Alois Vojtěch Šmilovský

“ A long silence followed.
“I am in a pitiable position,” began the baron again "and that I know it, and yet do not try to emancipate myself from it, is the saddest part of all. I am a man in my own right—am my father’s lawful heir, and in possession of all my faculties and senses; and yet—I am a slave, a mere nonentity in my own house! Don’t I play, in your eyes, a very despicable part?”
Jenny remembered Father Cvok’s opinion of Mundy and answered gravely, “A dutiful and obedient son, even when come to the years of full manhood, is not, and never can be, a despicable sight.” ”

“ Half bashfully, almost shyly, the baron put his little son into her arms.
The mother folded the baby to her heart, held her right arm over it as if to protect it, and said firmly and decidedly—
“If you do not give me that certainty here, this very day, then you have held my child for the last time in your arms, you have kissed me for the last time, you have crossed my threshold for the last time to-day. Then I shall consider you a man who——”
“Jenny!”
“Truth has sharp edges, Mundy, but it cannot cut an honest, honourable man. I ask you to answer my questions plainly and decisively. ”

“ Not far from the small station-house a gig from the castle was waiting for him. He had a good hour’s drive before him still, and he was very glad of it, that he might have more time to collect his thoughts. It was in the afternoon, and the sun blazed fiercely; the crops in the elds were ripening beautifully, and the skylarks were singing in the heights above as loud and joyously as their little throats allowed them. The baron sat down in his gig, and drove, not over fast, along the dusty high-road. The way led by Suchdol. It was the very day that Father Cvok paid his visit to Ledecký. ”

“ Now, from the moment the news got abroad that an unknown woman had brought a baby to the priest’s house, it was as if a swarm of wasps had settled down among the sisterhood. They had no peace, and could neither think nor speak of anything else. At last they agreed in coming to the following verdict:—
“This is no such simple thing as they pretend it to be. There is surely something behind all that; but the truth will come out some day or other. Of course we must not be hasty, or speak at random; but some fine opportunity will be sure to come in time.” ”

“ She acknowledged to herself that it was not possible for either the doctor or a carriage to arrive so soon; but, distracted as she was with anxiety, every minute seemed an eternity.
“Are you asleep?” she whispered.
“Oh no; sleep is impossible; the pain in my arm is so great. My head feels quite stunned; the wound is burning!”
Jenny’s tears fell fast afresh.
“Believe me, Jenny,” said the baron, in a low, faint voice, “I would gladly die here, in your arms—only for the thought that——”
“Be brave and patient, Edmund; you will not die. The doctor and the carriage will be here very soon now.” ”

“ Mr. Ferdinand made no attempt to go; that crafty old fox knew well that the priest was right. His eyes wandered undecidedly from his mistress to Father Cvok, he evidently awaited fresh orders.
But they were never given by the baroness, for she felt a faintness coming over her—the very same faintness which had tried her yesterday in the business-room after Ledecký had left her, and when the dreadful pre-sentiment darted through her mind that Mundy might be the father of the foundling at Záluz̓í. To-day the fit was much heavier, and her limbs tingled much more. ”

“ Ledecký shook hands with her lightly, and left the presence with a low bow. Just as he was leaving the court of the castle, Baron Mundy drove up in his gig.
The baroness began, contrary to all her usual habits, to pace up and down the room. She was disquieted, excited; the blood rushed to her temples and head. She had engaged in a duel with Ledecký, and had been defeated!
“One priest will not injure another,” she said to herself; “and when I mentioned Mundy to him, how he pretended to be astonished!” ”

“ I beg of you, my dear, faithful friend, to keep Pepíc̓ek’s parentage from the knowledge of every one with the exception, perhaps, of Miss Naninka, should you think well to inform her of it. People will, of course, talk enough about it at first, but everything in the world loses its freshness, and when the novelty of the matter is over, the talk will subside; and nobody, I think, can shame you for taking up a helpless, deserted child. ”

“ The baroness ordered the coachman to drive in the direction of Suchdol, but to go round the village. Some way beyond Suchdol she told him to turn to Záluz̓í. Mr. Ferdinand laughed in his sleeve; now he knew already how matters stood.
There was a loud knock at the priest’s gate. Cvok himself staggered out to open it. The gracious patroness entered his dwelling as proudly as a beauty enters a ball-room, and at the same time with the majestic coldness of a queen. Mr. Ferdinand remained at the gate as a guard of honour, but also with the intention of keeping his ears open. ”

“ It was not, it is true, the full, complete family life that turned all at once his humble dwelling upside down; but it was a beautiful part of it, and it confirmed Cvok in the truth, known to him hitherto only in poetical books, that family life regenerates decaying humanity, cheering it in the sad decline of advanced age, which otherwise would be barren of blossoms and fruit.
In bringing up children, we forget old age and the grave. And what is there that can better or more agreeably season life, which in itself is often insipid enough? ”

“ You are not your own master, because, when you ought to show that you are, you cower down behind your mother, and make your own fate and mine, and the future of our child, dependent on her will. And because you are not your own master, because you are not energetic character, capable of resisting the persuasions, reproaches, threats, and even, perhaps, intrigues of such an energetic, imperious autocrat as your mother is. ”

“ Miss Jenny should have had more sense and consideration; but a woman is a woman and a mother is a mother all the world over. She only thought of you as the kind-hearted man, and forgot you were a priest too. ”

“ Jenny started when she saw him, and a deadly pallor overspread her cheeks, which just before were flushed with joy. For a short moment she stopped thus in the middle of the room; then going quickly to Naninka, she took the baby out of her arms, clasped it to her breast, and kissed it fondly, with tears of happiness. ”

“ Miss Jenny was a wise girl, and if she has not been able to resist the snares of love, she has, at least, evaded gossips. Baron Mundy will certainly not post up his secret on the market cross, nor we either; and as it seems that the old baroness knows nothing at all about the affair as you, I’d bet my gold piece here, and a silver one along with it, that she never will find it out. So from those parts out there are no clouds gathering for us, and in good time we shall hear all the particulars. But there is another thing, your reverence, that is much worse. ”

“ Father Neducha wrote that he had heard things about him which troubled his mind so much that for two nights he had not been able to close his eyes in sleep. When he had got the account, or from whom, he did not say, he had probably forgotten it in the trouble of his mind. Furthermore, that he (Neducha) had broken, long ago all the ties that bound him to this world; in one only of them all had he still indulged—in the love to his old tried friend Václav. And now, even in this he must say that all he had found in the things of earthly life and friendship was—vanity of vanities. ”

“ Were you to drive our faithful old servant out of the house along with the child, or out of charity and indulgence allow me to keep the forsaken innocent? You were not long at a loss what to do; you did what you considered your duty; you allowed the baby to stay here until its mother would be able to fetch it again.”
“But, Naninka, I hardly know you in all this!”
“Because you don’t know what a woman is capable of doing, if she is not exactly an ill-natured person; and if she can do a good turn to the forsaken child of her unfortunate niece. ”

“ They even went further, and declared that in point of morals, if compared with other independent young nobles, Baron Mundy might be looked upon as a white raven.
True, his whole life was not spread out like a map for inspection; still, servants and underlings very seldom fail to find out any speck or mote that can cast the least shadow on their future master’s character. But not ever the tiny shadow of a mote did Jenny hear cast upon the baron’s relations with the fair sex. ”

“ His leisure hours he liked best to spend amongst the children in the school. In short, he considered life on earth to be only a preparation for eternity; and whenever he entered a house, there seemed to enter with him a palpable saintliness, which filled young and old with love and awe.
Father Cvok knew no one in the whole world whom he loved and respected so much as Neducha. When he had done a particularly good deed, he used to say to himself, “Neducha would surely approve of that.” In short , Neducha was his hero in everything, and he surrounded him with a halo of friendship and love. ”

“ The housekeeper got up, laid the baby in her master’s arms; kissed his hand humbly and heartily, and gathered up the baby-things which were spread about on the table and bed. Then she took her candle and went to the kitchen. The good priest pressed the child to his heart, as he looked into its dear little eyes, which seemed to smile upon him with angelic purity and innocence.
“Heavens!” whispered good Father Cvok, “as long as there is breath in me you shall have a place of refuge in my heart, which neither fate nor human wickedness shall deprive you of!” ”

“ A firm upholder of the customs and traditions of his rank, Baron Mundy had, along with the faults common to all young noblemen, some of their better qualities also. He always observed, for instance, a certain degree of gentleness and an unassuming behaviour towards those with whom he came in contact, together with the forbearing delicacy and consideration of the stronger towards the weaker, of which a true nobleman is never devoid.
Even if he had not loved Jenny deeply, he would never have allowed her and his son to be exposed to the miserable cares and hardships of everyday life. ”

“ After that she turned to the gentleman who had accompanied her, and said, “I must introduce the gentlemen to each other. The Baron Poc̓ernický, of Poc̓ernic, known to you from what I have told you, and Mr. Doubek, merchant, my future husband.”
“Jenny!” the baron cried, almost beside himself—“Jenny! what are you doing? You do not know what you are saying. By the eternal stars of heaven, no one but myself can be your husband! God Himself cannot suffer it to be otherwise!” ”

“ The blood vanished from her cheeks, her lips became blue, and big drops of perspiration stood out on her brow. Filled with restless fears, and with despair in her heart, she felt as if her very soul was held in a vice! ”

“ The rich verdure of the orchards is dotted with countless blossoms, and through the verdure and bloom the venerable thatched roofs of the cottages peep forth like mushrooms from among the moss, while the red tiles of the priest’s residence and schoolhouse, and here and there of a more recently built farmhouse, look like the red toadstools in a wood. ”

“ Father Neducha at first did not even wish to accept of a living, from Christian humility; but as no priest with whom he was placed as curate satisfied him in point of godliness, he at last accepted a small living, rivalling in its poverty that of Záluz̓í. His parishioners looked up to him as to a saint. He never took any meat, coffee, or spirituous drink, lived very moderately, and gladly shared the little he had with the poor. He never went to visit a sick person otherwise than on foot, even in hail, rain, and snow that no one would have driven a dog out in. ”

“ From Záluz̓í to Suchdol (Drydale) a footpath leads of more than an hour’s walk. It winds along through fields, groves of hazel, beech, and underwood, down a slope to a meadow; on further to a brook; then through more fields and meadows to Suchdol . Goodness knows why it was ever called so! For dale there is none, but a plain as flat as a floor, and in the village there is nothing particularly dry , except perhaps the chimney-pots. ”

“ The aristocratic noblesse, the measured stiffness, so void of heart or feeling, the polished formalities observed in every trifling thing, imposed, of course, a very great constraint on the poetical mind of the young girl; but being endowed with a good deal of common sense, and conscious of her dependent position, she naturedly made the best of everything, and found at last even some pleasure in her life. ”

“ At the kitchen door behind Cvok’s back the profile of spinster Regina appeared. Her eyes plainly said, “Do you see what he is driving at? He is just preparing his way. Don’t lend him anything!”
Ledecký looked steadily towards her, as if he would say, “Don’t you be afraid! I won’t be taken in.”
To Cvok he said, “True, your living is certainly no gold-mine. Záluzí is one of the poorest of villages; every corner is full of poverty there. But, in spite of that, you need not have cobwebs in your pocket, if you were only another sort of man, and would follow good advice when you get it.” ”

“ Thus the baroness quieted herself for the moment; but as she neared Labutín, care weighed her down again with renewed force. Why did Mundy keep his child in the immediate neighbourhood of Labutín? Evidently his love for Jenny must have deeper and stronger roots than in most cases of similar extravagancies amongst young noblemen. Perhaps he even intends to make this person his lawful wife in time; perhaps he is only waiting for the happy moment when his mother will expire, and not be any more in his way? ”

“ Your mother won’t die till she has united you to a woman of her own rank, who will be to her own liking, and whose character will give her a guarantee that after her death she will rule you as much as she herself has ruled you all your life. ”