest on several of the mortgages was six months +over due; in fact the situation of affairs had become desperate. I +charged Overberg to write to Van Beek that the Werve would be sold, +in all probability, at the same time as my marriage with Francis took +place; and I thought this would be enough to keep the lawyers quiet +for a few days longer. I brought back some little presents for the +General and Rolf, who were both highly pleased; and a plain set of +earrings and a brooch for Francis, as the time had not yet arrived +when I could offer her the diamonds I intended for my bride. + +On my return, to my great surprise, I found Francis sadder and more +anxious than I had left her in the morning. She accepted my present, +but seemed to be little interested in it. She retired early, and I +followed her example, as I did not find Rolf's company particularly +interesting. Most of the night I spent in reflection and conjectures as +to this change in Francis; for I had observed tears in her eyes when +she bade me good-night. Once more I made up my mind that the coming +day should put an end to all my doubts. At breakfast, Francis, less +depressed than the night before, told us she had received a letter +from Dr. D., of Utrecht, who gave her very encouraging news of the +invalid in whom she was so much interested. I wished to propose to +her a long walk in the wood; but when I came downstairs from my room, +where I had gone after breakfast to make a change in my dress, I met +Francis in the hall, arrayed in her riding-habit. This time she had +put on an elegant hat and blue veil, and was waiting for her beautiful +horse Tancredo, which the son of the farmer led up to the door saddled. + +"Give up your ride this morning, to oblige me," I said to her, with +a certain tone of impatience in my voice that could not escape her. + +She looked at me in surprise and silence as she played with her +riding-whip. + +"You can take your ride an hour later," I insisted. + +"I have a long ride before me, and I must be back before dinner." + +"Then put it off until to-morrow. This is the first opportunity we +have had to take a long walk since your grandfather fell ill. Don't +refuse me this pleasure." + +"You always like to disarrange my plans, Leo." + +"To-day I have good reasons for doing so, Francis; believe me, +to-morrow it will be too late." + +"Really? Your words sound threatening," she said, attempting to +smile. "Well, you shall have your way," and she threw aside her +riding-whip pettishly. "You'll have to wait until I change my dress; +I cannot walk in my riding-habit." + +Tancredo was sent back to the stable, and in much less time +than I could have imagined my cousin reappeared in a very neat +walking-costume. + +"And where shall we go?" she asked. + +"Well, into the wood, I suppose." + +"That's right, the weather is splendid: we can walk as far as the round +point, and rest there on the rustic bench which you perhaps remember." + +And so we walked through the great lane towards the wood, silent, just +because we had so much to say to each other. I had resolved to speak; +but I could not decide in my own mind how to begin the subject. She +herself seemed to have a thousand other things to talk about beside +the one I wished to come to. At length I tried to change the subject +by saying it would be necessary for me to fix a day for my return to +the Hague. + +"I was expecting it, Leopold." + +"And are you sorry I am going away?" + +"I ought to say 'No,' by way of opposition, which is the only suitable +answer to such a foolish question." + +"But I--will come back, if you would like it." + +"No, Leopold, I should not like it. And I still believe you would +have done better to go away the day I first advised you to do so." + +"Have I been a burden to you, Francis?" + +"You know better than that. You know I have much to thank you for: you +have stood by me in days of suffering, and borne my troubles with me; +you have been open, frank, and obliging with me; in a word, you have +spoilt me, and I shall feel my loneliness doubled when you are gone." + +"Not for long, though, for I will come back soon--with--with a +trousseau!" + +"And, in the name of goodness, for whom?" + +"For whom, indeed, but my well-beloved cousin Francis Mordaunt!" + +"That's a poor, very poor sort of jest, sir; you know very well that +your cousin Mordaunt has no intentions of ever marrying." + +"Listen to me, Francis! When we first met on the heath, and you told +me your intentions on this point, I had no reasons for trying to +dissuade you from them; but to-day, as you yourself know, the case is +different. You will recollect the freedom with which I have pointed +out to you any defects which I considered a blemish on your noble +character. Do you think I should have taken such a liberty if I had +not conceived the idea, fostered the hope, of your one day consenting +to become--my wife?" + +The word, the all-important word, was at last said. + +"Well, indeed, Leo," she began with a profound sigh, "since you +force me to speak seriously, I must remind you of my last warning, +'not to use such language to me;' it cannot, it may not be." + +"And why not, Francis? Did I deceive myself when I thought I was not +altogether indifferent to you?" + +She turned aside her face in silence, but I was sure I heard something +like a suppressed sigh. + +"Is it possible you are not disengaged?" I inquired, taking her +hand gently and placing myself before her so that I could look into +her eyes. + +"Disengaged! Certainly I am disengaged," she answered bitterly. "I +have done my best to remain so; and I have all along told you I must +be independent. It is necessary." + +"Ah, I comprehend, Francis!" I exclaimed, carried away by an absurd +jealousy; "you are still waiting for your Lord William." + +"I?" she returned with passion; "I waiting for Lord William, +who never loved me, who caused me to commit a thousand follies, +who broke my heart, and who must now be nearly sixty! No, Leopold; +don't humiliate me by pretending to be jealous of Lord William. Could +I have told you the history of his stay with us if I still loved him?" + +"Is it then only a whim of Major Frank, who will surrender to no man, +but prefers his savage kind of independence?" + +"Don't torment me in this way, Leopold. You can break my heart, +but you cannot overcome my objections." + +"Then I will discover this mysterious power which enthrals you," +I cried, full of anger and pain. + +"You already know the duties I have to fulfil, Leopold. Why should you +throw yourself into this abyss of misfortunes and miseries, in which I +am sinking? and I shall never be able to get out of it my whole life." + +"I wish to know your miseries, my dear Francis, to share them with +you, and help you to bear them. We will overcome them together--be +assured of that, my adored----" + +Passion was getting the mastery over me; I caught her in my arms and +pressed her to my breast. She made no resistance, but, as if wearied +with the struggle, she rested her head on my shoulder--her head so +charming in its luxuriancy of golden curls. Her eyes were closed and +her cheeks were crimson. I thought myself in the seventh heaven. + +Suddenly a croaking voice broke the profound silence of the wood-- + +"Don't let me disturb you. Ah! Now Missy has a lover, it is not +surprising she neglects the little boy." + +Such were the words we heard close to us, uttered by a hoarse voice +and in the coarsest of country dialects. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + + +Francis, pale with terror, disengaged herself from my embrace, +and stepped forward a few paces. As for myself, I stood as if +thunder-struck. + +The person who had spoken these offensive words, and who had doubtless +been watching our movements for some time, was an old peasant woman +bearing a strong resemblance to the witches in Macbeth. Her sharp +black eyes, bare skinny arms, as red and dry as a boiled crab, her face +wrinkled and tanned, her blue checked handkerchief tied over her white +cap, and the stick on which she supported herself, all contributed to +call up before my mind one of those creatures our ancestors would have +burned alive. I confess I wished her such a fate when she advanced +towards Francis and said, with her ingrained impertinence-- + +"Now, miss--now I see what you have been so busy about the last five +weeks, that you have never once had time to come and see the child." + +"My grandfather has been ill, Mrs. Jool." + +"Yes, rich people's sickness--there's no great danger; but the young +gent there, that's another thing, eh? I tell you all the village is +talking about it." + +"About what, Mrs. Jool?" asked Francis, indignantly. + +"Your neglecting the child for----" + +"Listen to me, Mrs. Jool," interrupted Francis, in a calm and firm +tone: "neither you nor the village have any right to interfere with +my business." + +"Hum! the month is up, and a week gone in the second, and when Trineke +[6] is not paid the boy suffers for it." + +"You shall be paid to-morrow; but I warn you if the child suffer on +account of a week's delay in payment, either at your hands or your +daughter's, I will take him away from you. To-morrow, or the day +after, I shall come to see him myself, and I shall make inquiries of +the neighbours." + +"What! You would disgrace me and my daughter by taking him away? You +try it! we shall then see who is the strongest." + +And the insolent, vulgar woman set her arms akimbo, as she whined out-- + +"This is what one gets for defending great folks." + +"It has cost you no sacrifices, Mrs. Jool; for you have simply tried +to make money out of your daughter's misfortune." + +"And he must have shoes and socks, or else he will have to run about +bare-legged in clogs like a peasant's child." + +"I will provide them, Mrs. Jool; and now I have heard enough. This +is the path which leads to the village." + +"What a hurry you're in!" + +"These are private grounds; do you understand that? Now take yourself +off, or----" + +"Marry come up! how anxious you are to get rid of me. Well, well, +I am going. Otherwise I am afraid this dandy will play the policeman +for her." And so she limped off along the path indicated, mumbling +all the way. + +Francis then turned to me and said-- + +"Well, Leopold, this incident will serve to enlighten you; behold a +power opposed to my freedom and happiness." + +"I understand," I answered, trying to assume a calmness I did not +possess; "I understand, Francis--you are too honest to bind any man +to you for life, saddled as you are with such a burden. But why did +you not confide this terrible secret to me sooner? I will attempt +the impossible to save you!" + +"But, Leopold, what are you thinking of?" she responded, quite red +with emotion; "you surely do not suspect me of anything unworthy? You +comprehend that my honour is not herein concerned, though I must +suffer for the deplorable consequences of the fault I committed." + +"I am listening, Francis; but, excuse me, I do not rightly understand +you. Is this not a question of a child which you are obliged to +maintain?" + +"Yes, certainly; and that's not the heaviest part of the burden. I +have also to maintain the mother." + +"Francis!" I exclaimed, in a transport of joy and relief. + +"Now it is my turn to say I don't understand you," she rejoined, +regarding me with an adorable simplicity. "Do you think it a light +charge for me, in my position, to bring up a child, and provide for +its mother whom I have sent to a private asylum?" + +I thanked Heaven from the bottom of my heart that she, in her +innocency, did not suspect the conclusions I had drawn from the words +and manner of the old witch. + +"This is the fatal consequence of my rash obstinacy with poor Harry +Blount," she continued. "You have heard me speak of the accident +before. He was carried in a dying state into the cottage of this +Mrs. Jool and her daughter. In my despair, I repeated several times: +'It is my fault; I have killed him, I have killed him.' The daughter +knelt beside Blount in the wildest agony; and Harry could just murmur, +'My wife, my poor wife; have pity on her, Miss Francis!' I did not +know until this moment that they were secretly married. I promised +solemnly I would care for her, and even if I had made no promise I +should still have done all I have done for her. + +"The mother always was, and is, a bad woman; she had, as it were, +thrown her daughter into the arms of Blount, whom she considered a +good match. After the funeral, she made such good use of my words +uttered in despair, and spread such nefarious reports in the village, +that I was accused in all earnest of being his murderer. In fact, +we were obliged to consult the magistrate, a friend of ours, as +to the measures we ought to take to contradict and put a stop to +such slanderous charges. This, of course, did not relieve me of my +obligations towards the daughter, in whom, very soon after the birth of +her child, symptoms of insanity manifested themselves. The child had to +be taken from her, and it was given in care to a sister of hers in the +neighbouring village, who had just lost her youngest born. Perhaps you +would imagine she took it out of sisterly charity; but no, she insisted +upon my paying her monthly wages as I should have to do any other wet +nurse. Besides, I had to do what I could for the poor mother. It was +most fortunate for me that on the occasion of my visit to Utrecht +I met with Aunt Roselaer, otherwise I could not have afforded the +expense the mother has cost under the care of Dr. D. Mrs. Jool, +not caring to live alone, went to the house of her married daughter +under the pretext of watching over the little one; but the fact is, +she would there have a better opportunity of extorting money from me, +and this she does under all kinds of pretences. The child has long +been weaned, and ought not to be left in their charge. I am always +threatening to take it away from them, but I have not yet done so; +for, to confess a truth, I have recoiled from the rumours and false +charges such a change would give rise to. The mother and child are +now costing me the greater part of my income. My grandfather finds +fault with me about it, for he regards it as so much money thrown +away. Now, Leopold, do you think I could draw a man I really loved +into such a maëlstrom as this?" + +"The man worthy to possess you, Francis, will not be drawn in, but +will aid you in getting out of it." + +"It is impossible; I will never abandon this child of Harry Blount's." + +"I would never advise you to do anything of the sort. I know the way +to treat such people as Mrs. Jool. The child must be taken away from +her and brought up by respectable farmers; perhaps the Pauwelsens +would take him. To-morrow I will go with you to the village----" + +"You will only stir a wasps' nest about your ears." + +"Oh, never mind; I am not afraid of a sting." + +"It's bad enough that this woman has been playing the spy on us +to-day." + +"When she sees us together to-morrow she will understand that it is +useless playing the spy on us any longer." + +"But then she will make us the talk of the country-side. You don't +know the wickedness that woman's capable of." + +"Well, what can she say more than that we are an engaged couple? And +is this not true, Francis?" I said, gently taking her hand in mine. + +"You come back to the subject again, even now you know all," she +murmured; "but you have not calculated all the troubles and burdens +which would fall upon you: Rolf, whom we could not send away from +the Werve; my grandfather with his large wants--and small income. Oh +yes, I know you are going back to the Hague to reconcile yourself +with your uncle the minister, as the General has advised you to do; +and I understand why. But don't do so for my sake, Leopold, for you +have yourself said it would demean you." + +"Reassure yourself on that point, Francis; I may forgive my uncle +and seek to be reconciled to him, as my religion bids me; but never +for the sake of his favours. But why so many difficulties? Don't you +see I love you, Francis; that during the last few days I have been at +some pains to suppress my feelings, and have therein succeeded better +than I gave myself credit for; that, now I have told you all, we must +either part for ever, or I must have the assurance you will accept +me as your husband? I desire it, Francis; I desire it with a firmness +of will that despises all objections and will remove all difficulties." + +"Leopold," she replied, "don't talk to me like this. No one ever spoke +to me as you have done--you make me beside myself. And yet I ought to +resist. I don't wish to be an obstacle in the way of your happiness, +whatever it may cost me." + +I took both her hands in mine. "Francis," I said, "I love you!" This +was my only answer. + +"You persist? Can it be? May I still be happy!" + +"Enough, Francis; you are mine! I will never forsake you; you are +mine for life!" + +"For life!" she repeated after me, becoming so pale that I was afraid +she would faint. "Leopold, yes, I am yours; I put my trust in you, +and I love you as I have never loved before--never before," she +whispered quite low. + +"At last!" I cried; and pressed the first kiss of love on her lips. + +I need not tell you we came in too late for luncheon. It is true +we were not hungry. We returned to the house slowly, and almost +in silence, and we even slackened our pace as we drew nearer the +Castle. Francis, especially, seemed loath to enter. + +"Let us rest on the moss at the foot of this large oak tree," she said; +"it seems to me that all my misfortunes will come back to me as soon +as I enter yonder. I cannot yet separate myself from my happiness. Oh, +Leopold! I wish we could fly away together, that no one might interpose +between us two." + +"We will fly away, dearest; but first we must go through certain +formalities which will give us the right to appear in the world as +man and wife, and lift up our heads with the best of them." + +"And then will follow the breakfast, the visits, and the +congratulations of mean and false people, who come with a hypocritical +smile to wish us joy, whilst behind our backs they will make a mock +of the man who has dared to marry Major Frank!" + +"Oh, what a supposition!" I replied; "you must pay for that," kissing +her sad face into cheerfulness. + +"I don't understand," she continued, "how people can treat so serious +a subject as marriage with such lightness. The woman especially +makes an immense sacrifice--her name, her will, her individual self; +a sacrifice which I always considered it would be impossible for me +to make, until I met you." + +"And now?" I asked, kneeling before her on the moss, the better to see +into her beautiful eyes, which sparkled with happiness and tenderness. + +"Now I have no longer so many objections," she replied with her +sweetest smile. "But do not remain in that position before me, +Leopold. It is only acting a lie, for I foresee you will be my lord +and master. But let us now go in, my dear, otherwise they will be +alarmed about us at the Castle. They won't know what to think of our +long absence." + +"Just let me say, Francis, it must be with us as Tennyson puts it-- + + + "Sit side by side, full summed in all their powers, + ------ + Self-reverent each, and reverencing each: + Distinct in individualities, + But like each other even as those who love." + + +"Exactly my opinion!" she exclaimed, applauding the sentiment. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + + +It was just as well we went in, for we met Rolf and Fritz, who had +been sent out in search of us, as the General, though in a good +humour, was most impatient to speak to us. When we entered his room +he was arranging his papers, and did not give us time to announce +our engagement, as we intended. + +"Francis," he cried, "why did you stay out so long when I have such +good news to tell you?" + +"That's just what I have to tell you, grandfather; but what can have +pleased you so much? You have not been made heir to Aunt Roselaer's +property, have you?" + +"It comes almost to the same thing, my child. Know then that the heir +to Aunt Roselaer's property asks your hand in marriage. It is one of +the conditions of the will; and I believe he will be agreeable to you." + +I smiled, though I found that Overberg and Van Beek had been in too +great a hurry to inform the old Baron of the real state of affairs. I +had wished to be the first to break this agreeable surprise to Francis. + +She stepped forward towards the General, and in a firm voice she said-- + +"I am sorry, grandfather, to disappoint you. The gentleman comes +too late, for I have just promised my hand and heart to my cousin, +Leopold van Zonshoven--and that is the good news I came to tell you." + +"But that's all the better, dear child--all the better; for the heir +to Aunt Roselaer's property and your cousin Leopold van Zonshoven are +one and the same person; and on the condition that you should marry +the heir." + +Francis, turning on me brusquely, cried, "It is not true, Leopold? Oh, +say it is not true!" she exclaimed, violently agitated. + +"Then I should not speak the truth," I answered. "The only difference +for you," I continued, "is this: you thought you were giving your +heart to a 'poor gentleman,' and now, like a prince in the fairy tales, +he turns out to be a millionaire. Can such a surprise be disagreeable +to you?" + +"Not a disagreeable surprise to me"--she almost shrieked, with +scintillating eyes and flushed cheeks--"to find you have put on a mask +to deceive me! Have you not succeeded in inspiring me with esteem for +you by your proud and dignified behaviour, and the elevated sentiments +you professed? And do you think I can be happy to find that all this +was but a comedy? Could a gentleman have treated me so? But you have +deceived yourself, Jonker van Zonshoven. I gave my heart to a young +man without fortune, whose upright and noble character I admired, and +in whom I had more confidence than in myself; but for the intriguer, +who, to seize upon my aunt's fortune and make sure of it, has put on +a disguise to win the heart of the woman he was ordered to marry, for +this hypocrite, this pretended sage, I have nothing but--my contempt!" + +"Be careful, Francis; I know your violent temper often causes you +to say that which in cooler moments you regret; but don't insult in +such a manner the man you have just accepted as your husband--a man +whom no one ever dared to address in such language, neither will he +meekly bear it from any living being." + +"Need I make any respectful apologies, or do I owe any excuses to you, +who have deceived me, lied to me, who have introduced yourself here +like a spy, and carried on your mean and degrading speculations up to +the very moment when you thought it impossible for me to retract my +word? Once more, sir, I tell you, you are mistaken in my character. I +will never pardon a man who has abused my confidence!" + +"I have not abused your confidence, Francis," I answered, in as +calm and gentle a tone as I could; "I have only been studying your +character, and trying to gain your affections, before I would venture +an avowal of my sentiments--that is all I have done." + +"You have been false, I tell you. How can I any longer believe in your +love? You came here to make what is called a good stroke of business, +to gain your million. It is true, I loved you such as you were not +as you now appear in my eyes. I will not be disposed of in marriage +by any person dead or alive; and as for you, I refuse your offer. Do +you understand me? I refuse you!" + +Upon this she fell back in an armchair, pale as death. + +I was myself obliged to lean on the back of a chair, for I felt my +legs trembling under me. Rolf, tender-hearted as ever, had withdrawn +to a corner of the room with tears in his eyes. The General, with +agony depicted on his face, sat in his chair wringing his hands, +and seemed unable to move from the spot. + +"Francis, Francis," he said, "don't let your temper overmaster you in +this way. Reflect that the Castle is mortgaged to the last stone, and +that the last six months' interest is not yet paid. If sold to-morrow +it will not fetch a third of the amount for which I have mortgaged +it, and it is only by the generosity of Jonker Leopold that the sale +can any longer be delayed. He has offered to take it off my hands, +together with all the mortgages with which it is burdened, and to +allow me a yearly income which will make me comfortable for life; but +you must marry him, otherwise all our plans come to nought. Understand +that, and don't insult a man who has such generous intentions towards +us. He is still willing to forgive you, if you don't persevere in +your senseless refusal, I am sure; for I have for some time already +been aware he loves you. And we have not to deal with him alone; +there is a will made, and executors and lawyers appointed to see its +provisions carried out. Now what shall I write to Overberg?" + +"Write, grandfather," said Francis, rousing herself with an effort, +"that Francis Mordaunt will not suffer herself to be disposed of in +marriage by anybody's testamentary disposition; that she will neither +sell herself for one million nor for two millions, and that she has +decidedly refused Jonker van Zonshoven's offer of marriage." + +Feeling confident Francis would do me justice when more calm and +resigned, but feeling also the necessity of not giving way to violence +in dealing with a character such as hers, I said-- + +"I who have your promise and will not release you from it, I request +the General to write to Overberg that Miss Mordaunt has accepted my +offer, and that the transfer of the Castle de Werve can forthwith +be concluded." + +"If I will consent to the sale," interposed Francis, still pale +and unmoved. + +"I beg your pardon, Miss Mordaunt," I rejoined, "your grandfather is +the sole owner of the Castle; and during his life the will by which +it is bequeathed to you has no force nor value." + +"Ah! if she could only be brought to see all the circumstances in +their true light," sighed Von Zwenken. + +"Well, uncle, you write what I have requested you to write; you know +only too well the consequences of any other decision." + +"He wants you to write lies!" cried Francis, exasperatingly; "he'll +stick to his million, that's clear." + +"Francis," said the General, with the tone of a supplicant, "if you +knew all I know! You are insulting a man who is generosity itself, +who has power to ruin us all, and yet who seeks to save us if you +will simply take the hand he holds out to you. Remember he can force +us to sell the Castle if we do not consent to hand it over to him, +however much against our own will." + +"It is possible that he has secretly acquired the power to drive us +out of the Werve like beggars, but he cannot compel me to marry him." + +"We shall see about that," I rejoined, proudly. + +"You dare to talk to me of constraint--to me!" she cried, becoming +furious, and advancing towards me--"you, Leopold," she added, with +an accent of real pain. + +"Yes, Francis," I answered, resolved to follow up my advantage, "you +shall submit to the constraint of your own conscience, which must +tell you that you owe me an apology. I am going away. Farewell. Try +to reflect on this in your calmer moments. You have touched me to +the quick; you have wounded my feelings of honour and my heart. Do +not let me wait too long, or the wound will become incurable." + +I gave her a last look of gentle reproach, but her glassy eyes seemed +insensible to all around her. I shook hands with the old Baron, who, +with bowed head, was weeping like a child. Rolf followed me to my room, +and besought me not to leave the Castle in such haste. + +"She is like this," he said, "when anything goes wrong with her. Within +an hour she will regret what she has said, I am sure; the storm was +too violent to last long." + +But my mind was made up. I packed up my luggage, slowly, I must +confess, and always listening for a well-known step and a knock, which +should announce Francis repentant and seeking a reconciliation. But +she did not come. + +I was miserable beyond all expression. It was like being shipwrecked +in the harbour after a long voyage. To think this was the same woman +at whose feet I had kneeled an hour ago, and whose hand I had kissed +in a delirium of pleasure. And now she had turned upon me like a fury +and declined my offer with contempt! I reflected that I ought to have +acted more frankly and straightforwardly with her. For a moment the +idea occurred to me to renounce all my rights as to Aunt Sophia's +property; but, after all, what good end could it serve--it would +only reduce us both to poverty. I promised myself that, once arrived +at Zutphen, I would send her in writing a complete statement of how +affairs stood, and enclose aunt's letter, which, out of delicacy, +I had so far kept to myself. I would add a few words of explanation, +and I doubted not that, in her calmer moments, she would do me justice. + +And thus I acted; but as all the documents together made up too large +a packet for the post, I confided them to a waiter at the hotel, +who was to hand them over to a carrier calling every day at the Werve +for orders. I flattered myself I should speedily receive an answer, +and all the following day I passed in a feverish excitement, only +increased in the evening when no answer came. During the night I never +slept a moment. Another day passed, and still no answer; and now I gave +myself up to the most complete despair. There was nothing for me to do +but settle my affairs in all haste at Zutphen and return to the Hague. + +I kept Overberg in the dark about my rupture with Francis, only +telling him pressing business called me back to the Hague. I signed +all the papers he put before me, and told him I would return as soon +as possible. The fact was I felt seriously unwell, and, as you know, +home is the best place under such circumstances; I thought I could +there immerse myself in my favourite studies, but I only remember +feeling an unbearable weight of oppression come over me. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + + +Instead of regaining my usual calm in my own "sweet home," I fell +seriously ill the first night after my return. I was attacked by a +nervous fever, and remained for several days insensible. My landlady +now proved herself a faithful and attentive nurse, and she tells me +that my life was almost despaired of for some days. I am convalescent +at last, and I shall travel. You will ask where? I don't know yet; +nothing is decided. + +When I was able to look over the papers which had accumulated on my +table during my illness, I found a card from my uncle the minister, who +had called to make inquiries about me. My worthy uncle had heard the +report that I was a millionaire. I also found quite a heap of letters +from Overberg and Van Beek, which I had not the courage to read; one, +however, marked "Important," I broke open. It announced the death of +my uncle Von Zwenken, and I was invited to the funeral. The date told +me that the letter was three weeks old! What had become of Francis? + +Doubtless she was still ill-disposed towards me. She seemed to be +unaware of my illness, since she had invited me to the funeral of her +grandfather. What must she have thought of my silence? Not a single +word of comfort or encouragement from me. What annoyances she might +already have suffered from the lawyers. I was expecting my doctor +every moment, and I had determined to ask his permission to start +immediately for Zutphen, when I heard some one coming up the stairs, +whom my landlady was endeavouring to call back, she being very strict +about my being kept quiet. But, in spite of all her efforts, Rolf +burst into the room--Rolf, whom I had ended by loving almost as much +as I detested him the first few days of our acquaintance. + +"My General is dead," he said, with tears in his eyes--"died in my +arms. Francis is gone----" + +"She is not ill, however?" I interrupted quickly. + +"Not in the least, she is in excellent health; but--she has turned +me out of the Werve." + +"What do you say?" + +"Oh, it was not done in anger or malice; but because she herself will +be forced to leave the Castle very soon. In fact, she has already +hired a room at farmer Pauwelsen's; but she will tell nobody what +she intends to do." + +"But tell me all the particulars of the General's death." + +"Well, the General had not the courage to resist her, and write to +Overberg in the sense you advised him. And as everything was vague and +uncertain because of your answering nobody's letters, the lawyers lost +patience; and Overberg, egged on, I believe, by that quill-driver in +Utrecht, wrote to Freule Mordaunt to know for certain whether or not +she was engaged to you. You will guess her answer, short and dry, +but without a word of reproach as far as you were concerned, I can +assure you. I know she reproaches herself bitterly, and has done so +since the day you left, as I told you would be the case." + +"Even after she had received the packet from me?" + +"She never received anything from you." + +"That's very surprising!" + +"No, it's not at all surprising, for everything was in the utmost +confusion with us from the fatal Friday you left----But I see this +is sherry, may I help myself?" + +"Certainly, Captain; I beg your pardon, I ought to have thought of +asking you sooner." + +"Well, then, after you were gone she fainted. Such a thing never +happened to her before within my knowledge. I felt almost ashamed +of her; but she loved you so much, as she later confessed to me +weeping! When she came to herself again, and whilst, as we thought, she +was reposing in her own room, she had stealthily gone off to the farm, +ordered Tancredo to be saddled, and ridden away at full gallop. At +dinner we became dreadfully uneasy as she did not put in an appearance, +and neither the General nor myself could eat. But it was much worse +when, in the evening twilight, young Pauwelsen came to say Tancredo +had returned to the stable alone, without saddle and white with foam." + +"An accident!" I cried, beside myself. "Do tell me the worst at +once. What has happened to her?" + +"Oh, it was not so bad after all, Jonker--only a sprained foot; we +found her lying on the moss at the foot of an oak, to which she had +been able to crawl to rest herself a little." + +"I know that oak!" I exclaimed. "I feel what she must have felt +there. She loves me still!" + +"I believe so, Jonker, for she said we were to leave her there to die, +and to tell you where she died. It appears she had ridden towards the +town, and then, suddenly changing her course, was returning to the +Castle through the wood; but either she must have pressed Tancredo +too hard, or dropped the reins--she cannot explain it herself. But +certain it is, the noble animal, no longer recognizing the hand +of his mistress, galloped home, and she fell out of the saddle. We +carried her home, and laid her on the sofa in the drawing-room. The +surgeon declared there was no danger, but said she must not be moved +for some days." + +"And why did you not send me word immediately?" + +"Hum! I wanted to write to you, and she also. I ought not to tell +you perhaps, but she wrote a note to you." + +"Which I never received." + +"No, for young Pauwelsen was charged to deliver it into your own +hands at Zutphen; but when he arrived there they told him you had +left, and he brought back the letter, which the Freule tore up, +with a bitter laugh saying-- + +"'I deserved no better.'" + +"Oh, if I could have foreseen all this!" I cried, wringing my hands. + +"I advised you to stay," replied the Captain; "why need you go off +in such a hurry?" + +"My dear Captain, I felt I was going to be ill; I was ill already. But +how was it she did not receive my packet? I waited until the third +day for an answer." + +"What could you expect? Everything was turned upside down. Fritz had +orders to place all letters on the General's writing-table, and he +had taken such an aversion to anything in the shape of a communication +from the lawyers, that he never opened one of them. Miss Francis was +scarcely able to move about again when those accursed creatures set +to work and threatened to send in the bailiffs, and Heaven only knows +what besides. Then she had to attend to everything, for the General +had a second attack of paralysis: those people have been the death +of him, and I could not prevent it." + +The Captain forgot to add here, what I afterwards learnt, that he +had himself hastened the General's end by administering a glass of +old cognac to him under the pretext of strengthening him for the +occasion of meeting the bailiffs. + +"As soon as his eyes were closed," he continued, "the lawyer from +Arnheim, who was in possession of the General's will, and Overberg +advised Francis to arrange matters with you in an amicable manner; +but she would not listen to them. You understand, it was in your name +these proceedings had been taken against her grandfather." + +"Whilst I lay unconscious on a bed of sickness." + +"That's what the Pharisees knew, but they had your power of attorney; +and Francis said-- + +"'Behold the constraint with which he threatened me! And he imagines +I shall give way? Never!' You should have seen her, how pale she was, +but firm; when the men came to make the inventory of all there was +in the Castle!" + +"Afterwards she took me aside. 'Rolfie,' she said--it was her word when +she wanted to get anything out of me--'Rolfie, now tell me honestly, +have you not sacrificed the greater part of your fortune to the wants +of my grandfather?' + +"'Well, certainly not, Maj--Miss Francis; we have only spent that small +sum which we won in the lottery. The General would make use of his +part of it to try his luck once more; but I preferred spending my part +on a few extras for the table that we might all enjoy it together.' + +"'Then that story of yours about an inheritance was a pure +invention?' she demanded severely. + +"'Pardon, Freule, I have inherited a nice little farm in North Brabant, +where I always intended to end my days, if the Freule should' (marry, I +would have said, but I was afraid) 'wish to dispense with my services.' + +"'And can you live comfortably on it, Captain?' + +"'Very; and, besides, I have my pension. Living is very cheap in that +part of the country; if the Freule can make up her mind to go with me, +we should have a very pleasant life of it together. Though it is no +castle, the best room in the house is set apart for your service.' + +"'I thank you most cordially, my good Captain; I was most anxious +to know whether you were provided for. But we must separate, my +dear Rolf.' + +"'And where will you go, what will you do?' + +"'I cannot tell you that; but one thing is certain, you cannot go +with me.'" + +The Captain plied himself well with sherry to keep up his spirits, +and concluded by saying-- + +"And so we parted, Jonker. But I thought to myself, I'll pass through +the Hague; and here I heard of your illness, and said to myself, +'Probably the Jonker is ignorant of all that has occurred.'" + +"Do you know what you must do, Rolf? Go back to the Werve at once. I +shall give you a letter for the lawyers to stop all proceedings, and +you will take command of the fortress until I come. Retain Fritz in the +service, and try to find the packet. I shall be with you to-morrow or +the day after, if my doctor will give me permission to leave my room." + +"Oh, the packet will be at Overberg's with the rest of the General's +papers." + +"Then try to find out where Miss Francis is, and induce her to return +to the Werve; but don't tell her I am coming there." + +At the same moment my landlady brought me the following telegram +from Overberg-- + +"Your immediate presence indispensable; no arrangement possible; +F. M. has left the Castle." + +I did not hesitate any longer. Without awaiting the doctor's leave, +I got Rolf to pack my portmanteau, and we were off before he could +stop us. These thick-coming events called forth all my strength, +and I forgot how weak I really was. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + + +When I arrived at the hotel in Zutphen, I was surprised to find a +letter awaiting me from Rudolf, who was still travelling through the +provinces of Guelderland and Overyssel with his troupe, which was +now performing at Laren fair. It ran as follows-- + +"If you wish to prevent Francis from committing the greatest folly she +has yet been guilty of in life, try to meet me at the 'Half-way House,' +between Zutphen and Laren, to-morrow morning about nine o'clock." + +I promised myself I would not neglect this appointment. I then sent +for Overberg, who confirmed all I had heard from Rolf, and explained +many things I thought inexplicable. It was Van Beek who had pushed +matters to extremities, and he (Overberg) had been quite willing +to grant any reasonable delay. He told me one thing I was still +ignorant of. A lawyer had sent into Van Beek a copy of a codicil to +Aunt Sophia's will, drawn up by her order on the eve of her death, +by which she bequeathed to her grandniece, Francis Mordaunt, a yearly +income of three thousand florins in case she did not marry Jonker +van Zonshoven; and I was bound to pay this pension on condition +she made no marriage without my consent. A very far-seeing woman +this aunt of mine! I charged Overberg to make known this codicil, +and to hand over to Francis the packet which he had found amongst +the General's papers. He had sent it to the Castle, but too late; +Francis was already gone. I requested him to do his best to find her +out, and to deliver it into her hands. + +Next morning, when I arrived at the appointed place, a little country +inn, the landlady told me that a lady and gentleman were already +awaiting me upstairs. I hastened into the large assembly-room, and at +the bottom of it I could perceive Rudolf and Francis, almost hidden +behind a platform which had been erected for the musicians. Francis +stood with her back to the door at which I entered. I wished to give +her warning of my presence, but I could not speak; and as I advanced +all of a tremble, I heard Rudolf saying to her-- + +"Nonsense, my dear! you have no idea of the sort of life you wish +to lead. You talk of liberty and independence; but I tell you it is +slavery and the whip into the bargain. Do you know our bed-room is in +the stable with the horses? Do you think the women are much respected +because they are so politely assisted to mount their horses during the +performance? I can tell you Madame Stonehouse herself is not spared +by her gracious husband. And you would cast in your lot with us, +susceptible and haughty as you are!" + +"There's nothing else I can do," replied Francis. "I can manage a +horse, but I cannot become a governess and undertake the care of young +children any more than I could earn my bread with my needle. I will +not be guilty of the sin of suicide. I have a duty to fulfil in life, +though to me life is but a martyrdom. And this is my only resource." + +"But, you foolish girl, why don't you seek a reconciliation with +your Cousin van Zonshoven? You would then have all a woman could wish +for--your castle back, a beautiful fortune, and a husband who would +love you truly. Upon that I'll wager my head." + +"Yes; he's a man of rare loyalty, indeed, and has shown himself +such!" she answered with a choking voice. + +"Bah! at the worst he has only acted a little insincerely; white lies, +my dear, white lies may be pardoned. Forgive him his peccadillo. He +will have much to forgive in you, as you have confessed to me +yourself. Tell him you are sorry for what you have said. He will then +embrace you and all will be well." + +"It is impossible, I tell you; it is too late." + +"Why too late, Francis?" I exclaimed, as I stepped forward, unable +to restrain myself any longer. + +"Leopold!" she cried, turning deadly pale, and covering her face with +her hands. + +"Francis," I went on gently, "nothing is changed; I still regard you +as my betrothed wife." + +And saying this I tried to take her hand in mine. But the touch +pained her; she sprang back as if she had received the discharge of +an electric battery. + +"Your betrothed! You have given me to understand this by the manner +in which I have been treated!" + +"It grieves me to the heart, Francis--I cannot tell you how much. I +come now from a sick-bed, and what the lawyers did whilst I lay +insensible in the fever was in opposition to my wishes, and quite +contrary to my intentions." + +"And was it contrary to your intentions to cause my grandfather the +shock which led to his death?" + +"Most certainly it was, and I did my utmost to prevent it; but +you would not assist me, and afterwards it was too late. It was the +executors carrying out the last will and testament of the deceased, and +it was out of my power to interfere with them. And if the consequences +hastened your grandfather's death, you cannot blame me, Francis. For +after a calm consideration of all the facts, you will be bound to +agree that I was a better friend both to him and to you than you have +been to yourselves. Because of a little misunderstanding which I could +easily have explained, you have brought all this trouble on yourself, +and caused me the most acute suffering. Still all may be well." + +"All may be well! Oh, Leopold, Leopold! how can you say so, when the +gulf between us is so wide," she replied, with a profound sigh. "You +threatened me with force, and you have meanly carried that threat into +execution! You had it in your power to drive me to extremities, your +one fixed idea being to compel me to marry Aunt Roselaer's heir. I +have heard this so often I am sick of the subject; and though I +acknowledge you are right from a worldly and material point of view, +I had given you credit for better things. Don't you understand, that +were I to marry you now under constraint, I should tug at my chains +until they made life unbearable to us both, or until they broke!" + +"I agree with you, Francis, if you regard our engagement in this light, +and I release you from your promise." + +"Thank you, but I had already taken measures which render such +generosity on your part unnecessary. I am going to travel about in +the world, and I have taken steps to separate myself from the past +entirely. I have made my contract with Mr. Stonehouse, to whom Rudolf +is to introduce me as soon as he arrives here to sign the same." + +"Your Uncle Rudolf came here, my dear, to dissuade you from such a +step; and if you are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Stonehouse, you will +have to wait a long time," responded Rudolf, coolly. "Did you think +me such a fool, Francis, as to assist you in your insane idea?" + +"Then you never delivered my letter to your master?" + +"Certainly not, I did much better. I warned your Cousin Leopold that +you were going to commit a folly which would lead to your inevitable +ruin." + +"Oh, I see! this is another plot against me. Enough; as I cannot +trust any one but myself, I will ride off at once and ask to see +Mr. Stonehouse in person." + +"You will do nothing of the sort," I said, authoritatively, seeing +that she rose to depart. "The General is dead, Rudolf civilly dead, +and I am consequently, in the eyes of the law, your nearest male +relation. Therefore I forbid your entering this abyss, from whence +no one ever rises again, in the flower of your age." + +"What am I to do?" she cried passionately, yet with an accent of +submission in her tone. + +"You have simply to return to the Werve," I answered, "where you will +find a friend actively preparing for your reception." + +"A friend!" she repeated, in astonishment. + +"Yes, Rolf; who is to stay there until further orders. Don't be +afraid--I shall not importune you with my presence, for I am going +to travel." + +This latter declaration seemed to make a great impression on her. She +regarded me with a strange kind of look, and replied in a tone of +voice which betrayed something more than pride and anger-- + +"In very sooth, Leopold, you are going to travel? Well, then, I will +stay at the Werve. Farewell." + +And she escaped from the room quickly, shutting the door after her. We +soon heard the pawing of her horse outside, and we trusted she would +ride back to the Castle. + +"Ought I not to follow her?" Rudolf inquired of me. + +"No; any mistrust on our part would offend her." + +"She is in an unusual state of excitement, and such a reckless +rider. Only lately she had an accident." + +"That's true; for Heaven's sake follow her! But if you should be +recognized yourself?" + +"Never fear, I am too well disguised for that. In my present dress +I made more than one visit to the Werve during my father's last +illness. I have pressed his hand on his death-bed; and he has given +me his signet ring. Out of prudence I do not wear it on my finger, +but like this, in my bosom, attached by a cord round my neck. And +Francis," he cried in triumph, "has accepted assistance from me +during these last days of trial. When the Kermis at Laren is over, +we shall leave this country; and I shall never more set foot on my +native soil," he added, sadly, as he mounted his horse; and pressing +my hand for the last time, took an eternal farewell of me. + + + + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + + +Our surprises were not yet at an end. + +On my return to Zutphen I found Overberg waiting for me at my hotel. He +had just received from England a packet addressed to Francis, which +Fritz had refused to take charge of, as he did not know where to find +her. I assured him that Miss Mordaunt had now returned to the Castle; +and I offered my driver double fare if he would go at once to the +Castle, and bring me back a reçu from Francis. I should then have +proof positive of her return to the Werve. I was very anxious to find +out what this packet could contain; and I was in despair as to any +suitable means of satisfying my curiosity, when early next morning +old Fritz arrived at the hotel with a note from his mistress. He had +his orders not to deliver it into anybody's hands but mine. I broke +the seal with trembling fingers, and read as follows-- + + + "Cousin Leopold--I must speak to you once more before you start + on your travels; it is absolutely necessary. You once assured + me you were always ready to oblige a woman who exercised the + privileges of her sex. May I hope you will come to the Werve + to have a last interview with me? Instead of writing I should + have preferred to come to your hotel to see you; but I was + afraid of scandalizing you by such a liberty. Please send + word by Fritz the day and hour I may expect you. + + F. M." + + +I had but one answer to this note; it was to order out the hotel +carriage, and drive back with Fritz. My hopes and fears as we drove +along I will not attempt to describe; they are better left to your +imagination; but everything seemed to turn round before my eyes as we +passed over the old drawbridge, and drove up to the hall-door. Rolf +was awaiting me at the entrance; and he led me into the drawingroom +without a word, only expressing his delight by the manner in which +he swung about his cap. + +Francis was seated on the sofa which I remembered so well, her head +cast down, paler than on the preceding day; but charmingly beautiful +in her mourning-dress. She rose hastily, and advanced to greet me. + +"Thank you, Leopold, for coming so soon. I knew you would come; +I had confidence in your generosity." + +"And--am I then no longer contemptible in your eyes, Francis? You +have received my packet, and read Aunt Sophia's letter?" + +"I have received all the documents, read all--more than was necessary +to convince me I had done you an injustice, and ought to apologize +to you. Now I am ready to confess it before all the world that I did +you wrong; will you pardon me without reserve?" + +"Need you ask me that, Francis? But you must never doubt me more, +never more, Francis." + +After a moment's silence she answered in a low voice--"Never more, +Leopold!" + +So saying, she pressed my hand with ardour, as a sign of +reconciliation. Still, there was a constraint about her manner which +prevented my pressing her to my heart as I desired to do. + +"Sit down, Leopold," she said; "now we are reconciled I have to ask +your advice as my nearest relation and my most trusted friend." + +At the same time she unfolded the packet which she had received +from England. + +"Lord William is dead," she went on; "will you read this letter +addressed to me, together with a copy of his will?" + +I could scarcely control myself sufficiently to read the letter; but +I obeyed mechanically. This letter contained a few words of serious +advice, breathing nothing but words of paternal love; though I read +between the lines that it had cost him a struggle after her confession +to regain this kind of calm affection for her. He had left with Cupid's +arrow in his heart. The letter concluded with the most ardent wishes +for her happiness; and he expressed a hope she would one day find a +husband worthy of her, begging her to accept as a marriage portion +the legacy he had left her by his will. Finally, he said, she must +allow no considerations whatever, especially money considerations, +to induce her to marry a man whom she did not love with all her heart. + +The family name with which this letter was signed is one of the most +illustrious in the scientific as well as in the political world. + +There was also a second letter from the nephew and heir to +Lord William's title and immense fortune. He assured Francis +of his intentions scrupulously to fulfil the last will of the +deceased. Francis was to receive from the estates an annuity of three +thousand pounds for the term of her natural life. + +"Ought I to accept it, Leopold?" she demanded. + +"My opinion is you cannot refuse it, Francis. Your greatest desire +has always been to have an independence; and here it is offered you +by the hand of a friend." + +"You are right, Leopold; I shall follow your advice and accept it. Now +I shall not be forced to marry any one; and if I should choose a +husband, he cannot suspect me of having done so for the sake of his +money. Shall I be rich enough to buy back the Werve?" + +"No, Francis; the Werve is in the possession of one who will not +sell it for money. If you still desire to become Baroness de Werve, +you must take another resolution." + +"Leopold," she said, rising, "you say that independence has always been +my chief desire. It is possible; but now I understand that my greatest +happiness is to be dependent on the man I love. Leo, Aunt Roselaer has +left me an annuity which I decline to accept, as a matter of course; +but her intentions towards me were kindly, and I will follow her +advice. She has forbidden me to marry without your consent." + +Then with an indefinable mixture of grace, confusion, and malice, +she sank down on her knees before me, and said-- + +"Leo, I wish to marry my Cousin van Zonshoven; have you any +objections?" + +"Heaven forbid! I have no objections!" + +And with what rapture did I raise her, and clasp her to my breast, +where she shed many tears, whilst my own eyes were not dry. We had +loved so much, and suffered so much for each other. + + + +What can I tell you more, dear William? We walked out in the grounds, +and again visited all the places which had become endeared to us +by our former walks. We made all sorts of plans for the future. We +wrote letters to Van Beek and the other men of the law, informing +them in a grave tone that all the bills would be paid at maturity, +or on presentation. + +The fact that Francis was in mourning for the General served us +as a pretext for being married privately, and in as quiet a manner +as possible, an arrangement in accordance with both our wishes. An +old college friend of mine, vicar in a small town near the Werve, +married us. + +Little Harry Blount is already confided to the care of the farmers +Pauwelsens. His mother has perfectly recovered, and will one of these +days, we trust, marry young Pauwelsen, a son of the farmer, who had +already fixed his eyes on her before her engagement to Blount. This +good news has removed an immense weight from Francis's mind. We are +going to make a long journey, and try to enjoy ourselves thoroughly; +the trials we have both passed through have taught us to appreciate +our present happiness. + +During our absence the Werve will be restored, and Rolf will be left +in charge. + +To conclude, dear William, I have got Francis to enclose you a note +in her own handwriting. + + +Geneva, 1861. Leopold van Zonshoven. + +"That it is becoming in Leo to have sketched the doings of Major +Frank in all their shades and peculiarities, even for a friend, I +shall never allow; but I feel that in his delicate position it was +necessary for him to ease his mind to some one, and that it was better +he should do so to a friend across the seas. Therefore I have pardoned +him. Now I will request you not to have his letters printed in any +of your Indian papers! That would be too bad! Not that Francis van +Zonshoven would attempt to defend such a person--oh no! It appears +to me no such person ever existed. But there are family secrets in +the letters, which I must seriously recommend to your discretion. + +"Don't wait until your term of service in India expires, but get your +leave of absence and visit us at the Werve. All the windows are now +glazed, and there is room enough for Leo's friend, though he came +with a whole family. + +"Francis van Zonshoven." + + + + + + + +NOTES + + +[1] Strictly orthodox Dutch people think that a sermon in the light, +airy French language cannot be so serious and solemn as in their +own tongue. + +[2] The strictly orthodox party in Holland will only make use of the +version of the Bible approved by the States-General in the seventeenth +century; the bigots insist upon its being printed in the German +characters in use at the time when the first copies were issued. + +[3] The Victoria Cross of the Dutch. + +[4] In Holland one is obliged to fetch a registered letter; they are +never delivered by the postman. + +[5] In Holland every village has its burgomaster, who acts as chairman +of the local board. + +[6] Trineke is a diminutive of Catherine. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Major Frank, by A. L. G. 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