Herr von Osternau's letter was very long, and it took him some time to read it through. Meanwhile there was a pause in the conversation around the tea-table. Frau von Osternau and the Lieutenant were busy with the newspapers, and Lieschen turned over the leaves of a journal, without, however, reading a word; she could not fix her attention, the melody of the song she had just heard so rang in her ears.

"A very odd, disagreeable letter from your uncle Sastrow," Herr von Osternau said, after a long pause, turning to his wife. "He wishes us to invite Bertha von Ma.s.senburg to pay a long visit at Castle Osternau, and I cannot very well see how we can help complying with his wish."

Egon, who had been reflecting for the last few minutes upon what was to be done with Gottlieb Pigglewitch's letter, started from his revery as the name of Bertha von Ma.s.senburg struck upon his ear. He turned, with an interest he could hardly conceal, to Herr von Osternau, who went on:

"Very unpleasant things have been happening in Berlin, things that concern us, although not very nearly: still we are distantly related to the Ma.s.senburgs, and Sastrow reckons upon the relationship. Bertha should be withdrawn from public attention and the gossip of the capital for a considerable time, your uncle says, and he thinks her best asylum would be with us; wherefore he begs me to send her an invitation at his house as soon as possible."

"What has happened?" asked his wife.

"Oh, 'tis a very ugly kind of story. I had better read you Sastrow's letter: 'My dear Fritz----'"

Egon rose as Herr von Osternau began reading the letter aloud. However great his curiosity might be, he could not but remind Herr von Osternau that there was a stranger present who had no right to a knowledge of private family affairs. He was about to withdraw, but Herr von Osternau kindly signed to him to sit down again.

"I appreciate your delicacy, Herr Pigglewitch, but I pray you to remain. This letter does, to be sure, contain a very unpleasant bit of family scandal, but it is unfortunately no secret. At the present time, when distance is annihilated, Berlin gossip spreads far and wide in an incredibly short s.p.a.ce of time. If Bertha von Ma.s.senburg comes to us, the scandal of which she is the innocent subject will follow her very shortly; all our neighbours will know everything about Bertha and her unfortunate betrothal, and it will be hard to separate truth from falsehood. So it is better that you should know the truth from a trustworthy source, especially as she stands in a certain relationship to our family. You can then aid to the best of your ability in putting a stop to idle gossip; therefore I would rather you should hear the letter.

"My Dear Fritz,--There must, of course, be some important reason for my sitting here in the middle of the night writing you a lengthy epistle which must be sent to the post at dawn, that you may receive it tomorrow evening. This reason consists in my great desire to avert as far as is possible the consequences of a most unpleasant family affair.

I will be as brief as possible; of course our cousin Werner von Ma.s.senburg is at the bottom of it; who other of the family could provoke a scandal?

"You have lost money enough by the man to know him well, although perhaps not so thoroughly as I know him. Of course he is always in pecuniary difficulties, but even I, poor as is my opinion of him, should not have suspected him of attempting to relieve himself of his debts by selling his daughter,--the expression is not too strong,--and this is just what he has done.

"About two weeks ago Werner came to me and informed me that he was about to betroth Bertha to a distinguished young fellow, Egon von Ernau, the son of the Privy Councillor von Ernau. The affair had been concluded with the young man's father, who declared that his son was nothing loath. All that remained to be done was to bring the young people together that the betrothal might take place in the usual way, since it could not very well be announced before they had even seen each other. He therefore begged me to invite Bertha to pay us a visit; he would introduce young Ernau to us, and everything could be speedily arranged.

"When I expressed my great disapproval of a marriage thus contracted, he went on to explain that it was a matter of life and death to him.

His old friend the Privy Councillor Ernau had promised to liquidate all his debts in case the recent patent of n.o.bility of the Ernaus should receive the aristocratic veneer which would be given it by a union with the old knightly line of the Ma.s.senburgs. He was so persistent in his entreaties that at last I consented, although sorely against my better judgment, and wrote to Konigsberg, inviting Bertha to exchange for a while her aunt Ma.s.senburg's home in Konigsberg for our house in Berlin.

By return of post I received a charming letter from Bertha accepting my invitation, and she arrived here yesterday.

"After writing to Bertha, I thought it my duty to inform myself with regard to our future connections the Ernaus. What I learned of them was by no means rea.s.suring. Privy Councillor von Ernau is, it is true, immensely wealthy, the head of an extensive banking business, his reputation for honesty and business capacity has never been even breathed upon, but he is the most insufferably self-important, conceited fellow, who never loses an opportunity of seeing his name in the papers, so great is his love of notoriety. He keeps open house, and poses as a patron of art and science without having a conception of either. He keeps a racing stud, although he is no horseman; and he contributes vast sums for political purposes, without the faintest real interest in politics. Only let his name appear in the papers and he is content, no sacrifice is too great to make to his vanity.

"What I could gather concerning the son is scarcely any better. It is generally conceded that Herr Egon von Ernau is a very talented young fellow, but that he abuses most frivolously the brilliant gifts bestowed upon him by nature. He studied and pa.s.sed brilliant examinations, without turning his knowledge to any account. He has inherited from his father--with whom, moreover, he is on terms of no intimacy, father and son sometimes not meeting for weeks--an enormous stock of vanity, which, however, he shows after an entirely different fashion. It is his pleasure to pay no heed whatever to the opinion of the world, to appear alike indifferent to praise and to blame, to attach no importance to worldly honours. He has drained to the dregs every pleasure, every delight that wealth can give, and he is to the last degree _blase_. In the a.s.surance of his own superiority he despises all other men and treats them accordingly. He is a man of talent but of no character, and he utterly lacks balance and self-control.

"It is easy to see that such a man is not calculated to make a wife happy; therefore I thought it my duty, before the affair was finally decided, to talk seriously to Ma.s.senburg, but it was too late; he could not withdraw, even had he desired to do so. He had made binding promises to Councillor Ernau; the betrothal, if not actually announced, was known everywhere. The Councillor had informed his friends on 'Change that the betrothal of his son Egon to the n.o.ble Fraulein Bertha von Ma.s.senburg was shortly to be celebrated by a grand entertainment, and Werner himself had been so imprudent as to admit this when questioned upon the subject. The betrothal was already an open secret, much discussed among the aristocracy of money as well as of blood.

There was pity expressed for the poor girl who was to be sacrificed to a vain, heartless _roue_. There were various remarks made at the club in Werner's hearing with regard to the burnishing of an aristocratic scutcheon with money gained in trade, but he was firm in his resolve.

The effect of all this gossip was to induce him to hurry as much as possible the public announcement of the betrothal. It was arranged by the two fathers that Herr Egon von Ernau should pay his first visit here yesterday and should be invited by me to an evening party. So soon as the young people had fairly met, there was to be a large garden-party at the Councillor's villa, and the betrothal was to be formally announced.

"It was very distasteful to me, of course, to lend myself to what was to bring about a connection which I considered so undesirable, but I was forced to consent to what was asked of me. I did so, however, only upon condition that I should be allowed immediately after Bertha's arrival to lay before her the true state of affairs. Should she decline then to accede to her father's schemes, I declared that no force should be put upon her beneath my roof. I would then refuse to receive young Ernau.

"Early yesterday morning (the express train from Konigsberg arrives in Berlin at six o'clock) I went to the railway-station to meet Bertha. I did not recognize her when she first stepped out on the platform. I had not seen her for several years, and she had grown from a pretty little school-girl into an elegant young lady. She, however, instantly recognized me, rushed into my arms, calling me 'dearest cousin,' and was so charming and amiable that she won my heart at once. All the more did I hold it to be my duty to warn her against the wretched scheme.

"I did so as we drove home from the station. We were alone, and I had plenty of time to explain matters thoroughly.

"To my exceeding surprise, I found that she showed no distaste whatever for the union forced upon her, she had without hesitation written to her father that she was quite ready to bestow her hand upon Herr von Ernau. Even my unflattering portrait of the young man did not make her waver in her resolve. With a degree of cool equanimity which seemed unnatural in so young a girl, she explained that the faults which I attributed to Herr von Ernau were common to all wealthy young men who had lived fast, and that she was not at all shocked by them. Certainly, from all she could hear, she judged young Ernau to be a man of honour, very clever, and withal extremely rich, wherefore she was quite willing to forgive him some small faults of which he would probably be cured in the course of time. She had lived a life of weary dependence with her aunt Ma.s.senburg and longed for freedom. She should not have refused to marry even a less distinguished suitor than Herr von Ernau, to be relieved from the cheerless existence she had been leading.

"After the cordiality and affection with which Bertha had greeted me, I was entirely unprepared to find her so coolly calculating. I told her so, and she replied with a smile that she was too old--she is just nineteen--to be deceived by any illusions as to 'love's young dream,'

that the place to seek such was in popular romances; in real life a poor girl of rank must learn to be practical and to take reason for her guide. No better match could be found than the one her father had provided for her, and since she had no fancy for being an old maid, she certainly should not commit the folly of rejecting such good fortune.

"Much disappointed, I dropped the subject; the girl no longer appeared so charming to me. Her wonderful self-possession, her cool calculation, made a very disagreeable impression upon me, but this vanished when I spoke to her of her father. She was so frankly rejoiced to relieve him from his embarra.s.sments, to restore to him the possession of his ancestral estate, and she expressed her joy so warmly and with so much love for her father, that I was quite reconciled to her again. And it was just so with my wife. Bertha took her heart by storm. During breakfast, when the Ernaus were discussed, she was as displeased as I had been by Bertha's cynicism, but her displeasure was only transitory.

The girl soon conquered her again by her amiability.

"I really dreaded Egon von Ernau's visit. Werner had informed me that the young man would make his appearance about twelve, but he did not come. Hours pa.s.sed, and at four o'clock Werner appeared in his stead.

Bertha rushed into his arms, she was bewitching in her delight at seeing her father again; indeed, she was like some artless, lovely child in her tender, caressing ways with her father.

"You know Werner, he neither deserves nor appreciates such affection. I really think he cares more for a fine race-horse than for his charming daughter, whose caresses evidently annoyed him. He endured without returning them, only bestowing a cold kiss upon Bertha's cheek, and immediately desiring to see me in private.

"As soon as we were alone in my library the tempest, the signs of which I had already seen in his face, burst forth, he raged and swore, talked of putting a bullet through his brains; and some time elapsed before he was sufficiently calm to explain to me the cause of his anger.

"His affairs certainly looked black enough. The son-in-law of his desires had disappeared, thus destroying the scheme upon which all Werner's hopes had been based.

"The Privy Councillor von Ernau had risen, according to his wont, at eight in the morning, and, not at all according to his wont, had been desirous of breakfasting with his son, that he might consult him with regard to the arrangements for the celebration of his betrothal. He therefore sent to desire his son to come to him. The servant sent returned in a few minutes with Egon's man, who explained that his master had not returned home at all on the previous night, his bed was untouched, and upon his writing-table a letter had been found, addressed to his father, in his handwriting. This letter was handed to the Privy Councillor. He broke the seal, as he himself stated, with a trembling hand, but this last is doubtful. The letter contained only the words 'Farewell! E. von E.'

"'He has destroyed himself!' was the father's exclamation, as he hastened to Egon's rooms in company with the servant, and searched them through in hopes of finding some sc.r.a.p of writing that might allay his apprehensions, but in vain. His first words seemed the only true explanation of his son's disappearance.

"Egon could not have left town for a journey, his servant had received no directions to prepare for a trip, and the young man's clothes were undisturbed, none were missing save those which he wore when last seen.

A costly revolver, a favourite weapon of Egon's, was not to be found.

Everything strengthened the Privy Councillor in the belief that his son had committed suicide. He had hitherto taken but a languid interest in his son, he had often indeed pa.s.sed weeks without seeing him, although the same roof sheltered both; now the Privy Councillor suddenly a.s.sumed the part of a tender, agonized parent. He burst into loud lamentations over the terrible fate of his beloved son, he reproached himself for having driven him to put an end to himself. Nothing but despair at being forced to marry a girl whom he did not love could have driven Egon to such a horrible deed.

"These lamentations were publicly made, and by them Herr von Ernau attained a vast notoriety. He was quite given over to the _role_ of tender, agonized parent. He played it before his servants at home and the clerks in his counting-room. In vain they all tried to soothe him, to represent that there was as yet no proof that his terrible suspicion was correct; in vain did his cashier declare that if Herr Egon had contemplated suicide he would not have drawn, as he had done the day before, twenty thousand marks from the bank. The Privy Councillor insisted that his son had shot himself, the drawing of the twenty thousand marks was an additional proof of the deed. Egon had wished to pay everything that he owed before his death, and had drawn the money for this purpose.

"Werner von Ma.s.senburg believed that the Councillor's loud lamentations were all dictated by his vanity, which was always urging him to seek notoriety at any price. At nine o'clock he had ordered his carriage and was driving about among all his intimate friends and acquaintances enacting the same scene over and over again, and declaring that the wretched proposed betrothal had driven Egon to despair. By noon the universal topic on 'Change was young Ernau's suicide and its cause, and the story flew like wildfire all through the town. An hour previously it had reached Werner, and he had hurried to the Councillor, with whom he had gone through a terrible scene. The Councillor, in his false, theatrical fashion, had cursed the unfortunate projected betrothal, and had heaped reproaches upon Werner, who, of course, was not slow in retaliating, until at last Ernau vowed angrily that if the faint hope that still existed should prove a certainty, and Egon be found to be alive, the hated betrothal should never take place.

"This was the sum of Werner's incoherent narrative. He cursed the Ernaus, father and son, and in his utter selfishness even found fault with Bertha for bringing him into this frightful difficulty by a too ready acquiescence in his plans. She must be completely compromised by the scandal, which was now known all over the town, and in a few days society would cast scorn upon the names of Ma.s.senburg and Ernau, and the wildest exaggerations of the story of Egon's suicide would be told everywhere.

"I tried to soothe Werner, but with small success. He left me at last with the task upon my hands of informing Bertha of what had occurred.

"This was unpleasant enough, but the girl made it as easy for me as possible. She listened to my account with great composure, only expressing her sorrow that her poor father should be disappointed in his dearest hopes. When my wife spoke indignantly of young Ernau, she shrugged her shoulders. 'I am sorry for him,' she said, in a tone expressive of quite as much scorn as pity; 'he is evidently one of those unfortunate men who, bred in the lap of luxury, have lost all force of character, all capacity to shape their destiny. He is certainly more to be pitied than blamed for shuffling off his life like a coward instead of opposing his father's schemes like a man.'

"I was glad that she so easily acquiesced in the inevitable, and I hoped that Werner's fear lest her reputation should suffer from what had occurred would prove groundless. To-day has, unfortunately, convinced me of the contrary.

"The scandal is full-blown. The whole story is talked of everywhere, and one of the morning papers tells it in detail, with all sorts of additions. It is hinted that Herr Egon von Ernau is the victim of a low money speculation on the part of a family of rank. Fraulein Bertha von Ma.s.senburg knew that he was in love with a girl of the middle cla.s.s, but would not withdraw her pretensions because she did not choose to lose a wealthy _parti_. The young man had been led, by his love for his father, into giving his consent to the betrothal, in hopes that Fraulein von Ma.s.senburg would reject his hand when she learned that he loved another. Disappointed in this hope, he had recourse to his revolver.

"Although everybody knows how perfectly untrustworthy are these romantic tales conceived in the brain of some newspaper reporter, everybody believes them, as I have, alas! seen only too clearly during the past day. In the course of it my wife has had more visits than she has received for weeks from friends and acquaintances of every degree of intimacy, and she is in despair over the expressions of commiseration and the curious inquiries concerning private family affairs to which she has been compelled to listen. These visits have so unnerved her that I have been forced to forbid the admission of visitors to the house for some days to come.

"This is only the beginning of the annoyance. The newspapers will all shortly have their various versions of the affair. Instead of pitying the poor girl, as people would have done a few days ago for being sacrificed to a _roue_, all now condemn her, and lavish their compa.s.sion on the poor fellow who was tormented into putting an end to a life so full of promise.

"Under these circ.u.mstances Bertha cannot remain in Berlin. Her stay here would be intolerable, both for her and for my poor wife. Neither can her aunt Ma.s.senburg recall her to Konigsberg, where gossip would inevitably pursue her and be more rife in the provincial town than in the capital. Moreover, Aunt Ma.s.senburg is, as you know, a person of such very strict ideas that it is doubtful whether she will ever again receive beneath her roof a girl so talked about.

"In our need we have thought of you, dear Fritz. You are, through your wife, related to poor Bertha, and you must give her an asylum in your house until the storm has blown over. After a few weeks, at most after a few months, no one will remember that there ever was an Egon von Ernau. We live quickly, and forget as quickly, at the present day.

"So I entreat you to invite Bertha to pay a long visit to Castle Osternau. I know that I ask you to make a sacrifice in granting my request. Malicious gossip may follow Bertha even to the depths of the country and cause you annoyance, but I know you well enough to be sure that you will not on that account hesitate to do such a kindness.

Nothing can so surely tend to re-establish Bertha's reputation in public opinion as the knowledge that she is the guest of a family so highly esteemed as your own.

"And now farewell. My warm regards to your excellent wife. Do not let her be vexed with her old uncle for asking so great a service at your hands. Write soon to yours faithfully,

"Sastrow."

A long silence followed upon the reading of this lengthy epistle. Herr von Osternau waited in vain for some expression of opinion from his wife. "Well, Emma," he asked, at last, "what do you think of this unfortunate story?"

"I pity the poor girl," Frau von Osternau replied. "The punishment of her folly is almost too hard."