Baroness Jemima Montgomery Tautphoeus

“ Not for all the world would I take such a responsibility upon myself!” cried Madame Rosenberg, with a look of amazement; “Lina, too, so giddy and thoughtless, and the Doctor never at home! It would never do, I see. But who would have imagined that you would think of such a thing at your age!”
“I am just at the age to act more from impulse than reason, and I consider you too much my friend not to speak candidly to you. If Major Stultz were not so insufferably jealous, you could make me over to Crescenz—my regard for her is really of the most blameless description, and will never be otherwise.” ”

“ Hildegarde coloured deeply, and looked towards Hamilton; he was eating almonds and raisins from a plate, which Madame Berger held towards him. “Let us talk about our masks, and not about our consciences,” cried the latter. “I must go home to dinner, or the Doctor will be impatient. We are to be black bats; black silk dresses; black dominoes, with hanging sleeves, and hoods; masks half black, and a knot of white ribbon under the chin, that we may know each other. How many dominoes shall I order?”
“For us all, Lina, for us all!” cried Crescenz, eagerly. ”

“ Men especially do not often bestow affection on such women; but, when they do, it is with a degree of passion which they seldom or never feel for the more gentle or weaker of the sex. And so, irresistibly attracted by her beauty, and perhaps hoping to find feelings as strong as her mind, three men now loved her with characteristic fervour; her cousin, with an intensity bordering on insanity; Zedwitz with the glowing steadiness of his disposition and years, and Hamilton with all the ardour of extreme youth.
“I thought Hildegarde would have worn one of my bracelets this evening,” said Crescenz. ”

“ He was spared an answer by Hildegarde’s entrance with a small tray and coffee-cups. It was in vain that Crescenz turned to the window to conceal her tears; Hildegarde saw them, and, turning angrily to Hamilton, exclaimed:
“This is most unjustifiable conduct—dishonourable——”
“Oh, stop! Hildegarde!” cried Crescenz, beseechingly: “Pray stop! You are, as usual, doing him injustice, and misunderstanding him altogether.”
“Do not attempt a justification,” cried Hamilton, impatiently; “she will not believe you. And,” he added in a whisper, “in fact, I do not deserve it.” ”

“ On the top of the tree was a diminutive angel, dressed in gold and silver; in the moss which covered the root was a wax infant, surrounded by lambs. The table itself was covered with toys of every description, from drawing-books and boxes for Fritz, to drums and trumpets for Peppy. There were two other tables with smaller trees, to which Madame Rosenberg conducted Hildegarde and Crescenz. The noise was excessive; everyone spoke and nobody listened. Old Hans and the cook were not forgotten; they stood, with their Christmas-boxes and pockets of gingerbread, laughing spectators near the door. ”

“ What is a woman without personal vanity? Avoid during the rest of your life all who have not, at least, a moderate quantity of it; without it we are abnormous, unnatural, and it is impossible to know how to manage us.”
“You have really given me a great deal of information to-day,” said Hamilton, laughing; “a few walks with you, and I should become a perfect tactician.”
“If you choose, however, to try Hildegarde further,” said Madame Berger, “you must manage it yourself. She may think you now, for all I know, a victim to my arts and wiles, and more worthy of pity than anger.” ”

“ At this moment the servant entered to say that the carriage was ready.
“Very well: you may go—and—shut the door—Hildegarde, I mean Mademoiselle Rosenberg—do not remain here. Give up this idea of going to Ida Waldorf; it will never answer—believe me you will be most unhappy!”
“It must answer,” said Hildegarde, “and I shall not be unhappy, for the idea of being a governess is familiar to me from my infancy, and has therefore lost all its terrors.”
“Excuse my questioning you,” cried Zedwitz quickly, “but may I ask how you happen to become acquainted with the Baroness Waldorf?” ”

“ What may I claim?” asked Hamilton, quickly.
No one seemed disposed to explain, until at length Madame Rosenberg replied, laughing, “Neither more nor less than a kiss, which is a sort of old privilege allowed a gentleman if he drive a lady in a sledge! Now I know that from me you will not claim it, because I am neither young nor pretty—nor from Hildegarde, because you don’t like her well enough—nor from Crescenz, because she is betrothed. ”

“ Himmel! Saperment!” exclaimed Fritz, pitching the book up to the ceiling; “this is exactly too much! when a fellow has been all the morning at school, and comes home for an hour or so to eat and amuse himself, to be set down in this way to learn French. I tell you what, Hildegarde, I shall begin to hate the sight of you if you plague me with these old grammars.”
“What shall I do with him?” asked Hildegarde, appealing to her sister.
“Fritz, learn your lesson—there’s a love!” interposed Crescenz; “see what a good boy Gustle is!” ”

“ The fact is, I think Lina altogether to blame, and I have often admired your forbearance.”
“Thank you,” cried Hamilton, “I am quite satisfied now.”
“Do not be quite satisfied with yourself,” said Hildegarde, “for I must tell you honestly that I am quite disposed to be unjust to Lina; more than ready to put an unkind construction on all she does or says.”
“Why?” asked Hamilton, with a blush of pleasure, as a faint vision of the “green-eyed monster” approaching Hildegarde floated before his imagination. “Why?”
“Because I dislike her. We waged war with each other for nearly ten years.” ”

“ Rosenberg, turning to Raimund.
“Not at all,” he replied, carelessly glancing towards the house, “I am sure they are commonplace, for a more matter-of-fact person does not exist than Marie de Hoffmann.”
“So,” cried Zedwitz, “it is really true that you are going to be married! I am glad to hear it, and congratulate you with all my heart.”
“Thank you,” said Raimund musingly, while he turned from Zedwitz to Hamilton, and then to Hildegarde, as if they, and not Mademoiselle de Hoffmann, occupied his thoughts. ”

“ I am willing to acknowledge that you were quite right in what you said about him—I know, too, I was wrong to be angry with mamma and Crescenz—but I do not like to be so perpetually reminded of my faults by you—you are not old enough—and—and—you bore me with your real or affected superiority.”
“Did I affect superiority we should never have quarrelled,” replied Hamilton, with evident vexation; “I only quarrel with my equals.”
“I quarrel with everybody,” said Hildegarde, with a sigh; “a passionate temper is a great misfortune—but I can and will learn to control it. ”

“ I should not like to be afraid of anyone I loved, and that is one of the reasons why I think that only people of nearly the same age should marry!”
Hamilton turned quickly to his companion, whose deep blush gave a special meaning to her last observation.
Hildegarde, Zedwitz, and Fritz were far before them; Madame Rosenberg, with Gustle, and two guides, loaded with provisions, equally far behind. They became sentimental, often looked back to admire the view, which every moment increased in beauty and extent. ”

“ It had become so much darker that he now took up his post near the staircase, and soon after Crescenz appeared, looking timidly down into the obscurity. “I am here, do not be afraid; there is no one near,” cried Hamilton, softly advancing towards her.
“I have only come—to say—that—that I cannot come.”
Hamilton in vain endeavoured to repress a smile. “Well, come down the stairs, and at least tell me why!”
She descended a few steps.
“Well! why?”
“Because I have not courage; I am always afraid in the dark.”
“But it is not dark in the cloisters; there is the most beautiful moonlight imaginable! ”

“ Hildegarde silently made a sign to Hamilton to leave them, and greatly wondering at the sudden change, he walked back to the drawing-room.
On glancing round at the furniture which Crescenz considered so splendid, he could not help smiling at the frugality of her taste. Was he to be envied for his more lavish ideas? Assuredly not. Everything in this world, from the diamond to the first thing beyond the absolute necessaries of life, is valued fictitiously. ”

“ Hildegarde and Crescenz joined them as the evening-prayer bell tolled. At Seon this bell had generally been tolled while they had been at supper. The clatter of knives and forks and tongues had instantly ceased, and an awful stillness had taken place, which had not been broken by word or movement until the last sound of the bell had died away; when, as if a spell had been broken, each person had wished his neighbour a good evening, and renewed, with increased vigour, the interrupted occupation. ”

“ Hamilton is quite right,” said Crescenz, “it was not honourable of Count Raimund to throw the blame on Captain Welden’s daughter, who, I dare say, was not the first to propose a rendezvous—and then to repeat everything and laugh! Oh! Hildegarde, he may be very amusing, but he cannot have a good heart!” She bent down towards her sister, and added in a whisper, “Mr. Hamilton would never have acted so!”
“Mr. Hamilton is, most probably, in no respect better than other people,” replied Hildegarde, quickly, but without turning round. ”

“ Why, she has not left school more than two months.”
“Her sister left school at the same time, is a year younger, and yet has contrived to fall in love with you, and to promise to marry another in exactly half the time,” said Zedwitz, bitterly.
“Pray do not imagine anything of that kind,” said Hamilton, colouring deeply; “she is merely one of those soft, yielding sort of beings, who, with a more than sufficiency of vanity and coquetry in their nature, are ready to fancy themselves and others in love without rightly knowing what the feeling is. This Hildegarde is worth a hundred such. ”

“ My dear Crescenz, you must take my advice, and put this Englishman quite out of your head. As to his studies, I know all about them, and I have heard that he is extremely clever and possessed of extraordinary information for his age; he can talk of history, politics, commerce and all those sort of things, like a professor! I can set your mind quite at ease with respect to Hildegarde; her whole mind is bent upon profiting as much as possible by the instruction which she is receiving, and if your Englishman has any fancy for her, she is as yet quite unconscious of it. ”