The Breaking of the Storm Volume Ii Part 15

She had handed him the letter, which he appeared only to glance at, though he would know it by heart a year hence, as Valerie said to herself, and now, returning her the letter, sat down at the table by her.

"The letter could only be a trap if you took it seriously, in which case it would be a very dangerous one."

"What do you mean?"

"The young lady has written it on her own account; I mean without her father's knowledge, who had probably left the house before she wrote it."

"Impossible!"

"Why?"

"She would not have dared to do it."

"What does a girl not dare when she thinks it becomes her? Do not you see that her hand faltered as she wrote the words, 'Papa, who sends you his best love,' and only became steady again when she had got to the truth, 'he has another meeting this morning?' It is interesting and promising to see that the girl cannot even lie with the pen in her hand. We shall be able to learn from her everything we want to know."

"But what do we want to know?"

"What?"

The faintest glimmer of a smile pa.s.sed over Giraldi's dark eyes.

"Mi fai ridere, cara mia--we! Why, you do not yet know half."

"Then it must be your fault, my dear friend, for only telling me half.

What could I know without your telling me?"

He bent over her and took her hand which he pressed to his lips.

"Could I know anything, soul of my soul, that I should not immediately impart to you, as the eye and the ear impart their impressions to the mind, whose servants and slaves they are? And as faithful servants, because they are faithful, do everything for the best interests of their master, so I come this morning with the rich spoils of the four and twenty hours that have pa.s.sed since I was last with you, to lay them at your feet and receive my reward in the smile of your lips."

"And why only this morning, faithless slave?"

"Yesterday evening, lady, my pockets were still almost empty; since then----"

"A miracle has happened?"

"Scarcely less."

Giraldi looked at the clock. "Half-past eleven; I have just time; in a quarter of an hour I expect Councillor Schieler. I only want to speak to him for a few minutes--in continuation of a long conversation which I had with him yesterday evening--so I shall be at hand when your relations arrive, and shall be able to lighten for you the unpleasantness of the first meeting."

"And the Councillor is the miracle-worker?"

"The Councillor is a useful tool--_voila tout!_ so much the more useful that he is used by many, and in his vanity and stupidity, which are not the same thing, though they produce the same effect, always shows the traces of the hand that has last used him, as a trophy of his supposed importance and wisdom. It is as well that a certain person does not appear quite conscious that such a tool cuts both ways, or he would be more prudent in the use he makes of it. But that is not to the purpose.

For the rest, we owe him grat.i.tude so far as one can owe grat.i.tude to a person who does one a great service without being aware of it. It was he who made us aware of the favourable opportunity of selling the property to Count Golm, when it became apparent to him and his company that they could obtain the Count, whom they wanted particularly, for no less a price. The Count snapped as eagerly at the tempting bait as they snapped at the Count; they do not see the angler who looks complacently on at the game, in order, when the right moment comes, to land the silly fish with one jerk of his line on the dry land at his feet, where it may gasp out its life. But this does not interest you."

"It does--it does!" exclaimed Valerie.

"I see by the absent smile on your lips and the fixed look of your eyes that you have hardly heard me. Luckily I have something else _in petto_, which may excite your interest."

"The miracle?"

"Not yet; I have only to tell you of natural events as yet. For what is more natural than that Count Golm wishes to obtain as cheaply as possible the property which he is so anxious to possess in order to round off his estate and arrange his affairs? And how could he get it cheaper than by receiving a third part as the dowery of his future wife, and another third as the probable inheritance of the said wife, that is to say both as good as given? There remains only one third, which unfortunately appears, since yesterday, to be irrevocably lost.

Does my lady see now? It is only necessary to bring a little love into the game, the interest of the women is excited at once."

Valerie's heart beat. How true had been her foreboding! The dear child, whom she had but now looked up to as to an angel, in the next moment drawn away, dragged down into the sordid game of intrigue by this cruel, inexorable hand!

"Does Count Golm love my niece?"

"I did not say that; in fact, without wis.h.i.+ng to detract from the charms of the young lady, I am convinced that it is not the case. He has only known her a very short time--since the General's journey at the end of last month. Your North German country people are in general not very subject to the dangers of a Romeo-like pa.s.sion; besides, a too strikingly material advantage is not very favourable for the blossoming of the tender plant, love, and therefore the young lady is either really affronted by the too evidently mercenary intentions of her suitor, or pretends to be so, in order to keep herself disengaged in another direction; I shall come to that presently. At least the Count complains bitterly of her behaviour towards him, and threatens, to the Councillor's alarm, to withdraw, only he has fortunately committed the imprudence of accepting from the Councillor earnest-money for the projected alliance in the form of a considerable advance, and is consequently bound for the present."

Valerie's astonishment was great. Four and twenty hours had not yet pa.s.sed since Giraldi, on receipt of the letter in which Sidonie informed them of Ottomar's betrothal to Fraulein von Wallbach, had burst into a furious rage, although they had long foreseen and expected this event; and to-day he appeared to encourage a second union, which would destroy, if not his fixed plans, at any rate, hopes that he had silently cherished and fostered.

Giraldi read these thoughts on her countenance. He continued with a smile:

"I said, for the present, my dear friend; only till the simpleton--he is a simpleton, I had already spoken to him yesterday evening before you came--only till he has pulled the chestnuts out of the fire for us; then he may go, and the more he burns his fingers the better pleased I shall be. He must, however, for the present be bound to us, for the following reasons: We do not require the consent of General von Werben for the sale of the property, as he is already doubly outvoted by Herr von Wallbach and our friend the Councillor; but what we do positively want, if the bargain is to be struck, is the consent of the Government to the making of the line; and, the Councillor is here again my informant, if this consent is obtained, it will only be because the Count is mixed up in the affair and rejoices in special protection in certain high circles, whose influence in important ministerial regions is particularly powerful just now. I am again unfortunate in not having your attention."

"I am all attention."

"To reward you I will strike the chord of love again: it is for our most pressing interest, and it is my most particular wish, that you should casually--I mean at some opportunity which your cleverness will readily seize upon--give your niece to understand that you think this marriage a particularly suitable one; and only wish, in order to avoid the appearance of desiring to derive a personal benefit from it in the sale of the property, that the affair should not be at once made public, or even settled--between ourselves let us say, not binding.

This will make the young lady pause. I want no more till we are clear on the other side, and can then, as a reward for her obedience, perhaps do something to help on her particular inclinations. Do you quite understand?"

"Perfectly; to the minutest detail. You hinted before that my niece had a real inclination in another direction that would not interfere with us?"

"Which, in fact, when the time comes, I intend to forward by every lawful means, if it were only in order to pay the General back in the same coin for his past and present conduct towards a certain Signor Gregorio Giraldi, and a certain Signora Valerie--widowed Frau von Warnow, born Fraulein von Werben."

The man's lips smiled, but his black eyes glittered like the blade of a dagger when it flashes out of the sheath. Valerie suppressed the shudder that pa.s.sed over her. She said, with a smile:

"I know your sagacity, your powers of divination; but here you have really surpa.s.sed yourself. All that is now wanting is the name of the happy man, where they first met, and when they last met."

Giraldi bowed.

"The name may wait, signora! But before I tell you more about your charming niece, I must tell you a little anecdote about your excellent nephew, which may serve as a proof of the reward which Providence grants to those who trust in it."

"The miracle, then?"

"Decide for yourself."

The expression of his face had changed suddenly, the smile of superiority had vanished and had given place to deep earnestness; in the black eyes brooded melancholy night; even his voice sounded different--softer, more fervent--as he now, in his native tongue (he had hitherto spoken only German), continued in the tone of one who wishes to speak with all possible calm and clearness on a subject that moves him deeply.

"I went yesterday, after I had paid and received a few visits, to the Exhibition, and turned at once into the sculpture gallery. I had promised Guarnerio, Braga, and a few more of our friends in Milan and Rome, who had sent works there, to go at once and look after them, to see how they were placed, what impression they made, and whether the German sculptors bore comparison with them. They are wretchedly placed, and consequently produce little effect, and the German sculptors can quite hold their own with them. Your countrymen have progressed; they may boast of several talents of the very first order, such as Reinhold Begas, Siemering, and a third, whose name I read for the first time on a marvellous group of a Satyr, to whom a mischievous Cupid is holding a looking-gla.s.s--Justus Anders. I beg you will remember the name; it will appear again in my little history.

"Close to it, in a window, a life-sized figure first attracted my attention, because it was one of the few that was in a really good light. Doubtless a masterpiece, I thought, of which they are specially proud. But I was mistaken, it was not at least a work of the highest rank; finely conceived, but not so well carried out; a certain want of freedom in the technical part, which betrayed the pupil who has not long left school, and has for the first time attempted a higher flight.

The subject also was not one to excite my interest--a young shepherd boy of the Campagna, in the ordinary costume, saying his Ave Maria, with raised eyes and clasped hands; but nevertheless the statue attracted me in a remarkable degree. Dare I acknowledge it? I thought I saw myself five-and-twenty, thirty years ago, as I so often roved through the Campagna and dreamed dreams over which I now smile; and looked up ecstatically into the glowing sky, which in my thought was peopled by bands of angels, and offered up ardent prayers, which I believed would be heard. And more curious still, the next moment I saw, not myself, but you, as I saw you on that memorable day when I was presented to you and your Princess in the park--the two Leonoras as you were then jestingly called--and with the first glance into your eyes I knew that I had lost myself in you, without dreaming that at that moment you were already lost to me."

He pa.s.sed his hands over his downcast eyes, which he then, as if accidentally, raised to her. She also had drooped her eyelids; but a pink tinge was on her pale cheeks. Was it the reflection of the sunlight of that evening? Giraldi hoped so; he did not suspect how wonderfully mixed were the feelings that these memories awakened in the heart of the unhappy woman. He hoped also that her eyes would be raised to his with a glance in which might still gleam a ray of the old love: but her eyelids were not raised. He must touch a deeper chord.

"And then again I saw neither you nor myself, or rather I saw us both in a third figure, the peasant figure--in which, in spite of all, by G.o.d's decree, and the will of the Holy Virgin, he perhaps now wanders on the earth."