Ludwig Tieck

“ Cousin! You too are crying? But why?
— Because I must see the light of my life so inconsolable; because I am misunderstood.
— Ah! Beloved! she protested. No, I understand you; perhaps the rest of them might not understand you. Can one fail to understand the man one loves?
— You love me? O Cecilia, truly you are my goddess! cried Kronenberg, kneeling once again at her feet. Oh, then I am the happiest of men ”

“ Kronenberg was so shocked that his whole body trembled. His face became deathly pale, and no tears fell from his frozen, almost shattered eyes.
— Oh, misery! continued Cecilia plaintively. Am I to understand that this is the happiness of love? So this is how people dissemble and play-act, and cloak the folly of life in pathetic vanity, in pitiable infatuation, and the despair of existence in grimaces and figures of speech, in absurd self-delusion, just so they don't have to look upon the divine countenance of truth? ”

“ The strange moment had passed in which the repentant Kronenberg had been willing to reveal his true nature. Now Cecilia was weeping, and as she became quieter and quieter, large tears rolled down through her beautiful eyelashes onto the keys; but she continued to play undisturbed, and finally concluded with quite cheerful harmonies.
— I'm feeling better now, she exclaimed, rising; between us things will always be as they should be. That is fortunate; is that not so, my dear? ”

“ Kronenberg, whose thoughts had been interrupted in midstream, could not find the right words with which to resume the discussion. On such humours of the mind depend, far more frequently than most people think or notice, one's happiness or unhappiness in life, the falling out of friends, the forging of new acquaintances, the harbouring of grudges, which grow stronger and stronger and embitter one's existence. ”

“ Is there a greater misery, a more pitiful affliction, than to love and not to respect? To have to choose a soul, to want to abandon oneself to it quite unconditionally, and yet not to be able to trust it? ”

“ Our own cousin german to be torn from our midst? Such a thing has never before befallen us. Our relationship is very slight as it is, and it is now to be reduced even further in such a barbarous manner? Yes, my dear sweet cousin, you are indeed my cousin, even if you mistook my coat-of-arms for a monkey. Oh! We are all human, and to err is human. Each day is different from the next. ”

“ Alone of all these millions, I am expected to take it seriously, this feeling that I should play parts of my body, my hand, my arm, my broken heart, like cards in order to move the other players to laughter or horror. Why do I torment myself just to make my feelings clear to a dead man like you, a walking corpse, in whose darkened mind not even the tiniest spark of feeling will ever twinkle? ”

“ Kronenberg seized Cecilia's hand and said:
— Now, my dear, do not spoil the moment with these useless rags. I can see how affected, how weak you are. Time is passing, you have eaten nothing, it's getting late, and there is still no prospect of any rescue before evening. He walked up and down the room with her, then they leant hand in hand against the window, and, embarrassed, he looked out at the grounds, lost in his thoughts. Beyond the garden they could see the flash of approaching guns. ”

“ To doubt, when the truest faith would refresh and exhilarate us? To go into the temple to worship God when the first warmth of spring arrives and one is filled with that new sense of well-being after the long and dreary nights of winter, only to find that a deceitful and grotesque caricature has been set up on the altar? ”

“ What else can they do? replied Cecilia. That is surely the better course than to make matters worse by holding a grudge or becoming testy. And in the end this kindness is rewarded; because nothing has happened to our possessions, whereas so many others have suffered deplorable outrages.
The detachment of troops approached and now entered the garden; Kronenberg was surprised to see that when they had passed through the gate, they peremptorily surrounded the gardener. They strode through the garden, past the windows of the drawing-room. ”

“ Therefore I must seek some distraction.
— Just get ready, my dear friend, said the Countess, because we are leaving presently, and you always manage to delay us; you know how impatient my husband is.
— Soon, the old man cried, he is going to have to describe to me the Feldheim coat of arms, and if there's the slightest hitch—
— You well know, my dear, that the modern world cares little for such things. ”

“ Because we cannot possibly overtake the travellers now.
— A strange situation, said Kronenberg.
— As little of which as possible must find its way into the annals of the province, replied Cecilia; the place they are going to is two miles from here; they won't miss us before they get there; even if they send a carriage back for us post haste, it will still take another two hours to get here, so we will have to wait here quietly for four hours. The question is: is it still worth our trouble going? At least you can ride there by horse. So patience is what we have most need of; we must also fast. ”

“ Not long afterwards, a young well-educated man appeared with a beautiful woman on his arm and apologized for been such a nuisance to his host. Kronenberg, who was sitting sideways in an armchair, wished that the ground could have swallowed him up, for the lady was none other than the abandoned Cecilia, on whose behalf he had himself to blame for so much, and in her companion he recognized the young man who had driven him out of her family home so suddenly and banished him to Neuhaus. ”

“ He had better not be a damned atheist! the old man cried in a towering rage and, stamping his feet, he left.
When they were about to set off on their journey, there was a lengthy to-do before it was finally decided where everyone was to sit, and which carriage should depart first and which should follow. Kronenberg rushed back into the drawing-room to replace a book he had borrowed. At almost the same instant Cecilia came in through the other door to fetch her hat, which she had forgotten. Kronenberg asked whether he might be permitted to place her in her carriage ”

“ Servants, master and mistress alike rushed about in confusion. A surgeon was fetched. He soon reset the injured man's foot, which was not broken; but the pain and swelling remained. But it all seemed insignificant compared to the dreadful fate that threatened their beloved relative. The latter was seated once again in the large drawing-room in a state of insensibility, just as he had been at the beginning of his convalescence. The Count took the sullen Liancourt aside and asked him for the particulars; Duplessis had not returned with them, having betaken himself instead to his general. ”

“ He was now making his way towards the gateway that opened onto the countryside through a bush which was growing on one side of the gate; he peered around the corner, but to his horror he saw that a soldier was keeping watch here too. The latter had spotted the creeping figure, approached it and apprehended it, since it was obviously acting suspiciously. He called his comrades, and as they also brought the gardener with them, the fugitive was quickly identified as the Feldheim who was to be arrested. They carried him, as he could not walk, to the conservatory. ”

“ Kronenberg was about to force open a window, but Cecilia restrained him, saying:
— Let's not be hasty! All the servants have gone with the others; the stewards and gardeners, the brewers and their families are so far away, perhaps even gone out, that they could not hear us if we shouted. Our only hope is to ask a chance passer-by to fetch the nearest locksmith ”

“ He has always been a capable officer and I had had the greatest respect for him for many years. In the end he brought me too around to his conviction that it was dishonourable to sit idly by, living on charity while the Fatherland was being devastated. ”