Arno listened surprised. "You know of my brother"s schemes, then?" he asked.
There was nothing for it but to reply. "They are not difficult to divine; he has made no secret of his desires and hopes; but he and all his a.s.sociates will find themselves deceived. Your brother in his miserable plans reckons upon the pitiable jealousies of all petty governments; but he is out in his reckoning,--the German people is not yet so degraded as to lend itself to so frivolous a game. If war should really be declared, Germans will, with a few disgraceful exceptions, rally promptly around the banner that will wave in the front of the battle to vindicate German honour and faith against all rude a.s.saults.
The very attempt now made to r.e.t.a.r.d Germany in its march towards internal unity will but bear it more swiftly to its goal of unity and freedom!"
As she spoke her dark eyes sparkled, her cheeks glowed, and Arno thought he had never seen her so enchantingly beautiful.
"I trust from my soul that you are a true prophet!" he rejoined.
She rewarded him for these words by a brilliant glance of appreciation.
"I knew that you must think thus," she said, with emotion; "you will be among the first to forget an ancient grudge when the time comes to stand forth for German honour and German right. The Freiherr Arno von Hohenwald will be at hand when the German people is summoned to the defence of the fatherland; of that I am convinced from my very soul."
She held out her hand to him: he seized it and pressed it to his lips: for the moment he scarcely knew what he was doing; his past, his prejudices, were all forgotten; it was as if a dark cloud which had enveloped him were suddenly rent asunder, revealing to his mental vision a bright, sunlit future. "Your trust shall not be deceived," he said, with enthusiasm. "Be sure that when the battle begins I shall be ready. And when I return from the field, will you not give me a kindly welcome?"
He had not released Anna"s hand; he bent over it to kiss it once again, when it was suddenly withdrawn. He looked up, and was shocked by her altered looks. Her cheeks were deadly pale, the light of enthusiasm in her dark eyes was gone: they were veiled in tears. "This must not be, Herr Baron," she said, in a low monotone.
"Have I offended you?" Arno asked, startled.
"No--but--I must leave you, Herr Baron; I must not and will not listen any longer!"
She would have turned and left the room, but Arno took her hand again and held it fast. "But you must listen," he said, gravely; "there must be truth between us. You will not yield to an over-sensitive delicacy of feeling that is unworthy of you, you will not leave me without letting me tell you that the light of your candid eyes has banished the mists that hung about me; your words have broken the spell that parted me from you. My heart is filled with sunshine; I know now that I love you with my whole soul, that I have loved you from the first moment that I saw you in the quarry. I have struggled with this love, I have even tried to hate you; have in my blind folly often shocked and offended you, because I would have it that the deception which so blasted my first youthful pa.s.sion had killed all power to love in my heart. I know now how grossly I deceived myself. I am in your eyes a gloomy, irritable misanthrope; you can accord no liking to one who has so often wounded you by his severity; but it is my dearest hope that one day your love may be mine, and in this hope I shall leave you when duty calls me to the field. It will henceforth be the star of my life."
Anna had listened in silence to this torrent of words; her hand still rested in his: she did not withdraw it until he had ended; then first she raised her eyes and looked him full in the face with an expression of profound sadness. She did not reply at once; she could not for a few moments sufficiently master her emotion to attain an external calm.
When she spoke at last, it was with an evident tremor in her voice.
"There must be truth between us," she said; "you require it, Herr Baron, and I owe perfect truth both to you and to myself. Your sudden and unlooked-for declaration has destroyed the hope in which I had found peace. I hoped to regard Castle Hohenwald as my home; I hoped to pa.s.s years here, sheltered from the sorrows which have poisoned my life; but your words drive me forth into the world again!"
"Anna! I conjure you----"
"No more, Herr Baron! I must not listen to you; must not permit hopes that can never be fulfilled. You say that the hope of one day winning my love will be the guiding star of your life; banish the idle thought, for never,--I swear it by Almighty G.o.d,--never may I return your love."
"You love another, then?" Arno exclaimed.
"No, Herr Baron."
"Then I will not resign the hope you call idle. I implore you not to turn from me; I ask for so little, for no promise, only for permission to love you."
"And this little I must not grant. I pray you leave me, Herr Baron; we must part forever. I must not again expose myself to a danger from which I thought myself safe with you; my duty as well as my honour forbids me to listen to you. Once more I entreat you to leave me!"
"You rob me of all hope?" Arno asked, gently.
"All!"
She spoke so calmly, and with such absolute firmness, that Arno despaired of moving her; he did not venture to add a single word of entreaty; after so decided a rejection he could no longer refuse to accede to her request. He took her hand once more, kissed it pa.s.sionately, and hurried from the room.
He never looked back, and therefore could not see how, even before the library door had closed upon him, Lucie"s hardly-won composure utterly forsook her. She sank into a seat, buried her face in her hands, and burst into a pa.s.sion of tears.
Half an hour afterward she was seated at her desk in her room, writing to her dearest, her only friend, Adele.
"I must leave here immediately,--every hour of my stay at Castle Hohenwald is a period of unspeakable torment for me. I had feared and hoped so much from this place; both fears and hopes are unfulfilled, and I must leave Hohenwald, where I was so content. I love the old Freiherr like a father, and I know he is fond of me; scarcely a day pa.s.ses that he does not tell me that the sun has shone more brightly in Hohenwald since I came here. And I love my darling Celia, dear, innocent child; with my whole heart do I return the tender affection she lavishes upon me,--her progress delights me, but I must go.
"Do not, dear Adele, think me variable and fickle,--my heart bleeds at the thought of leaving these dear people, but it must be; you will say so yourself when you hear all. You know I have faithfully described my life here to you. I have told you of the distaste with which the Finanzrath"s attentions inspired me. I did all that I could by the cold reserve of my manner to impress him with this fact. I did not think he would ever succeed in forcing me to grant him a private and confidential interview, and yet this he has done. About a week ago he came into the garden where Celia and I were taking our usual morning walk. He had just returned from one of his frequent journeys, and I could not avoid replying to his courteous greeting. He joined us and entered into conversation with us. He talks extremely well, and even I could not help being amused by his lively descriptions of his travelling adventures, while Celia, who is not very fond of her eldest brother, was much entertained. Suddenly he paused, and, turning directly to me, said, "But I have not told you the most interesting experience of my trip, Fraulein Muller." Then, with a searching glance, he added, "I have seen several friends of yours, and have talked of you a great deal."
"I felt the blood mount into my face at these words. I could not conceal the terror with which they inspired me; whereupon the Finanzrath, with a satisfied smile, went on, "I need only mention the name of one of my friends, of Count Repuin, to convince you how interesting was our conversation about you." The detested name of that terrible man produced upon me all the effect that the Finanzrath had doubtless expected. It was only by a strong effort that I could keep myself from fainting. Celia noticed my pallor; she had not heard her brother"s words,--he had chosen a moment for them in which she was lagging behind to pluck a flower. "What is the matter, dear Anna?" she exclaimed, in terror; "you are deadly pale." In fact, had she not put her arm about me I think I should have fallen, although I soon recovered myself. The Finanzrath offered me his arm, and despatched his sister to the castle for a vinaigrette. I did not dare to refuse his proffered aid, lest I should offend him, and thus I found myself alone with him, forced to continue my walk leaning upon his arm. "I thank you, Fraulein Muller," he said, as soon as Celia had left us, "for your readiness to grant me this _tete-a-tete_. It gives me a precious proof of your confidence in me,--a confidence which, I promise you, you never shall regret. Chance has revealed to me your secret; but I give you my word of honour it shall remain buried in my breast." He then told me how he had learned who I was. Repuin is his friend,--he had seen him in Munich, and one day, while Repuin was engaged in writing letters, had whiled away the time by looking over some photographs in a book upon the Russian"s table. Many of these he was familiar with; but his astonishment was great when in one of them he recognized his sister"s governess. He waited until Repuin was at leisure, and then his first thought, so he told me, was to ask the Count whether he was acquainted with Fraulein Anna Muller, the original of the photograph; but, reflecting that Count Styrum had made it a request that no curiosity should be shown regarding my past, he suspected that I should prefer the Count"s remaining in ignorance as to my whereabouts, and therefore he took up the book of photographs again, as if casually, and suddenly exclaimed, "A pretty face, Count; who is this girl?" showing my likeness as he spoke.
""Not a girl, but a married woman," Repuin replied. "Sorr"s runaway wife!"
""I could not so command my features," the Finanzrath continued his narrative, "as not to show the surprise I felt at this information.
Fraulein Anna Muller the wife of that Herr von Sorr whom Repuin had presented to me! It seemed impossible!
""And then the shameful words which Repuin had uttered, "Runaway wife."
I could not rest without some explanation. Can you wonder at it, Fraulein Muller? "The picture reminds me of a lady whom I saw not long ago," I said.
""Scarcely had I uttered these words when Repuin sprang up in great agitation. "You have seen her?" he cried. "There is no other face that resembles hers; tell me where you saw her. I have been searching for her for months, but she has vanished utterly."
""What was I to tell him? I saw instantly that he must be put upon a false track, and on the spur of the moment replied that I had shortly before travelled in a railway carriage with a young lady who closely resembled the picture.
""My answer was so prompt that Repuin was fortunately deceived. He never suspected that I was misleading him, and questioned me further with the greatest eagerness. I told him that the young lady had been my travelling companion from Berlin to Ca.s.sel, but that of course I had not exchanged a word with her.
"""I will go to Ca.s.sel this very night!" Repuin exclaimed, in the greatest excitement. "I must find her! I have sworn to do it though it should cost me half my fortune. Now that I have traced her she shall not escape me."
""He was completely deceived by my invention, and I could no longer doubt that it was to destroy all trace of your existence that you had taken refuge in Castle Hohenwald under a feigned name. I remembered your enigmatical letter to me, and was convinced that I had found its explanation. Let me a.s.sure you that it was entirely owing to my profound sympathy for you that I now begged the Count for further particulars concerning you. What I heard filled me with horror and indignation. With cynical candour he informed me that he had spent fabulous sums upon Sorr that he might be near his charming wife, who at last, when he had actually purchased her of her wretch of a husband, vanished without a trace."
"Such, dearest Adele, was the Finanzrath"s story, which he concluded with a.s.surances of his profound secrecy.
"I cannot describe my sensations while he was speaking, of mingled fear lest he should betray my secret and give Count Repuin some clue to my retreat, and aversion for the man himself. I quivered with anger when he called me, as he did repeatedly, "dear Fraulein Muller," and yet I did not dare to show him that it offended me, lest I should provoke his resentment. Celia, who came from the castle with the salts, at last relieved me from my embarra.s.sment. The Finanzrath left us. Then I determined to leave Hohenwald, but, as the days slipped by and the Finanzrath made no further allusions to my secret, I decided to remain, since the n.o.ble old Freiherr would surely grant me his protection in case of any disagreeable advances from his son. Each day the shadow that the Finanzrath"s revelations had thrown upon my peaceful life here faded still more; my courage returned to me. I believed myself quite safe in my beloved Hohenwald with my dear Celia, when one wretched moment blasted all my hopes.
"I must go; I cannot stay here, for Arno has just told me that he loves me. I thought his heart was dead to all affection, and he has just declared his pa.s.sionate attachment for me.
"I suffered indescribably when all that I could do in answer to his frank avowal of affection was calmly and coldly to crush his hopes forever. I wept bitter tears when he left me, and yet--yet the consciousness of his love brought happiness with it as well as misery.
"Strength was given me to fulfil my duty; not by look or word did I betray what I felt in rejecting him, but could I resist him a second time? I must flee from my own weakness.
"I can write no more, dear Adele, and must close. I am filled with but one desire,--to go away from here as soon as may be. I rely upon your aid again, my dear, kind friend; try to find me another asylum. I do not care where it is or what it is, only let it be far, far away from here and from all of you.
"Help me, dear Adele; protect your
"LUCIE."
CHAPTER XI.
Celia peered into the forest on either side of the road; she had ridden from the castle more quickly than usual, that she might not be unpunctual, and for the first time Kurt was not at his post. She listened with bated breath, but no sound was to be heard except the rustling of the boughs overhead and the soft note of a woodland bird.
What could have happened? He had hitherto always been awaiting her at their place of meeting. How could he allow anything to curtail, even by a few moments, the short hour to which they both looked forward so eagerly? Although he could not be to blame, still she felt aggrieved.
Pluto, too, seemed to find his absence very unnatural. He pawed the ground impatiently with his fore-foot and shook his black mane; then p.r.i.c.ked his delicate ears with a neigh as a distant crackling of the underbrush was heard, and a minute afterwards Kurt made his appearance.
He was very warm and quite out of breath with the haste he had made to atone for his want of punctuality.