E. Werner

“ You misjudge your uncle altogether. He has been denied an heir, and, idolise Wanda as he may, those hopes which only a son can realise are concentrated on you--you who are so closely connected with him by ties of blood, and who will shortly be to him indeed a son. If, for the present, he thinks it necessary to restrain your ardour, for the future he counts upon your fresh young strength, when his own shall begin to fail. I have his word that, when the decisive moment arrives, Prince Leo Baratowski shall assume the position which is his due. ”

“ It will not be easy to you to put faith in me, I know. From your earliest childhood the seeds of distrust have been sown in your soul. Your guardian has done all in his power to alienate you from me, and to bind you solely to himself. I only fear that he, of all men, was least fitted to bring up the heir of Wilicza!"
Her eyes took a rapid survey of the young man as she spoke, and the look completed her meaning; unfortunately Waldemar understood both look and words, and was roused by them to a pitch of extreme irritation. ”

“ One thing I know for certain, he was the reverse of tractable."
"I know it too," returned the Princess with equanimity. "He is his father's son, and, like him, rough, unmanageable, and incapable of all higher culture. Even as a boy he resembled him, trait for trait; and, with such a guardian as Witold, education will have given the finishing touches to Nature's work. I do not deceive myself as to Waldemar's character; but, nevertheless, there will be a way of leading him. Minds of an inferior order always yield in the end to intellectual superiority. ”

“ She is accustomed to have her way in everything; and you, I regret to say, do not teach her that others can be firm as well as she."
"I assure you, mother, I was not very yielding to Wanda to-day," replied Leo, in a voice still vibrating with anger.
The Princess shrugged her shoulders. "Perhaps not to-day; but to-morrow you will be on your knees before her, begging her pardon. She has invariably brought you to it. How often must I explain to you that that is not the way to inspire a proud and wilful girl with the respect to which the future husband should lay claim!" ”

“ Yet calm reflection will be so necessary to it in life? My plans with regard to Waldemar I shall carry out myself, alone. If there be bitterness attaching to them, you, my Leo, shall feel nothing of it. You must keep your sight unclouded, your spirit fresh and valiant for the future which is in store for you. That is your task. Mine is to assure you that future at any cost. Trust your mother. ”

“ He knew how sensitive the young man was, how ill he could brook a jest. Often enough had a far more inoffensive observation from Herr Witold called forth a perfect storm; but, curiously enough, there was no sign of one to-day. Waldemar was leaning quietly on Countess Morynska's chair. A smile even hovered about his lips, as, bending down to her, he asked--
"Do you think me such a bad fellow, then?"
"Yes, I do. Had not I the pleasure of seeing you in a regular passion the day before yesterday, at the time of the quarrel about the rudder?" ”

“ The young Prince sprang to his feet.
"You are laughing?"
"Oh, not at you, Leo. It only struck me how unutterably comic your brother would have looked in such a situation."
"Waldemar? Yes, indeed; but you will hardly have that satisfaction. He will never bend the knee before a lady, certainly not before you."
"Certainly not before me!" repeated Wanda, in a tone of pique. "Oh, you think I am still such a child, it is not worth while kneeling to me. I have a great mind to prove to you the contrary."
"How?" asked Leo, laughing. "By bringing Waldemar to your feet, perhaps?"
The girl pouted. ”

“ Wanda did indeed give promise of beauty. As yet she had it not; but, on the other hand, she possessed that peculiar charm which belongs to many a girlish figure, standing on the boundary line between child and maiden hood. There was about her a pretty blending of the child's petulance and artlessness with the graver demeanour of the young lady, who, at every turn, calls to mind her sixteen years; while the bloom of early youth, of the blossom budding forth, invested her whole person with a special grace of its own, and made her doubly charming. ”

“ He looked at her, and the answer lay in his eyes--shone in them so distinctly that the young girl blushed to her very forehead. That ardent, reproachful gaze spoke all too plainly.
"You do my aunt injustice," she said, speaking quickly, as if to hide her embarrassment. "She must, and does, love her own son."
"Oh, no doubt!" Waldemar's bitterness had now grown quite beyond his control. "I am persuaded that she loves Leo very much, though she is so severe with him; but why should she love me, or I her? I was hardly a year old when I lost father and mother at one stroke. ”

“ Much as the Princess may love show and splendour, I am convinced that at a time like the present she can have no real heart for such festive doings. These great hunting parties and balls are the simplest, the most convenient pretext for calling all Wilicza together without exciting surprise or remark. They dine and dance, no doubt. Appearances have to be kept up--but most of the guests remain all night at the Castle, and that which goes on when the great chandeliers are put out is perhaps of not quite so innocent a nature. ”

“ The young man's face took a most disdainful expression. "What do I care for all their antiquarian nonsense? The woods and fields interest me for the sport they can give me."
"How prosaic!" cried Wanda, indignantly. "So all your thoughts run on your sport! I dare say here on the Beech Holm you are thinking of the bucks and hares which may be hidden in the coverts."
"No," said Waldemar, slowly. "I am not."
"It would be unpardonable with such a prospect before you. Just look at the evening glow out yonder! The waves seem literally to beam with light." ”

“ The Princess felt she was about to hazard a bold stroke, but she went on steadily, straight to her aim.
"We can only accept your help in one form, so that it shall not be made a humiliation to us," said she. "You are master of Wilicza--would it not seem natural that your mother and brother should be your guests in your own house?"
Waldemar started. At the mention of Wilicza, the old suspicion and distrust reared their heads anew. All the warnings he had heard from his guardian against his mother's plans recurred to his memory. The Princess saw this, and parried the danger with masterly skill. ”

“ Waldemar, who had taken a seat by her side on the enormous root of an old beech, seemed to be of this opinion, for he entertained himself exclusively with looking at her. For him the scenery around existed not. He started as from a dream when Wanda, pointing to her stone seat, said jestingly--"I suppose this is one of your old Runic stones?"
Waldemar shrugged his shoulders. "You must ask my tutor, Dr. Fabian, about that. He is more at home in the first century of our era than in the present. He would give you a learned and lengthy dissertation on Runic stones, dolmens, tumuli, and the like. ”

“ It is not decided yet where Leo is to finish his studies. His mother will no doubt be guided by that in the choice of her future home."
"I wish he would go and study in Constantinople, and that his lady mother would be guided by that, and take herself off with him to the land of the Turks; then, at all events, they could not be back for some time," said Herr Witold, spitefully. "That young Baratowski must be a perfect prodigy of learning. You are always talking of his studies."
"Leo has learned a great deal more than I, yet he is four years younger," said Waldemar, in a grumbling voice. ”

“ I want to remind you that it is now time for you to see things with your own eyes, to let your own judgment have free play, instead of blindly adopting the views which other people have forced upon you. You have been taught to hate your mother. I have long known it. Try first whether she deserves your hatred, and then decide for yourself. That is what I want with you, my son, since you compel me to answer such a question."
This was said with so much quiet energy, such loftiness of look and tone, that it could not fail to have its effect upon Waldemar. ”

“ It is solely and entirely on your account that I have imposed on myself these years at the University. What do I care for study, or for the life out yonder? I care for them nothing at all; but I have seen that I often shock you, that you sometimes laugh at me--and ... and you shall not do it any more. Only give me the certainty that you are mine, that I shall not lose you. Wanda, I have been alone ever since I was a child--sadly alone, often. If I have seemed rough and wild to you--you know, dear, I have had no mother, no affection. I could not grow up to be like Leo, who has had both ”

“ Her task was no easy one, she felt.
"We have grown strangers to one another, Waldemar," she began; "and on this our first meeting, I can hardly expect to receive from you a son's affectionate greeting. From your early childhood I have been forced to give you into other hands. I have never been allowed to exercise a mother's rights, to fulfil a mother's duties towards you."
"I have wanted for nothing at my uncle Witold's," replied Waldemar, curtly; "and I have certainly been more at home there than I should have been in Prince Baratowski's house." ”

“ Truly, these legends sprang from the hearts of men; and their eternal problems, like their eternal truths, still preserve a strong hold on the human breast. Not to every one, indeed, does the fairy world open its gates, so closely guarded in these our days; but the two now seated on the Beech Holm must have belonged to the elect few, for they distinctly felt the charm which drew them gently but irresistibly within the magic circle, and neither of them had the courage, or the will, forcibly to break the spell. ”

“ The question was put in a strangely agitated tone, and the young Countess's voice too had lost its natural ring, as she answered--
"I must go to my father now; he has done without me so long."
"My mother and Leo are going to Wilicza." Waldemar hesitated between the words, as though something caught his breath. "There is some talk of my joining them. May I?"
"Why do you ask me?" said Wanda, with an embarrassment very unusual to her. "It depends entirely upon yourself whether you visit your own property or not." ”

“ Well, it is the only thing I have of my mother about me."
"Yes, it is true; you are not in the least like her," said Wanda, candidly, "and Leo is her very image!"
"Leo!" repeated Waldemar, with a singular intonation. "Leo, indeed! That is a very different matter."
Wanda laughed. "Why? Has the younger brother any advantage over the elder in this respect?"
"Why not? He has the advantage of his mother's love. I should think that was enough."
"Waldemar, how can you say so!" put in the young Countess. ”

“ The short, imperious tone that was habitual to him, though unattractive enough, was yet consistent with his general appearance, and lent to it a character of its own. This tone he had maintained throughout the interview with his mother; but, from the moment of the young Countess Morynska's entrance, it had deserted him. For the first time in his life he appeared shy and under restraint; for the first time he seemed to feel the influence of society in every way superior to himself, and the novelty of his position robbed him, not only of his defiance, but visibly of his self-confidence also. ”

“ A look of stubborn defiance came into Leo's face, as he answered, "We are no children to be led without a will of our own. If we are younger, we have still a right to our opinion; and we are resolved not to bear this eternal hesitation, these doubts and fears which hold us back."
"Do you suppose that my brother will allow himself to be drawn by young Hotspurs such as you into a course he knows to be ruinous?" asked the Princess, sharply. ”

“ Here all was fire and life; all the passion of a glowing, and as yet unbridled, temperament blazed in the dark eyes, and his whole appearance was such an impersonation of adolescent strength and beauty, it was not difficult to understand the pride with which the Princess took her son's hand to lead him to his uncle.
"Leo has no father now," she said, gravely. "I shall look to you for help, Bronislaus, when the counsel and guidance of a man become necessary to him in his career." ”

“ The letter was just completed, and the Princess was in the act of sealing it, when Leo made his appearance. He looked almost as heated as his brother had been previously; but, in his case, it was evidently some inner disturbance which sent the blood to his temples. With a frowning brow and lips tightly set, he drew near his mother, who looked up in surprise.
"What is the matter, Leo? Why do you come alone? Did Waldemar not find you and Wanda?"
"Oh, to be sure. He came to us a quarter of an hour ago," said Leo, in an agitated tone. ”

“ From the purple waves yonder rose a shining vision. It floated on the waters, away into the golden glory, and there stood bright and definite, a world of countless, unknown treasures, a picture framed in a magic halo--the old fairy city of Vineta!
The burning edge of the great glowing disc now touched, as it were, the sea beneath it, and sinking ever deeper and deeper, disappeared at last below the horizon. One more flaming, fiery blaze--then the light went out, and the deep red hue still staining the water paled and gradually died away. ”

“ Next minute Pawlick opened the door, and announced "Herr Waldemar Nordeck." The visitor entered, the door closed behind him, and mother and son stood face to face.
Waldemar came forward a few steps, and then suddenly stopped. The Princess, in the act of going to meet him, paused in her turn. In the very moment of their meeting a bridgeless chasm seemed to yawn open between them; all the estrangement and enmity of former years rose up again mighty as ever. That pause, that silence of a second, spoke more plainly than words. ”

“ For the present, I will merely subject them to an interrogation, until Herr Frank arrives. It is dangerous, no doubt, to let such men get an inkling that they are found out--extremely dangerous, particularly when one is alone with them; but duty demands it!"
"I will go with you," said Gretchen, valiantly.
"Thank you," said the Assessor, as solemnly as though the girl had resolved on going to the scaffold with him. "Thank you. Now let us act."
He called the maid, gave her the required instructions, and then returned to the parlour, Gretchen following him. ”

“ The Princess, certainly, had spoken of a misunderstanding only, of a jest which her son had taken amiss; but Waldemar's violent exit, his cutting reply to the young Countess's cry of entreaty--above all, the expression of his face--showed that the matter in question was of a very different nature. Something serious must have occurred that Waldemar, who but a short time before had patiently, in contradiction to his whole character, submitted to Wanda's every whim, should now turn his back on her and hers, and leave his mother's house in a manner which seemed to preclude all idea of return. ”