"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 a.s.sist 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 circ.u.mstances, 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 ill.u.s.trated 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-a-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"etais 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 a.s.sisted 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 pa.s.sed less monotonously than I antic.i.p.ated.
"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 abas.e.m.e.nt 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,"
a.s.sented 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 gla.s.s 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 s.n.a.t.c.h 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 amus.e.m.e.nt 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.