Ignát Herrmann

“ Then he would wait for hours until the spasm subsided, creep to his bed like a thief, relieved when he heard her breathing quietly, and in the morning when he waked her with a kiss, express in it his whole love and tenderness. And when his wife returned his embrace so warmly and gratefully, she seemed to be asking his forgiveness. When he looked at her as she went about her occupations and duties during the day with care and thoughtfulness, he fell in love with her afresh, and kissed her as on that first day when he had taken her to their new home. ”

“ In spite of all the glamour of his brilliant, exciting life, Hron did not get rid of the old-fashioned feeling that life is perfect only when it is blessed with children. What point, what aim was there in his whole successful career? Why had he worked himself up to the highest position which was open to him, why did he save, to whom would he leave his fortune when, old and frail, he would end his days? What would rejoice his heart in old age? ”

“ It was too late to pretend that he could not get leave; everything had been settled and prepared before Magda started to go to her parents. And Magda knew how he loved to travel. So they started, and went as far as Munich.
Hron was hoping that in strange surroundings, away from the daily round, and among strangers, he might more easily find an opportunity of saying what he wanted to say. On their travels, when they were closer companions than usual, they were always more tender, more intimate than at home. Hron always felt as though they were lovers. ”

“ You’d rather have a girl, wouldn’t you, Magda? A girl is more domesticated; you could dress her, and make of her what you liked, give her mind its proper bent . . . yes, I think you would get more quickly used to a girl, wouldn’t you?’
The young woman’s eyes looked glassy, although the two tears on her cheeks had dried, But a fresh pain which would have no end was beginning to take possession of her soul. Her fixed eyes, unable to perceive anything in her immediate surroundings, looked into the far distance, and her heart went out in immeasurable sorrow, hunted to death. ”

“ He, too, could not work. He was doubtless angry at the good-for-nothing clerk who stole wafers in order to bake them up with shreds of fat, for a Christmas dinner for his children. He twisted for a while in his chair, rose finally and approached the door. The clerk shivered anew. Now he was to hear his fate.
The attorney stepped a little closer to the transgressor, and not looking at Konopásek, ordered, “Take your coat and hat and go to the market. Buy a carp, a good big one and take it home to the wife at once, you understand? So that she’d have time to get it ready. ”

“ Magda took his arm and walked on quickly, almost drawing him forward; she was looking straight ahead. Her cheeks were almost on fire. Hron did not guess or understand that she too always suffered from great nervousness when she met him again for the first time. She was almost dying with fear that she might betray in some way whence she came and of what nature her visit had been. All her attention was fixed on guarding her secret, lest her husband should suspect her. ”

“ No one is so absolutely the slave of his will at every moment, that not a word or a look should betray what is slumbering in the depth of his heart, or what it is for which he is hungering and thirsting. Ivan Hron was no exception to the rule. There was hardly a moment when Mrs Hron did not guess her husband’s wishes, if guessing indeed were necessary. ”

“ Now at last the attorney comprehended that the clerk had taken them, but why-for what possible purpose! And curiosity overpowering his obligatory official wrath, the counsellor impatiently exploded.
“What did you intend to do with them, Konopásek?”
“Supper an evening meal, your bonor!” stuttered Konopásek. “It is Christmas day. I haven’t even a sixpence. I promised my wife I’d bring some wafers she wanted to bake them with shreds of fat. I have six children and I must make some sort of Christmas for them. They haven’t eaten all day-there was nothing in the house—.” ”

“ Hron made this proposal every year on Magda’s return from her old home, but she shrank from it. She would indeed have liked to have her parents near her, but if they came to Prague, how could she see little Magda? What pretext could she find? Two kinds of love were ever struggling within her, but the stronger, the mother-love always won the day.
‘You are so kind, Ivan,’ she answered, ‘but I don’t think we shall persuade them. They are too old; they had better stay in the surroundings in which they have lived all their lives; they would hardly get used to the life in Prague. ”

“ Therefore Ivan Hron folded the sheet up again, put it back into the envelope which he laid down on the table, and said in a conciliatory tone: ‘Forgive me, Magda, that was not right.’
His wife forced herself to a gentle smile to conceal her terror, and it was a little while before she was able to say: ‘You know it is from our people, nothing of importance, nothing new.’
She at once turned the conversation: ‘You are early to-day; has anything happened?’
‘What should have happened?’ said her husband, ‘I hurried home because I hoped we might get a walk. It is such lovely weather. ”

“ Ivan Hron watched the lamplighter with his pole who went regularly from post to post with his head bent, and without minding the wild tumult. A yellow mail-cart rattled past; the full letter boxes of the whole town would now yield their contents. Bourgeois with their wives returned from their walks; the women led the bigger children by the hand, the men carried the little ones. ”

“ Nothing should betray their having been touched by an unauthorized hand. When he took up little Magda’s fateful letter, which had so recently caused him the bitterest moment of his life, he glanced once more at the lines written by this unknown, pining little creature. Now he could enter into it much more. Alas! How much bitterness this little heart had already had to taste! But how great must have been the pain that his wife had suffered all the time since she had been tied to him and separated from her child . . . day by day, whole months, years . ”

“ Then buy the children nuts and apples and for your wife get a bottle of punch or tea or whatever you want to drink after supper. Here, take this and get out!”
At the concluding words, he drew from his pocket a wallet, opened it, took out a bit of paper and laid it on the table. ”

“ His Magda, his wife is little Magda’s . . . impossible!
He sprang to his feet, caught up the little box, and went to his room with it. He locked the door, so as not to be disturbed, and hastily turned out the contents: letters, photographs, empty envelopes. But in spite of his eagerness he was careful to put them down in their proper order, so that nothing should betray afterwards that he had read anything. He felt like a criminal while he was following up Magda’s secret. But even if it should be a crime, he was going to commit it! ”

“ Ivan Hron had been married for ten years; he had a beautiful wife and was rich. Even his most intimate friends said, not without a touch of envy, that he had ‘a first-rate berth.’ They might indeed envy him, for Ivan Hron seemed a spoilt child of fortune. When he had left school, he had entered the university to study law, in order to take his degree. This he did chiefly because his father, a well-to-do tradesman in the country, wished it; he wanted his son to rise in the world. ”

“ But he is better, he is really quite well again.’
‘You found it hard to part with them, didn’t you, Magda?’ said Hron.
The blood again mounted to Magda’s cheek. Her eyes became fixed, and did not meet his. Oh, how hard it had been to part with that little creature! But she was obliged to give an answer.
‘You know I am fond of my parents, and they are getting old; every year is like a gift. And yet every year I leave them with the hope of seeing them the next.’
‘And they have not yet made up their minds to come and live in Prague?’ he asked. ”

“ These things will happen! For whom does a father work and worry from morning till night, if not for his children? What right had a foolish boy, dependent on his father, to spoil his whole future by one careless act?
That Ivan Hron had spoilt his, was father’s firm conviction, and he succeeded in convincing his mother too. With this conviction old Hron died. ”

“ Hron told them as tactfully as possible that his position would assure their daughter a life free of cares, and all the comforts she had been used to in her own home.
The girl had seemed almost in despair. This time her father spoke for her. He did not refuse Hron’s offer, but asked for a respite: ‘Wait a month or two . . . or perhaps six months; have patience,’ he said. ‘You do not know how much we all have suffered; everything is changed. ”

“ The state of our affairs entitles us to great hopes; we only need a firm, energetic director. That is why we have chosen you.’
Ivan Hron accepted, and the evening papers carried the news that same day to all those who were interested in the appointment of the general manager.
‘Lucky fellow!’ some said. ‘They’ll have a good head on their shoulders,’ said others.
A most promising future now lay before Ivan Hron. He remained unmarried for another year, as though to test the ground under his feet. And when he found it was firm, he got married. ”

“ It would be best to get one from the country; all her former ties, whatever they might be, would then be severed, and she would begin a new life in Prague. If you should not take to her, we will send her back.’
‘Do as you think best,’ said Magda with resignation. ‘I am sure I shall approve of your choice; you are a man who can be trusted.’
‘If I succeed, I will write and let you know,’ said Hron, tenderly embracing his wife, and left the house. ”

“ Many people cure their troubles with wine; he too would try this remedy. He must avoid being alone in the empty house; he must take home an atmosphere of conviviality, else he would feel suffocated. And Hron went into a restaurant where he would be sure to meet friends.
But Ivan was one of those men who did not easily get drunk; his strong head could always master the effect of the wine, and he did not care to drink far beyond his measure. ”

“ Many people were surprised that he had chosen a wife without a fortune. They were still more surprised when they heard that she had been an heiress until lately, when with the failure of her father’s business the glamour which surrounded her had suddenly been eclipsed. ”

“ The remembrance of the letter, the answer to which had poisoned six months of his life, was now really exciting his curiosity. Had Magda kept it? He himself was keeping her answer in a drawer of his writing-table. Tactless or not . . . he wanted to know! The little box was filled with receipts and papers of various kinds; on the top was the letter which he had recently held in his hand and returned to his wife. He recognized it by the handwriting and the date on the postmark. But the letter had not been entirely slipped into the envelope, a corner of it was peeping out ”

“ She could do nothing. And Ivan, who read her thoughts, became himself subject to depression. His nature, more robust than hers, was not affected as deeply as her sensitive soul, yet he became more and more anxious to put an end to this state of uncertainty. The solution of the problem was in his hand, and he fervently desired to solve it; yet when he thought of what it would mean, he trembled for Magda and for himself.
In Salzburg rainy weather set in, which gave him a pretext for returning to Prague without delay. Magda did not seem to care what they did ”

“ Three days passed. Hron had not written. But on the morning of the fourth day she received a letter:
‘Dearest Madga,—I have found what I was looking for, a little girl without father and mother. She is not quite so small a child as you might fancy, but I hope you will take to her all the same. Meet us the day after to-morrow at the North Western Station at 1 p.m. Be sure to have dinner ready at once; we shall probably be hungry. Greatly looking forward to our meeting—Your
Ivan’
Magda went towards the station to meet her husband, with a heavy heart. ”