"I don't understand you, dear madam," said the a.s.sessor, "at least I do not know what connection Frau Brandow's reputation could have with this very disagreeable affair."

"Then I don't understand you," replied Ottilie.

"It will be best," answered Sellien, "in order to avoid further misunderstandings, to tell the ladies plainly what the point in question really is. True, Herr Wollnow charged me to be cautious; but the flattering obstinacy with which my wife rejects my timid attempts to induce her to stay here, compels me to withdraw from my diplomatic position. Herr Wollnow has just informed me that my confident expectation that Brandow would have the ten thousand thalers ready, which I was to receive from him to-day, is all an illusion. To be sure, Brandow wrote me about a fortnight ago, and made no secret of his embarra.s.sments; but he's such a clever fellow, and has always helped himself out of his sc.r.a.pes when the pinch came; at any rate, he made no answer to my encouraging letter, and as I said before, I supposed he would not let me come for nothing, but on the contrary have everything ready. Now, however, I hear from your husband that matters are very different, in fact quite desperate. Brandow's credit is entirely exhausted. Herr Wollnow says that n.o.body could be found on the whole island who would lend him a thaler, since the two Pluggens and Redebas, who have kept his head above water so long, declared yesterday in Wollnow's counting-room that their patience was exhausted, and he would not get another shilling from them. Instead of that, they were to get something from him, that is, they were to receive a very large sum within a few days. They mentioned fifteen thousand thalers; but Herr Wollnow thinks there was probably a little exaggeration about it. But even if this was the whole amount of Brandow's indebtedness--which is undoubtedly not the case--he is still a lost man. The convent confidently expects that Brandow will pay his two years' rent to-morrow. If he does not, it will certainly make use of its right, and proceed to expel him from Dollan, and then Brandow will be as thoroughly and completely ruined as a man can be."

"Poor Cecilia! Poor, poor Cecilia!" cried Frau Wollnow, bursting into tears.

"I am sorry for her," said the a.s.sessor, playing with his long nails.

"But what can be done?"

"Emil must help them!" exclaimed Frau Wollnow, removing her handkerchief from her face a moment.

"He will beware of that, as he said just now; it is pouring water into the Danades seive."

"But you, dear Herr Sellien, you are his friend; you cannot see your friend go to ruin."

The a.s.sessor shrugged his shoulders. "Friend! Dear me, whom don't we call by that name? And my relations with Brandow are very superficial, mere business connections, if you choose to call them so; are they not, my dear wife?"

"Certainly, certainly," murmured Alma.

"And I should be giving up this very business relation if I allowed Alma to accompany me, when the situation was so critical. In the presence of ladies it is very difficult not to touch the chords of tender feeling, and it seems to me extremely desirable to avoid the possibility of doing so. Are you not of my opinion, dear Alma?"

"It is a very disagreeable affair," said Alma.

"Is it not? And why should you expose yourself to it unnecessarily? I knew my wise little wife would yield the point at last."

And the a.s.sessor tenderly kissed Alma's hand.

"But in that case it seems to me you must stay here too, my dear Herr a.s.sessor," said Frau Wollnow.

"I? Why? On the contrary, it is only prudent for me to appear as natural as possible. I know nothing; I suspect nothing. Of course I shall be extremely sorry when Brandow takes me aside and tells me he can't pay; but I'll wager the dinner will be none the worse for that, and taste none the worse to me. His red wine and champagne were always superb."

Frau Wollnow rose and went out upon the balcony. She must breathe the fresh air, even at the risk of having her new silk morning-dress spoiled by the rain, which was now falling quite heavily from the gray sky. "Poor, poor Cecilia!" she repeated sighing, "and there is no one who can and will save you."

She remembered that she had brought her husband a dowry of fifty thousand thalers, but she could not touch them without Emil's permission, and Emil would not allow it. Should she try to move him by throwing herself prostrate at his feet? She could almost have laughed outright at the extravagant idea, especially when she imagined the astonished expression her husband's face would wear; but the tears again sprang to her eyes and mingled with the rain-drops that beat upon her burning face. Suddenly the husband and wife within were roused from their low-toned, eager conversation by a loud exclamation from the balcony. "Gotthold, good heavens, Gotthold!"

"Where, where?" cried the a.s.sessor and his wife with one voice, as they hurried out upon the balcony.

"There he comes," said Ottilie, pointing towards the square, across which a man with a broad-brimmed hat, pulled low over his eyes, was walking directly towards the house.

"He isn't so tall as Brandow," said Alma, who was critically inspecting the new-comer through an opera-gla.s.s.

"What can he want?" asked her husband.

"We shall soon know," said Frau Wollnow, as with a vague feeling of anxiety she pressed her two companions back into the room.

But Gotthold had only asked for Herr Wollnow, the maid-servant informed them, and she had been ordered to show him into Herr Wollnow's counting-room. The interview, whatever its purport might be, lasted much longer than was at all agreeable to the impatient waiters, and after an hour, during which the a.s.sessor had rather increased than lessened the ladies' impatience by a detailed account of his adventures with Gotthold in Sicily, Herr Wollnow appeared alone. They were astonished, amazed, and scarcely satisfied when Wollnow said that Gotthold had only gone to the Furstenhof to change his clothes, and would come back if his business gave him time. They wanted to know what business could be so pressing that Gotthold had selected Sunday morning for its transaction.

"The ladies must ask that of himself," said Herr Wollnow; "he has not taken me into his confidence. All I know is, that he is going to drive back to Dollan with our friends here, return to-night or to-morrow morning in the same excellent company, from which he antic.i.p.ates a great deal of pleasure, and then continue his journey without further delay. It seems that the point in question concerns the hasty purchase of a few gifts, with which he wants to surprise his host and hostess at Dollan at parting; at least he wanted me to give him a sum of money which is rather large for mere travelling expenses, but I can say no more."

And Herr Wollnow, apparently with the utmost unconcern, hummed an air from "Figaro" as he left the room to avoid further questioning.

"I don't think it at all polite for him not to present himself a moment, at least," said Alma; "I've a great mind to punish him for it by not appearing at breakfast."

"Oh! pray don't," said the a.s.sessor.

Ottilie Wollnow made no answer. She knew her husband too well to have the gloomy expression of his eyes and the cloud on his brow escape her notice, in spite of his apparent unconcern. Besides, she had a foreboding that Gotthold's interview with her husband had not been quite so innocent as it seemed, that there was something disagreeable, perhaps some misfortune impending, and above all, she was convinced that the Selliens were getting into a pa.s.sion in vain, and Gotthold would not appear at breakfast.

CHAPTER XVIII.

The little company at Dollan had already been wandering for half an hour up and down the rain-soaked paths in the garden, between the dripping hedges, waiting for the arrival of a.s.sessor Sellien and dinner.

"You're a pretty fellow," cried Hans Redebas, who was walking with Otto von Pluggen, as Brandow with Gustav von Pluggen and Pastor Semmel met him on the same spot for the third time: "first you invite us to meet some one who vanishes in the dew and mist; then it occurs to your lovely wife, on whose account we all come here, to have a headache and not appear; and finally, we're kept waiting for the a.s.sessor, and wandering around your old wet garden like horses in a tread-mill! I'll give you ten minutes, and if we don't sit down to the table by that time I'll have my horses harnessed, and we'll dine in Dahlitz, and not badly either. What do you say to that, Pastor?"

And Herr Redebas laughed and clapped the Pastor, who had come with him in his carriage, rudely on the shoulder. Brandow laughed too, and said they must have patience; it was not his fault that the a.s.sessor had not arrived, and things had gone contrary that day; the dinner had been ready a long time.

"Then in the name of three devils, let's go to the table, or I shall faint away," cried Herr Redebas.

It was by no means probable that this man, with the frame and strength of a giant, would be overcome by such a sudden attack of weakness; but Brandow had every reason not to increase the ill-humor of his guests.

Already, to shorten the time before dinner, they had played a game of cards, in which the Pastor took no share except by his intense interest, and lost a few hundred thalers. To be sure, the amount was very little in comparison to the sum he owed his visitors; but they had been irritated by the loss, and took the less care to conceal their annoyance as Brandow still uttered no word in allusion to the business for whose settlement they had really a.s.sembled. Undoubtedly he was unable to pay. To be sure, they had expected it, nay, in point of fact, the whole transaction which Hans Redebas and the two Pluggens had jointly undertaken was based upon this supposition; but now each was not sorry to consider himself in the light of a man of honor, whose confidence had been most shamefully betrayed.

Herr Redebas, especially, was in a very irritable mood. The conditions to which, at the conclusion of the mutual bargain, he had agreed, pleased him less and less every moment. Why had he not required the whole sum to be paid, or else claimed for his share the second stake Brandow had offered in addition to Brownlock, his wheat-harvest? The wheat, as he had just convinced himself, was an exceptionably, unexpectedly fine crop; it would have brought in a very large profit; while the horse, after all, was a doubtful bargain. Since the committee had included a large tract of marsh land in the course laid out for the race between the gentlemen riders, the chances in favor of Brownlock, which was universally considered too heavy a horse, were very considerably lessened. And, moreover, what had such a sedate, man as Hans Redebas to do with such things, which, after all, were only fit for the n.o.bility? It would be better for the two Pluggens to see what they could make of the horse! It was their trade; they understood it, and so in G.o.d's name let them take the beast for their ten thousand, and leave him the wheat crop! But this time, in spite of the proverbial want of harmony that prevailed between them, the two brothers made common cause. The bargain had been settled, and every one must rest satisfied with it; if Hans Redebas fancied he was the only one who could see into a thing, he'd find himself greatly mistaken. Therefore, as Herr Redebas could not vent his anger upon his two companions, he thought himself ent.i.tled to treat Brandow with all the more rudeness and want of consideration. Even before dinner he had shown this disposition to an extravagant degree, and the wine, of which he drank immense quant.i.ties at the table, in spite of its many other excellent qualities, did not possess that of improving the giant's temper.

At any other time it would have been an easy matter for Brandow to parry his antagonist's coa.r.s.e jests and turn the laugh against him; nay, he was usually considered among his a.s.sociates to be a man whom one could not offend, with impunity; but to-day his dreaded powers of sarcasm, as well as his often tested courage, seemed to have deserted him. He did not hear what could not have been inaudible, did not understand what no one could fail to comprehend, laughed when he would usually have started up in fury, and with pale trembling lips tried as well as he could to give the conversation a jesting turn, for which purpose he grasped at more and more questionable expedients, and at last related anecdotes, which even to the long-suffering Pastor, seemed altogether too scandalous.

In spite of the noise and laughter, in spite of the row of empty bottles which grew longer and longer under the side-board, it was a dreary, uncomfortable meal, and to no one more so than to the master of the house. Brandow knew from long experience that he could require his nerves to bear a great deal, but it now seemed as if he should not be able to accomplish what he had undertaken to-day. While laughing heartily over a story he had just related, his fingers fairly trembled with the longing he felt to s.n.a.t.c.h the champagne bottle from the cooler and shatter it upon Redebas' huge black head. He was aware that his strength was almost exhausted; he should break down if Hinrich Scheel did not return soon and release him from this horrible torture of uncertainty. And then it seemed as if this torment was nothing to the other, the torment of the certainty that his wife loved that man, and despised him too much even to hate him, and that he fully deserved her scorn. Again and again--with the speed of lightning--in the few seconds it required to raise a gla.s.s of wine to his lips and swallow the contents--he lived over the scene of the night before in her sleeping-room, when he stood before her with clenched fists, and not a muscle in her pale face quivered until he struck her to the heart with the fatal blow which he had cruelly withheld so long. To her heart! Her heart! It had been a master-stroke! A thrust which crushed the proud haughty woman like a stag overtaken by a bullet, rendered her his weak, obedient tool, and made him master of the situation. An enviable situation, to sit here and endure Redebas' coa.r.s.e taunts, laugh at his own silly wit, look at the stupid faces of the two Pluggens, be cordial to the canting Parson, be forced to see that no one's gla.s.s was empty, and amid all the noisy tumult listen continually for the rolling of the carriage which would bring Hinrich, and with Hinrich the money for which he had done what he had done, suffered what he had suffered, and without which he was a ruined man. At last, at last! There was the clatter of horses' hoofs, and the rattle of a carriage, which stopped before the house. No one had heard it except himself! So much the better, he could speak to Hinrich undisturbed!

He left his guests under the pretext that he wanted to get another brand of champagne, and hurried across the hall to the open door, before which the carriage was still standing, and he perceived the a.s.sessor engaged in conversation with Hinrich Scheel, when he suddenly heard his own name called from his room, the door of which also stood open, and turning at the sound, saw the man he hated standing before him. A thrill of mingled rage and alarm shot through his frame like a two-edged sword. What brought this man back? How could he dare to return? To say that he had no money, would not pay.

"We have a few moments to ourselves," said Gotthold, bolting the door behind Brandow; "the a.s.sessor is still outside; he knows nothing; no one knows anything except, of course, Wollnow, without whom I could not procure the money you wanted. Even now I have been unable to get it as you wished, and therefore was obliged to come here again. You wanted fifteen thousand thalers in cash. Wollnow, who is obliged to make very large payments for the purchase of grain this morning, could give me only ten thousand; the remainder I bring you in these drafts of five thousand thalers each, accepted by Wollnow, and payable at sight to-morrow, in Sundin, by Philip Nathanson, the wealthiest banker there.

These drafts, in consequence of Wollnow's credit with your friends in the neighborhood, are as good as ready money. I think you will be able to settle your affairs with them yourself; but in any case I am here to come to your a.s.sistance with my personal credit, though I confidently believe that it will not be needed."

Gotthold laid a large sealed packet on the table, and drew from his pocket-book the three drafts, which he handed Brandow, and the latter glanced over with a practised eye to convince himself that these papers were really as good as ready money.

A sensation of wonderful relief overpowered the half-intoxicated man.

Freedom from the agony of expectation, the certainty of deliverance from his desperate situation, and, moreover, the prospect of soon coming out as winner of the Sundin races, and gainer of an immense sum of money by the aid of his now restored Brownlock--all this overwhelmed him like a delirium of joy, and he felt a sort of longing to clasp in his arms the man who had aided in procuring all this, as his preserver and only true friend; and at the same moment he said to himself that it was impossible that this man, dreamer and enthusiast though he was, would entrust to him a sum, which in itself was a little fortune, unless the worst that his jealous fancy had imagined had already happened--and the expression of the staring eyes he now fixed upon Gotthold seemed to say: "I could crush you like a serpent which has crossed my path!"

"I do not think you will ever be in a situation to return this money,"

said Gotthold; "perhaps it will not be disagreeable to you to hear that from this time I renounce all expectation of repayment, and therefore a receipt, which would really remain only a bit of paper."

He left the room; Brandow burst into a hoa.r.s.e laugh.

"That, too," he muttered, "as if another proof were needed! But you shall pay for it, both of you, so dearly, that this in comparison will be only a drop of water on a hot stone."

The a.s.sessor looked in through the door, which Gotthold had left half open. He had heard from the latter that Brandow was here, and hastened to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to greet his friend alone, and express his regret that Gotthold's business had detained them so long in Prora, that he was unable to bring his wife, who was suffering from a severe headache, to Dollan. Brandow declared it to be a proof of the sympathy between two beautiful natures that his wife was also attacked by the same sickness to-day; and the sarcastic, even sneering tone in which he said it, caused the a.s.sessor to secretly congratulate himself upon his caution in coming to this falling house alone. His astonishment was all the greater when Brandow continued with the most perfect composure:--