"Oh, Rosa, take good care of it, and we shall soon see it grow quickly."
"Can I take more care of it?" said she. "Indeed, I think of nothing else but the tulip."
"Of nothing else, Rosa? Why, now I shall grow jealous in my turn."
"Oh, you know that to think of the tulip is to think of you; I never lose sight of it. I see it from my bed, on awaking it is the first object that meets my eyes, and on falling asleep the last on which they rest. During the day I sit and work by its side, for I have never left my chamber since I put it there."
"You are right Rosa, it is your dowry, you know."
"Yes, and with it I may marry a young man of twenty-six or twenty-eight years, whom I shall be in love with."
"Don"t talk in that way, you naughty girl."
That evening Cornelius was one of the happiest of men. Rosa allowed him to press her hand in his, and to keep it as long as he would, besides which he might talk of his tulip as much as he liked.
From that hour every day marked some progress in the growth of the tulip and in the affection of the two young people.
At one time it was that the leaves had expanded, and at another that the flower itself had formed.
Great was the joy of Cornelius at this news, and his questions succeeded one another with a rapidity which gave proof of their importance.
"Formed!" exclaimed Cornelius, "is it really formed?"
"It is," repeated Rosa.
Cornelius trembled with joy, so much so that he was obliged to hold by the grating.
"Good heavens!" he exclaimed.
Then, turning again to Rosa, he continued his questions.
"Is the oval regular? the cylinder full? and are the points very green?"
"The oval is almost one inch long, and tapers like a needle, the cylinder swells at the sides, and the points are ready to open."
Two days after Rosa announced that they were open.
"Open, Rosa!" cried Cornelius. "Is the involucrum open? but then one may see and already distinguish ---- "
Here the prisoner paused, anxiously taking breath.
"Yes," answered Rosa, "one may already distinguish a thread of different colour, as thin as a hair."
"And its colour?" asked Cornelius, trembling.
"Oh," answered Rosa, "it is very dark!"
"Brown?"
"Darker than that."
"Darker, my good Rosa, darker? Thank you. Dark as ---- "
"Dark as the ink with which I wrote to you."
Cornelius uttered a cry of mad joy.
Then, suddenly stopping and clasping his hands, he said, -- "Oh, there is not an angel in heaven that may be compared to you, Rosa!"
"Indeed!" said Rosa, smiling at his enthusiasm.
"Rosa, you have worked with such ardour, -- you have done so much for me! Rosa, my tulip is about to flower, and it will flower black! Rosa, Rosa, you are the most perfect being on earth!"
"After the tulip, though."
"Ah! be quiet, you malicious little creature, be quiet! For shame! Do not spoil my pleasure. But tell me, Rosa, -- as the tulip is so far advanced, it will flower in two or three days, at the latest?"
"To-morrow, or the day after."
"Ah! and I shall not see it," cried Cornelius, starting back, "I shall not kiss it, as a wonderful work of the Almighty, as I kiss your hand and your cheek, Rosa, when by chance they are near the grating."
Rosa drew near, not by accident, but intentionally, and Cornelius kissed her tenderly.
"Faith, I shall cull it, if you wish it."
"Oh, no, no, Rosa! when it is open, place it carefully in the shade, and immediately send a message to Haarlem, to the President of the Horticultural Society, that the grand black tulip is in flower. I know well it is far to Haarlem, but with money you will find a messenger. Have you any money, Rosa?"
Rosa smiled.
"Oh, yes!" she said.
"Enough?" said Cornelius.
"I have three hundred guilders."
"Oh, if you have three hundred guilders, you must not send a messenger, Rosa, but you must go to Haarlem yourself."
"But what in the meantime is to become of the flower?"
"Oh, the flower! you must take it with you. You understand that you must not separate from it for an instant."
"But whilst I am not separating from it, I am separating from you, Mynheer Cornelius."
"Ah! that"s true, my sweet Rosa. Oh, my G.o.d! how wicked men are! What have I done to offend them, and why have they deprived me of my liberty? You are right, Rosa, I cannot live without you. Well, you will send some one to Haarlem, -- that"s settled; really, the matter is wonderful enough for the President to put himself to some trouble. He will come himself to Loewestein to see the tulip."
Then, suddenly checking himself, he said, with a faltering voice, -- "Rosa, Rosa, if after all it should not flower black!"
"Oh, surely, surely, you will know to-morrow, or the day after."
"And to wait until evening to know it, Rosa! I shall die with impatience. Could we not agree about a signal?"
"I shall do better than that."
"What will you do?"
"If it opens at night, I shall come and tell you myself. If it is day, I shall pa.s.s your door, and slip you a note either under the door, or through the grating, during the time between my father"s first and second inspection."
"Yes, Rosa, let it be so. One word of yours, announcing this news to me, will be a double happiness."
"There, ten o"clock strikes," said Rosa, "I must now leave you."
"Yes, yes," said Cornelius, "go, Rosa, go!"
Rosa withdrew, almost melancholy, for Cornelius had all but sent her away.
It is true that he did so in order that she might watch over his black tulip.
Chapter 22.
The Opening of the Flower.
The night pa.s.sed away very sweetly for Cornelius, although in great agitation. Every instant he fancied he heard the gentle voice of Rosa calling him. He then started up, went to the door, and looked through the grating, but no one was behind it, and the lobby was empty.
Rosa, no doubt, would be watching too, but, happier than he, she watched over the tulip; she had before her eyes that n.o.ble flower, that wonder of wonders. which not only was unknown, but was not even thought possible until then.
What would the world say when it heard that the black tulip was found, that it existed and that it was the prisoner Van Baerle who had found it?
How Cornelius would have spurned the offer of his liberty in exchange for his tulip!
Day came, without any news; the tulip was not yet in flower.
The day pa.s.sed as the night. Night came, and with it Rosa, joyous and cheerful as a bird.
"Well?" asked Cornelius.
"Well, all is going on prosperously. This night, without any doubt, our tulip will be in flower."
"And will it flower black?"
"Black as jet."
"Without a speck of any other colour."
"Without one speck."
"Good Heavens! my dear Rosa, I have been dreaming all night, in the first place of you," (Rosa made a sign of incredulity,) "and then of what we must do."
"Well?"
"Well, and I will tell you now what I have decided on. The tulip once being in flower, and it being quite certain that it is perfectly black, you must find a messenger."
"If it is no more than that, I have a messenger quite ready."
"Is he safe?"
"One for whom I will answer, -- he is one of my lovers."
"I hope not Jacob."
"No, be quiet, it is the ferryman of Loewestein, a smart young man of twenty-five."
"By Jove!"
"Be quiet," said Rosa, smiling, "he is still under age, as you have yourself fixed it from twenty-six to twenty-eight."
"In fine, do you think you may rely on this young man?"
"As on myself; he would throw himself into the Waal or the Meuse if I bade him."
"Well, Rosa, this lad may be at Haarlem in ten hours; you will give me paper and pencil, and, perhaps better still, pen and ink, and I will write, or rather, on second thoughts, you will, for if I did, being a poor prisoner, people might, like your father, see a conspiracy in it. You will write to the President of the Horticultural Society, and I am sure he will come."
"But if he tarries?"
"Well, let us suppose that he tarries one day, or even two; but it is impossible. A tulip-fancier like him will not tarry one hour, not one minute, not one second, to set out to see the eighth wonder of the world. But, as I said, if he tarried one or even two days, the tulip will still be in its full splendour. The flower once being seen by the President, and the protocol being drawn up, all is in order; you will only keep a duplicate of the protocol, and intrust the tulip to him. Ah! if we had been able to carry it ourselves, Rosa, it would never have left my hands but to pa.s.s into yours; but this is a dream, which we must not entertain," continued Cornelius with a sigh, "the eyes of strangers will see it flower to the last. And above all, Rosa, before the President has seen it, let it not be seen by any one. Alas! if any one saw the black tulip, it would be stolen."
"Oh!"
"Did you not tell me yourself of what you apprehended from your lover Jacob? People will steal one guilder, why not a hundred thousand?"
"I shall watch; be quiet."
"But if it opened whilst you were here?"
"The whimsical little thing would indeed be quite capable of playing such a trick," said Rosa.
"And if on your return you find it open?"
"Well?"
"Oh, Rosa, whenever it opens, remember that not a moment must be lost in apprising the President."