"You are very kind," she said mechanically.
"I believe that last Sunday, August 1st, there was owing to you this sum." So saying, he pushed towards her across the table five half-sovereigns.
Anna Bauer uttered an exclamation of profound astonishment. She stared down at the money lying now close to her fat red hand.
"Is not that so?" he said, looking at her fixedly.
And at last she stammered out, "Yes, that is so. But--but----do you then know Willi, Mr. Hegner?"
The man sitting opposite to her remained silent for a moment. He hadn"t the slightest idea who "Willi" was. "Ach, yes! It is from him that you generally receive this money every six months--I had forgotten that!
Willi is a good fellow. Have you known him long?" He wisely waited for a reply, for on his tongue had been the words, "I suppose he lives in London?"
"I have only known him three years," said Anna, "and that though he married my niece seven years ago. Yes, Willi is indeed an excellent fellow!"
And then she suddenly bethought herself of what Mrs. Otway had said that very morning. Mr. Hegner would certainly be able to tell her the truth--he was the sort of man who knew everything of a practical, business nature. "Perhaps you will be able to tell me," she asked eagerly, "if my nephew will have to fight--to go to the frontier. Mrs.
Otway, she says that the police are always the last to be called out--is that true, Mr. Hegner?"
"Yes, I think I may a.s.sure you, Frau Bauer, that it is a fact." He looked at her curiously. "You are very fond, then, of your niece"s husband, of the excellent Willi?"
"I am indeed," she said eagerly, "and grateful to him too, for this money he sends me is very welcome, Mr. Hegner. I was so afraid it might not come this time."
"And you were right to be afraid! It will become more and more difficult to get money from Germany to England," said her host, and there was a touch of grimness in his voice. "Still, there are ways of getting over every difficulty. Should the war last as long, I will certainly see that you, Frau Bauer, receive what is your due on the 1st of next January.
But many strange things may happen before then. Long before Christmas you may no longer be earning this money."
"Oh! I hope that will not be the case!" She looked very much disturbed.
5 a year was about a fifth of good old Anna"s total income.
"Well, we shall see. I will do my best for you, Frau Bauer."
"Thank you, thank you! I am very grateful to you, Mr. Hegner."
Indeed old Anna"s feelings towards the man who sat there, playing with a pen in his hand, had undergone an extraordinary transformation. She had come into the room disliking him, fearing him, feeling sure that he was going to take some advantage of her. Now she stared at his moody, rather flushed face, full of wondering grat.i.tude.
How strange that he had never taken the trouble to tell her that he knew Willi! She was sorry to remember how often she had dissuaded her mistress from getting something at the Stores that could be got elsewhere, some little thing on which the tiny commission she received would have been practically nil, or, worse still, overlooked. Her commission had been often overlooked of late unless she kept a very sharp look-out on the bills, which Mrs. Otway had a tiresome habit of locking away when receipted.
She took the five precious gold pieces off the table, and moved, as if to rise from her chair.
But Mr. Hegner waved his hand. "Sit down, sit down, Frau Bauer," he said. "There is no hurry. I enjoy the thought of a little chat with you." He waited a moment. "And are you thinking of staying on in your present position? You are--let me see--with Mrs. Otway?"
"Oh yes," she said, brightening. "I shall certainly stay where I am. I am very happy there. They are very kind to me, Mr. Hegner. I love my young lady as much as I do my own child."
"It is a quiet house," he went on, "a quiet house, with very little coming and going, Frau Bauer. Is not that so?"
"There is a good deal of visiting," she said quickly. "It is a hospitable house."
"Not often gentlemen of the garrison, I suppose?"
"Indeed, yes," cried Anna eagerly. "You know how it is in England? It is not like in our country. Here everybody is much more a.s.sociated. In some ways it is pleasanter."
"Very true. And had any of these officers who came and called on your two ladies reason to suppose that the war was coming?"
Anna stared at him, surprised. "No, indeed!" she cried. "English officers never talk of warlike subjects. I have never even seen one of them wearing his uniform."
"It looks to me as if I shall have to add a new line of officers" kit to the Stores," said Mr. Hegner thoughtfully. "And any information you give me about officers just now might be very useful in my business. I know, Frau Bauer, that you were annoyed, disappointed about that little matter of the commission being halved."
"Oh no," murmured Anna, rather confusedly.
"Yes, and I understand your point of view. Well, from to-day, Frau Bauer, I restore the old scale! And if at any time you can say anything about the Stores to the visitors who come to see your ladies--anything, you understand, that may lead to an order--I will be generous, I will recognise your help in the widest sense."
Anna got up again, and so did her host. "Well, we have had a pleasant gossip," he said. "And one word more, Frau Bauer. You have not told _any one_, not even your daughter, of--of----" he hesitated, for he did not wish to put in plain words the question he wished to convey--"of that other matter--of that in which your nephew is concerned?"
"I gave my solemn promise to Willi to say nothing," said Anna, "and I am not one who ever breaks my word, Mr. Hegner."
"That I am sure you are not! And Frau Bauer? Do not attempt to write to the Fatherland henceforth. Your letters would be opened, your business all spied out, and then the letters destroyed! I am at your disposal for any information you require. Come in and see us sometimes," he said cordially. "Let me see--to-day is Wednesday. How about Sunday? Come in on Sunday night, if you can do so, and have a little supper. You may have news of interest to my business to give me, and in any case it is pleasant to chat among friends."
CHAPTER VIII
It was now the morning of Friday, the third day of war, and Mrs. Otway allowed the newspaper she had been holding in her hands to slip on to the floor at her feet with an impatient sigh.
From where she sat, close to the window in her charming sitting-room, her eyes straying down to the ground read in huge characters at the top of one of the newspaper columns the words:
"THE FLEET MOBILISED."
"MOTOR RUSH FOR VOLUNTEERS."
"HOW THE NAVAL RESERVE RECEIVED THEIR NOTICES."
"OUR SAILORS" GOOD-BYE."
Then, at the top of another column, in rather smaller characters, as though that news was after all not really so important as the home news:
"DEFEAT OF THE GERMANS AT LIeGE."
"COMPLETE ROUT."
"GERMANS REPULSED AT ALL POINTS."
Finally, in considerably smaller characters:
"ALLEGED GERMAN CRUELTIES IN BELGIUM."
She raised her eyes and looked out, over the Close, to where the Cathedral rose like a diamond set in emeralds. What a beautiful day--and how quiet, how much more quiet than usual, was the dear, familiar, peaceful scene! All this week, thanks in a great measure to the prolonged Bank Holiday, Witanbury had been bathed in a sabbatical calm.
Oddly enough, this had not been as pleasant as it ought to have been. In fact, it had been rather unpleasant to find nearly all the shops shut day after day, and it had become really awkward and annoying not to be able to get money as one required it. At this very moment Rose was out in the town, trying to cash a cheque, for they were quite out of petty cash.