Villa Eden Part 163

The Professorin rose to go, and Sonnenkamp begged her in a kindly tone to keep his wife company during his absence, and give her all the instruction and advice necessary to enable her to enter upon her new sphere of life with becoming repose and dignity.

The Professorin bowed and left them.

Manna had to sit down; she felt as if her limbs would never again support her; Sonnenkamp said to her that she had doubtless long ago forgotten the bitter epithet that her mother had applied to him; she might now go to her mother, who would a.s.sure her, that she had only made use of the words in anger.

Manna nodded, without saying a word; and then Sonnenkamp spoke of her marriage with Pranken, in regard to which he took a pride in feeling that he had never laid any constraint upon his child. Manna implored him not to press the matter upon her then.

"Very well, you need not make up your mind till our return, but promise me to be friendly to him."

Manna could promise this, and Sonnenkamp smiled inwardly at the thought of his keeping Pranken in suspense until everything was finally arranged; if any insurmountable difficulty came up then, it could not change what would be already settled.

"You are now a Freifraulein," said he impressively and smiling to his child, "you shall be free in everything; only, to-day, let everything remain still in suspense. I cannot be dishonorable." He really meant, that he did not so much mind deceiving Pranken, but he added that it would be much more proper to consent or to refuse when they had been for a short time, in the full possession of their new rank. And with that, he took leave of his child with friendly words.

At noon there was great rejoicing at the villa, for the Ensign with a number of his comrades had arrived; they rode out with Roland, who was treated as one of themselves.

In accordance with Pranken's wish, they started that evening for the capital.

When Roland took leave of Eric's mother, she gave him a paper on which was written,--

On the rim of the Hero Roland's helmet was once and is again inscribed, in golden letters,--"The weapons of the whole world must leave me still unstained."

CHAPTER X.

DOWN BELOW.

At the servants' table in the bas.e.m.e.nt there was a big gap; the seat at the head, which belonged to Bertram, was not occupied by any one; Joseph and Lootz were also wanting, for they had gone with the old and the young master to the capital. The men and women at the table were whispering in a low tone; at last the head gardener said that the affair was no longer a secret; he maintained that, at the time of the Prince's visit, he had perceived the thing clearly. With a look of modest condescension, that plainly signified his regret at being obliged to exhibit his shrewdness before these people, he let out his words as if such folks could not appreciate what he had to say; Joseph alone, if he had been there, could have bestowed upon him suitable praise. The remaining servants, however, had an ill will against the self-a.s.serting and pretentious head gardener. No one answered him. The big cook, who sat down to table very seldom, for she maintained that she ate hardly anything at all, now ventured to take Bertram's place, so that she could get up at any moment. She said that she had served with the n.o.bility her whole life, and now it was going to be so again.

Now the thing was out; and all felt as if a load had been taken off their hearts, since they were at liberty to speak of the matter. The second coachman turned up the skirts of his long waistcoat a little, and contemplated them with a searching look.

"Now then, b.u.t.tons with coats-of-arms are coming," he said at last; "and our carriage will be new varnished, and a crest will be put on the coach-door; no more of the bare, solitary 'S'. Let Herr von Endlich's coachman say again that the S looks like an interrogation point, for no one really knows who Herr Sonnenkamp is."

One of the grooms was glad that on the horse-blankets a five-pointed coronet would stare everybody in the face.

The laundress complained of the great trouble it would be to mark all the linen anew, and the maid who took care of the silver was glad that she was going to have new spoons and forks, for everything would have to be melted over again and engraved anew.

"And the collars of the hounds will be renewed," exclaimed a hoa.r.s.e voice.

Everybody laughed at the boy, who had charge of the dogs, who was grinning slyly at the idea of his having said something funny.

The old kitchen maid, who persisted in sitting on her stool and holding her plate in her lap, called over to the second cook:--

"We shall soon have a Frau Lootz. The master will now consent to the marriage."

"Has he given you his consent?"

"G.o.d be praised, I don't need it any more. But now he will remain here forever, and never go away any more. Now you can all marry."

The second gardener, the so-called Squirrel, declared with unction:--

"I should not have said a word, but if I were such a rich man I would never have had myself enn.o.bled; no, I had rather be the richest commoner all up and down the Rhine, than the newest n.o.ble. I wouldn't flatter the n.o.bility so much. If one has money, he is n.o.ble enough."

Everybody sneered at the forward fellow, and the head gardener looked at him with a patronizing air, nodding, his features saying at the same time, "I would never have given the simpleton credit for such an idea."

They now began to discuss what sort of livery the master would adopt, and whether he would have a "_von_" before his old name, or whether he would take an entirely new name. Finally the conversation turned upon Pranken's marriage. The fat cook reminded them that when Eric first came to the house, the old kitchen maid had prophesied that Eric would be the son of the house; now the reputation she had as a prophetess was gone, for the marriage was a fixed thing, and they were only delaying the announcement of it till the Fraulein was enn.o.bled. Old Ursel made a wry face, looked about her and winked, pressed her ap.r.o.n against her mouth, and nodded triumphantly; at length she began to make her explanation:--

"I don't believe yet, that she will marry the light, twisted moustache.

Remember what I say."

The laundress told the fat cook in confidence, that Joseph, the valet--she had observed it the whole winter through--was making love to the daughter of the landlord of the Victoria.

The conference in the bas.e.m.e.nt lasted a long while; it was not broken up until a voice from overhead fell upon their ear with the message, that the horses would have to be harnessed again, night as it was, for the gracious Frau wished to drive out.

Where? No one knew.

CHAPTER XI.

THE FIRST NIGHT OF A BARONESS.

"Yes, it's all very nice for him, he goes off on his pleasure, and leaves me here alone! What am I to do now?"

Thus Frau Ceres was complaining to Fraulein Perini, when Sonnenkamp, Pranken, and Roland were gone. With the hurry and restlessness of fever she was walking up and down the room, every now and then asking whether there was nothing to be done, and begging Fraulein Perini to tell her what she ought to do. The latter urged her to be composed, and asked her to sit down by her side, and fill out the ground at the other end of her embroidery.

"Yes," exclaimed Frau Ceres suddenly, "now I have it. I'll do something that will please him too; I'll embroider a sofa-cus.h.i.+on with our coat-of-arms. Besides, I have seen ha.s.socks in the church with coats-of-arms embroidered on them; we'll have those too."

Fraulein Perini nodded.

"And something else yet!" said she.

"Really? Do you know of something else?" exclaimed Frau Ceres.

"Yes, it will be something well befitting your pious mind. You have already thought of it, only you have forgotten about it."

"What? what have I forgotten?"

"You intended, when the t.i.tle was obtained, to embroider an altar-cloth at once."

"Yes, so we will. Did I ever say so? Ah! I forget everything. Ah, dear madame, stay with me always, advise me in everything. Have you a large, frame? Let us begin at once."

Fraulein Perini had everything ready, silk, worsted, gold-thread and silver-thread, frame and patterns. Frau Ceres actually made a few st.i.tches, but then stopped and said:--

"I am trembling to-day; but I have commenced the altar-cloth, and now we will work on at it. You will help me, will you not?"