Marlitt_Little_Moorland_Princess.txt topic ['13', '324', '378', '393']
It is a solitary wanderer, the little stream that traverses
the quiet moorland. Its murmuring ripples know not
the exulting rush of waters hurrying down steep valleys,
they babble contentedly over smooth, unresisting pebbles,
between marshy banks bordered by willows and alders.
Above it the thicket of branches is closely intertwined, as
if to shut out from the brooding heavens the knowledge
that this slender, trickling vein of existence runs pulsing
through the much-abused moor. Such a course would bo
quite in the spirit of many an evil tongue that defames
these broad levels, frequent in the German lowlands.
But look upon the despised gipsy-wife the moor in
midsummer. It is true she does not bathe her forehead in
the clouds, she cannot show you a diadem of Alpine glories,
or offer you a wreath of rhododendron, she does not
even wear the rocky crown of the hill-country, and no
broad, glittering strip of plunging foam girds her loins ;
but the heather blooms profusely, its variegated pink-and-
purple bells clothe the soft undulations of her giant form
in a royal mantle embroidered with myriads of yellow-
powdered bees, a mantle most gorgeously bordered.
In the far distance, the sandy level that produces only
the hardy heather rises to a tolerable height; here there is
gtrength and nourishment in the soil ; the long, dark strips
in which tne pmpie plain suddenly ends are woodland,*
a lofty, majestic forest. You may walk for hours through
its solemn aisles, the growth cf the despised moorland.
In the boughs, high above your head, the finch and
thrush have their nests, and timorous deer eye you shyly
from the thicket. And then, when the forest ends in a
luxuriant undergrowth where the foot hesitates to crush
the wild berries, which, as if rained down by the skies,
colour all the slope with scarlet and black, while from the
hollow beyond the richest green from grassy meadows
and the paly gold of ripening corn greet your eyes,
when the lowing of sleek kine and the hum of human
voices salute your ears, from the neighbouring village,
nestling cosily around the tiled church-tower, then you
may well think with a smile of the " dreary, desolate,
sandy moor," as the books have it.
It is true that the stream alluded to wanders over one
of the most sterile and lonely portions of the waste. It
runs parallel, for a long way, to the strip of forest on
the horizon, and only after mature consideration decides
to direct its course thither. With all its gentleness, it
roots and burrows in the sandy soil, and at one point,
indeed, it has succeeded in hollowing out a miniature
basin, where its lazy current is still. Here it is hard to
tell where the atmosphere ceases and the water begins,
the white pebbles at the bottom are so distinct aid clear,
and the foxtail upon its surface is so motionlesj. The
alders have been parted asunder by the little circle of
water, and one graceful birch has overtopped them, and
stands there like a fairy child from among whose curls
the toying summer breezes continually toss down flakes
of silver.
It was towards the end of June.
In the cool water of the little basin two small brown
feet were standing. Two sunburnt hands were care*
fully and firmly holding the coarse black woollen petti-
coats around the knees, while the upper part of the
body was bent forward curiously. Thin shoulders covered
with white linen, and a youthful, brown-tinted face, in-
deed, what the water reflected was little and diminutive
enough, but what matter, the two eyes in the water
were quite indifferent as to whether they looked from
among pure Grecian features or from a face of the Tartar
type. Here, in the loneliest spot in the whole moor, there
was no scale by which to judge of feminine beauty, nc
temptation to analyze ; only just now everything that in
the air and daylight looked so natural and commonplace
put on such a strange, unaccustomed appearance when
reflected in the water that it was quite fascinating.
In the sunshine and the breeze that swept the moor,
the short curls waved merrily enough about neck and
brow ; but down there, in the water, they were drooping
raven wings, from beneath which the little crimson glass
beads of the necklace dripped like dark-red blood, and the
coarse linen shift looked flexible and satin-soft, resembling
a large white flower swimming below there, everything
was transformed as in some charming old fairy-tale.
The blue sky that shone through the parted busnes
was given back from the water in a hard, steely gray, a
dull background for the girlish figure. Suddenly wreaths
of glowing vapour floated above her in the mirror, in-
credible as it was, they arose unmistakably from the
curling rings of her hair. They were whirled hither
and thither, and the glow grew more intense, as if
gradually the whole world must be saturated with crim-
son. But the shade at the roots of the alders deepened
to a dismal cave, from which single twigs, like black
stalactites, were thrust up into the curling fire above, a
new rendering of the old fairy-tale. And it all caused
a sudden, overwhelming terror. The very shadow of the
girl, as she bent forward, grew to be a gloomy well whence
two huge horror-stricken eyes glared up at her.
The soul of a hero certainly did not inform the owner
of the little brown feet, they made one spring for the
shore, how ridiculous 1 All above the moor the evening
sky shone rosy-red; a cloud dissolving in bright flame
was hovering over the little pool, hence the flaming
nimbus, and the eyes ? Was ever such a coward as I,
to run away childishly from my own eyes?
I was ashamed of myself, and then that I should
have been seen by my two' best friends who were look-
ing on 1
Molly, to be sure, had not allowed herself to be greatly
disturbed, the lesser share of intelligence was hers.
The handsomest briadle cow that ever crossed a moor,
she was standing quietly beneath the birch-tree, and
cropping tha rich grass that grew in a narrow strip along
the bank of the pool. She raised her pretty head, chew-
ing contentedly the long blades that hung down each side
of her mouth, and gazed at me for a moment in mute
wonderment.
But Spits, who had been stretched lazily and sleepily
in the cool shade, took a more tragic view of the affair.
He started up and barked furiously at the splashing
water as if the Evil One were at my heels.
There w is no pacifying him. His voice fairly cracked
with rage and lust of battle, it was too comical. I
eprang laughing back into the water, and seconded him
ably by stamping the deceitful mirror with both feet into
a thousand glittering fragments.
But a third witness was present, of whose approach
neither Spi f * nor I had been aware.
'Well, what is my little Princess about there?" bo
asked, in those muttering, broken tones that always pro-
ceed from a mouth where the unfailing pipe is sure to be
between the teeth.
" Oh, is it you, Heinz ?" I was not at all ashamed
that he should have seen my fright, he would have run
himself like a hare from anything that was not quite
canny. No one who saw his stalwart old frame would
have believed it.
There he stood, Heinz, the Imker,* upon feet so huge
and massive that their tread seemed to shake the ground.
His head brushed branches that were far beyond my
reach, and his burly form so completely shut out all view
of the moor, that a granite wall seemed suddenly to be
interposed between the outer world and my small person.
This giant would show a clean pair of heels at any
white sheet fluttering in the twilight, and this was my
delight. I used to tell him wild legends and horrible
ghost stories until cold shudders ran through me, and I
was afraid to look towards any dark corner. What bouts
of fascinating terror we had together 1
" I am crushing a pair of eyes, Heinz," said I, stamp-
ing again so that the water splashed up on his faded
linen jacket. " You see there's something here not quite
right "
"Eh, save us ! in bright daylight?"
" Oh, what does the water-witch care for bright day-
light when she is angry 1" And to my delight he looked
half distrustfully, half incredulously at the crimson-tinted
water. " What 1 you don't believe me, Heinz ? I wish,
then, she had looked at you with such an evil look "
He was quite convinced. He took his pipe out of his
mouth, and held the stem towards me with a ridiculous
mixture of exultation and anxiety.
" Now, what did I tell you, eh ?" he cried. " I never
will do it again, never again, I tell you 1 For me, the
things may lie there in heaps. I'll never touch one,
body o' me, no 1"
This was a fine result of my teasing.
The little brook that wandered lonely across the moor
was richer than many a haughty river that goes rushing
past palaces and haunts of men. It had pearls in its
keeping, not in great numbers, it is true, and not pure
enough to adorn a royal diadem or even a costly ring.
But I did not know this. I loved the little smooth, white
things that rolled about in my hand so prettily. I used
to wade in the water for hours at a time looking for
mussel shells, which I carried to Heinz to open. How he
did that was his secret. And now he refused to render
me such service ever again, because he was firmly con
vinced that the water-witch would indict us for thieves
and villains.
" Nonsense, Heinz ! it was only my silly joke," I said,
rather meekly. " Don't let me make a fool of you." I
bent over the water that was almost smooth again.
" There, look 1 what is there staring up at us ? Nothing,
nothing at all except my own two horrid eyes. How
fearfully wide open they are, Heinz 1 Fr&ulein Streit's
were not so bad, nor Use's either."
"No, nor Use's either," Heinz assented. "But Use
has sharp eyes, little Princess, very sharp."
He had just threatened me with his huge fist, grinning
good humouredly the while, Heinz could not be angry, .
but as he made this last indisputable and trenchant
remark, he pursed his lips, contracted his bushy eye-
brows under his bat, and rubbed up his bristly hair that
stood out straw-coloured and dry from his temples, it
actually seemed to crackle in the hot afternoon sun.
And then he puffed out a huge cloud of smoke to the
consternation of a swarm of gnats that rapidly dispersed.
Use she of the " sharp eyes" used to declare " it was
enough to stifle one." I alone liked it, and ii I live to
be a hundred the fragrance of the much-abused weed will
always transport me in fancy to the warm, dark corner of
the stove where I used to sit curled up upon the wooden
bench beside Heinz, snugly sheltered while the wild
tempest of snow rages on the moor outside, and whole
batteries of hailstones rattle against the window-panes.
I jumped upon the bank and stood beside him, while
Molly approached and plucked at some tufts of knot-grass
that peeped out from under his big shoes.
" Why, what a sight she is !" he laughed.
"1 beg your pardou, there's nothing to laugh at," I
pouted.
Molly was gorgeously arrayed. Between her broad
horns hung a garland of yellow buttercups and birch*
leaves, she really wore this decoration as easily and
majestically as if she had been born with it, a chain of
dandelion-stalks hung around her neck, and a bouquet of
moorland flowers dangled at the end of her tail. It
flopped about comically enough over her huge flanks
when she whisked the flies off.
" She looks splendid. But you don't understand," said
I. " Now, hurry and guess, Heinz. Molly is all dressed
up, and fresh cakes have been baked to-day at the Dierk
hof. Now, what i* it all for ?"
I had attacked bis weak point. Guessing was not
Heinz's forte. In such cases he stood puzzled and help*
less like a child but two years old. It was just what I
want ti.
Sly fellow, you don't want to congratulate me I" I
laughed. " But I shall not let you off. My dear, good
Heinz, to-day is my birthday 1"
A shade of emotion and pleasure passed over his
broad, kindly face. He held out his rough hand to me,
and I grasped it warmly.
" And how old is my Princess ?" he asked, omitting al)
the customary congratulatory phrases.
I jeered him. " Have you forgotten again ? Now
attend. What comes after sixteen ?"
II Seventeen. What 1 Seventeen years old ? It can't
be, such a little child ! It cannot be !" And he raised
his hands protesting^.
His incredulity irritated me. But in truth my old
friend, who had increased in stature like a fir of the forest
until his twentieth year, was not so very far wrong.
Three years before, my ear had just reached to where I
could hear Heinz's strong heart beat, and I had not
grown a fraction of an inch in all the time since. I was
a diminutive creature, and so I must remain, and this
fact deprived me in Heinz's mind of the right enjoyed by
normal humanity, of growing older every year.
I scolded him well, but this time he brought strategy
to his aid, he changed the subject. Instead of replying,
he pointed with his thumb over his shoulder, and said,
with a grin, " They're keeping a fine birthday-holiday over
there, little Princess, they're digging up the old king 1"
With a bound I was outside of the little thicket.
I had to shade my eyes with both hands, the crimsou
rays of the setting sun blazed so fiercely. Behind the
dark line of forest they shot upward through the va*
porous mist and fleecy clouds the giants of eld were
circling the wide moor, and touching the skies with their
glittering spears.
The heather was not yet in bloom, the brownish-
green moor lay smooth and level as a table, except where
arose five grave mounds of the old giant Huns, one large
and four smaller. The legend ran that they inclosed the
relics of gigantic forms, men of an extinct race, beneath
whose tread the earth had trembled, and whose mighty
hands had tossed about huge rocks like pebbles. The
larger mound was crowned with juniper-bushes, and its
sides clothed with yellow broom. Near its base stood a
lonely old fir-tree, whether sprung from seed carried
thither by the birds, or planted by the hand of man, it is
impossible to say, but there it stood, its foliage thin and
wind-torn, its growth stunted by the burden of snow that
rested upon it every winter, and yet proudly surveying
the plain as the only unprotected tree left to battle with
the blast for existence.
" The old king is buried there, for it is the only mound
where there is a tree, and where there are yellow flowers,
there are none on the other hillocks," I had said, when
a child, to Heinz as we sat together upon the mound.
And I knew that the mighty royal head reposed beneath
where the tree stood, a golden circlet around the brow,
and a long white beard spreading upon the purple mantle
that enveloped the giant limbs. Profound solitude brooded
around the slumbering mystery, but the birds that came
hither from the forest and perched upon the boughs of
the fir, the gay butterflies that roved over the heathei
and broom, and the humming bees, all shared my knowl
edge of the spot. And I used to lie back among the
bushes, my hands clasped beneath my head, watching
with bated breath the ants slipping in and out of
the'r holes in the ground, they knew more than all the
rest of us, and might even have run across the royal
mantle. I envied them, and longed for a revelation if
the hidden wonder.
Hitherto the large mound had been my garden, my an*
disputed territory. The Dierkhof, my home, stood isolated
upon the moor ; the path from the forest that connected
it with the outside world was rarely trodden, and left the
giant graves far on one side, never could I remember to
have seen a stranger in their vicinity. And now a group
of people whom I did not know was collected there ; they
were tearing up the earth of the mound. I could see
the pickaxe poised in the air, standing out a fine* black
line against the flaming sky, and as it fell it was as if it
cut into the living flesh of some one whom I loved.
Without an instant's reflection, filled with a strange
compassion, and yet spurred on by a burning desire to
see what would be brought to light, I sped wildly across
the moor. Spitz ran barking by my side, and as I reached
the spot breathless, I saw Heinz approaching as if in
seven-league boots.
Then, for the first time, I was overcome by shyness,
assailed by the childish terror that the sight of a strange
face always inspired. I shrank back and plucked at
Heinz's coat-sleeve ; it gave me, at all events, the sense
of a protecting presence.
Three gentlemen were standing by the mound in silent
expectation, while several labourers were digging and
shovelling. Hearing the terrific noise made by Spitz, the
strangers turned towards us for a moment, and one of
them, apparently the youngest of the three, raised his
cane as the dog came near him. Then, after coldly
scrutinizing Heinz and myself, he turned his back upon
us again.
They had begun to dig underneath the fir-tree. Around
lay scattered the broom that had been torn out by the
roots, and where it had grown there gaped a large open-
ing, from the upper part of which there hung down, out of
the miserable mixture of clay and sandy soil, thick roots,
the offshoots of the fir, the white scars showing that
they had been cruelly hacked by the pickaxe.
"We have come to the stone," said one of the gentle-
men, as one of the men's picks came down with a clang.
They shovelled away the earth, and a huge rough
block of stone appeared.
The gentlemen stepped to one side while the workmen
prepared to move the stone. But Heinz approached,
greatly interested; he evidently thought that the men
did not apply themselves with sufficient energy to their
task. In silent sympathy with their efforts he advanced
his right leg, and lifted his clinched fists ; his pipe, too,
played its part Suddenly the strangers' heads were
almost hidden from me in a cloud of blue smoke. This
produced an effect, an effect that Use ought to have
been there to see.
The young gentleman, behind whom my good friend
stood, immediately turned round as if he had received
an unexpected blow, measured the unlucky smoker with
an annihilating glance, and, much disgusted, waved his
cambric pocket-handkerchief to and fro to dispel the
smoke.
Heinz, without a word, took the corpus delicti from his
mouth and held it loosely by his side, he was greatly
ashamed. His tobacco had never before produced such
an impression. But I was both terrified and mortified
by the stranger's conduct. I was about retracing jlj
steps, when the huge stone was stirred from where it had
lain so long, and, with a dull sound, rolled a few feet away.
This chained me to the spot.
At first I could see nothing, for the gentlemen stood
close about the opening, and then suddenly I dreaded to
look. I felt the blood shoot up to my temples, and in-
voluntarily I averted my eyes ; some startling revelation
was at hand.
Dang it ! is that all 7" cried Heinz, evidently over-
come by amazement.
I looked, and for a moment it seemed to me that all
light and colour vanished from the moor ; the brilliant
butterflies folded their wings and fell to the ground, and
where were those glittering spears on the horizon ? The
sun was setting, that was all. There was no hoary
monarch lying beneath the mound, his silvery beard
waving over his purple mantle, a dark, empty cave
yawned before me.
The strangers appeared not at all surprised. One of
them who wore spectacles, and had a long tin box slung
upon his back, crept into the opening, and the young man
followed him, while the third, a tall, slender man, exam*
ined the inner side of the stone that had just been rolled
away. I could not see his face ; his back was towards
me ; but I thought him old, for his gestures were sedate,
and the narrow strip of hair that showed below his brown
hat was certainly gray.
" This stone is engraved," he said, passing his hand
lightly over its surface.
"And so are the supports 1" cried a voice from the
mound. " And what a gigantic cross-stone there is above
as 1 A magnificent block of erratic stone 1"
The young man appeared again in the opening. Ho
had to stoop, and his hat fell off. Hitherto I had seen
very few men, besides Heinz, the old pastor of the
nearest village, about two miles off, and several hard-
handed, stolid old farmers residing there, only a ragged
broom-making k boy or two had crossed my path. Con-
sequently I had had small opportunity to frame an ideal
of manly beauty. But there was hanging in the Dierk-
hof a picture of Charles the Great, and this arose before
me as the uncovered head emerged from the dark cave.
The forehead shone, broad and white, beneath clustering
masses of chestnut hair, which were tossed off the brow
by an energetic shake of the head.
In his hands he held a large vessel of yellowish-gray
clay.
" Take care, Herr Claudius I" said the spectacled gen-
tleman who followed him, carrying various curiously-
shaped objects in his left hand. " These urns are always
very fragile at first, but a few moments' exposure to the
air "
Too late. Just as the urn was placed upon the block
of granite it broke, a little cloud of dust arose, and half-
charred human bones rolled about hither and thither.
He of the spectacles made an exclamation of disappoint-
ment. He carefully picked up one of the fragments with
the tips of the fingers of his right hand, pushed his
spectacles up upon his forehead, and examined the broken
edges of' the clay.
"Ah, bah, there is no great harm done, Herr Professor V*
Baid the young man. " There are at least six more inside
there, all exactly alike."
The Professor made a wry face.
" Oh, oh 1 that sounds very like a layman!" he said,
sharply.
The other laughed aloud, a most melodious laugh,-
merry and free, and yet perfectly modulated. Then he
seemed really sorry, and his face grew very grave.
" I am only a layman, it is true, bat an enthusiast foi
my hobby, M he said, deprecatingly. " So, pray, exercise
mercy instead of justice if a novice now qnd then loses
the scientific scent, and gallops somewhat astray. My
principal desire was to investigate the interior architecture
of these burial mounds, and Oh, how s exquisite 1"
he interrupted himself, taking up one of the curious
objects that the Professor had meanwhile deposited upon
the stone.
Apparently the learned gentleman did not tear the
young man's excuses. Buried in profound, one might
almost say anxious, revery, he was examining a small
article, now holding it up against the light, and now close
to his near-sighted eyes.
"Hm, hm, a kind of silver filigree! Hm, hm!" he
muttered to himself.
" Silver, in a pre-historic, Germanic burial mound, Herr
Professor ?" asked the young man, not without a certain
contemptuous intonation. " Look at this splendid piece
of bronze !" And he took up a dagger or knife. He
swiftly raised and lowered the weapon as if for a sudden
stab, and then poised it, smiling, on his finger-tips. " This
delicate little thing would never have suited a Germanic
hand that would have crushed it in a moment as surely
as that it never could have wrought the delicate silver
ornament in your hand, Herr Professor. In fact, Doc-
tor von Sassen is right after all in declaring these so-
called Hunengraves to be the burial-places of Phoenician
generals."
Doctor von Sassen 1 How the mention of that name
thrilled through me ! Did not the speaker point at me ?
And were not the eyes of all instantly directed to mr
|Kor little terrified figure? All those eyes I I wished I
could creep into the ground ! Oh, what a silly child I
was, and always must be ! They troubled themselves
not one whit about me. I breathed freely; but, oh, dear !
I had forgotten Heinz. There he stood, wise head,
nodding over at me with infinite slyness, as he said, with
bis hand hollowed at one side of his mouth, " Aha, little
Princess, they are talking of "
" Hush, Heinz I "I turned angrily upon him for the first
time in my life, and for the first time, also, I stamped my
foot.
He looked at me for a moment utterly dumbfounded,
and then timidly turned his eyes away. But the labourers
had heard him; they apparently discovered that the
object behind them was not a bush, but a shy little girl
They stared at me with a kind of smiling curiosity, *
longed to run away, but something fettered me irresisti-
bly to the spot. I was then firmly convinced it was
simply and solely a desire to hear more concerning the
bearer of the name Sassen.
It consoled me to find that the strange gentlemen had
not heard Heinz's remark. The words, "Phoenician gen-
erals," had fallen like two kindling sparks into the Pro-
fessor's soul. Evidently an opponent of this hypothesis,
he defended his own view of the subject in an eager
speech of some length, to which the young man .ent
respectful attention.
The gentleman in the brown hat took no part in the
learned dispute. He walked sedately to and fro, gazed
long into the open mound, and finally ascended the hillock
and looked across the moor.
Meanwhile the evening glow paled and faded to a deep
violet on the far horizon ; a faint crimson still tinged a
long, thin strip of cloud that stretched above the desecrated
grave like an arm of menace. The false tinsel of
a transient spectacle vanished, and the solemn heavens
extended their dark-blue canopy above the earth. The
pale crescent of the moon, which, like some vaporous
fleck, had been swallowed up in the glowing sea of colour,
reappeared, and began to assume a faint golden hue.
The gentleman on the summit of the hillock took out
his watch.
" It is time to go 1" he called down. " It will take a
full hour to reach the carriage."
"Yes, uncle, more's the pity, an entire hour!" an-
swered the young man ; " I wish we were well out of
this infernal moor," he said, peevishly, glancing as he
spoke down at his elegantly-shod feet, and addressing the
Professor, who finished his speech abruptly, with a "Well,
well, we shall see. " " Must we really go back over that
wretched road ?"
" I know of no better," the learned man replied, with
a shrug.
The other looked discontentedly around the level plain.
" All is so still upon the moor,
The warm noon sun above it beaming/'
he declaimed, with disdainful pathos. " I cannot see how
any one finds inspiration in a moor. It would congeal any
poetic idea in my brain, the very words on my lips.
Are you really sincere in your admiration for this dreary
solitude, Herr Professor ? I pray you show me some-
thing in it besides moor ; nothing but moor, this horrid
brown phantom I Is there ever the sound of a bird to
be heard ? And where has the human life crept to that
must exist here somewhere? Is it under-ground? I
cannot help it; your brown-cowled moor is an outcast
child of God."
The Professor said never a word. He only put his
hands on the young man's shoulders, pushed him a few
steps in one direction, where the slope of the mound was
abrupt, and turned him around, where he could look be-
yond it, towards the south.
There lay the Dierkhof, its firm, solid roof, adorned
with moorland greenery from beneath each row of tiles,
arose in the midst of four majestic oaks. A dark smoke-
wreath a reminder of seething caldrons above a well-
furnished hearth rose circling through the boughs, and
melted away in the soft summer air, high above the black-
and-white stork that was standing unright in its nest of
branches, its red beak depending reflectively upon its
breast. There was still light enough to see the green of
the well-cultivated meadows, and a faint glimmer of gold
behind the garden-fence, like a lingering reflection of the
tinted sunset sky. Those were Use's favourites, the
huge orange-yellow marigolds. And there was Molly,
walking slowly home of her own accord, her appetite
satisfied, and very much bored. She paused for a mo-
ment, stupid and lazy, before the high, arched gate left
hospitably open, pondering whether she should enter.
The beautiful animal completed the picture of rural com-
fort.
" Does that look like the abode of weak-minded trog-
lodytes ?" asked the Professor, with a smile. "And come
again a month hence, when the heather is in bloom, and
the moor is in one sheet of shimmering purple. It is fairy
land then 1 Later yet it drips with liquid gold, with
honey ; and would you ask more ? The ' outcast child
of God' adorns herself royally ; many of those dark little
moorland brooks contain pearls."
"Yes, millions of watery pearls, that flow into the
sea," laughod the young man.
The Professor shook his head impatiently. I loved the
man upon the instant, in spite of his wizened face, his
long words, and the ugly, rattling tin box upon his back
He was defending my moor. He had, in a few brief
words, revealed all its magic charm. But that youth-
ful scorner, with his contemptuous smile, and his mock-
ing words, that cut me to the heart, must be humiliated
upon the spot. To this day I do not know how I found
courage to do it, but I suddenly stood by his side and
silently held out five pearls to him in my open hand.
I seemed to be standing upon burning coals ; my lips
trembled with terror and shame, and I never raised my
eyes. It grew dark around me ; every one drew near ;
the gentleman who had just descended the hillock, the
labourers, all approached ; and I saw Heinz's huge shoes
by my side.
"Aha, look here, Herr Claudius, this child can convince
you 1 Brava, my little daughter 1" cried the Professor,
highly delighted.
The young gentleman said not a word. Perhaps he
was amazed at the audacity with which the child of the
moor, in coarse linen and short woollen skirts, placed her-
self beside him. Slowly, and I thought reluctantly, he
extended his hand, and then I shrank back, really
ashamed of myself. Beneath those slender ivory fingers
my sunburnt hand looked brown as coffee. Involun-
tarily I drew it back, and the pearls were well-nigh scat*
tered on the ground.
"Actually they are not yet pierced," he said, rolling
about two of the little balls in the palm of his hand.
" There is, to be sure, much to be desired both in form
and colour," the Professor said, as if in excuse. " They are
irregularly shaped and gray in tint, little baroque pearls,
without any special value ; but they are interesting
and I should like to keep them," said the young man. It
Bounded like a courteous request.
" Take them," I said, briefly, without looking up. I
thought every one must hear the beating of my coward
heart.
He carefully picked up the rest of the pearls from my
hand ; and then I saw the gentleman in the brown hat
draw out of his pocket a glittering object, that clinked as
he held it
" Here, my child," he said, putting five large, round,
glittering pieces into my hand.
I looked up at him, and saw a broad hatbrim shading
half his face, and a pair of large blue spectacles that
threw a corpselike hue upon the cheeks beneath them.
" What are they ?" I asked, pleased, in spite of my em-
barrassment, with the sparkle and shape of the curious
things.
" What are they ?" the gentleman repeated, in amaze-
ment " Do you not know what money is, my little girl ?
Have you never seen a thaler before ?"
" No, sir, she knows nothing about it," Heinz answered
for me, with an air of parental authority. " The old Frau
won't have any money in the house ; she throws all she
finds into the brook."
" What I And who is this singular old Frau i n the three
gentlemen asked almost simultaneously.
"Why, the little Princess's grandmother."
The young gentleman laughed outright " This Prin-
cess's ?" he asked, turning towards me.
I dropped the silver coins upon the ground and fled.
That silly fool of a Heinz ! Why had I ever told him the
story of the delicate and refined princess subjected to the
lest of the pea beneath the mattresses ? And why had I
allowed him since then to call me " Little Princess,"
because he imagined that nothing cculd be more delicate
and refined than the little child that wandered over the
moor by his side ?
I ran towards home like a hnnted hare, pursued by the
remembrance of the young man's jeering laughter. I had
a dim idea that it would no longer sound in my ears if I
could only shelter my head once more beneath the roof
of the Dierkhof.
Use was standing in the doorway, evidently looking out
for me, for Molly had returned alone. From a distance
I fairly devoured her figure with my eyes, as it stood out
in bold, angular relief against the dark background of the
large barn. How dearly I loved that head ! it was almost
as straw-coloured as the dry locks on Heinz's temples ;
and where the hair was parted there was always a little
mist of frizzy curls. Use had her brother Heinz's sharp
nose, and the same healthy blood painted her cheeks a
blooming crimson ; but the eyes those sharp eyes that
inspired her brother with such wholesome respect were
different ; and, as I drew near, their expression did not
please me.
" Are you mad, Lenore ?" she called to me in her
usual snappish tone, she was angry then, as angry as
her extraordinary and conscious self-control would permit
her to be, for she called me by my name, which she never
did except when she was provoked. Then she pointed
silently to the spot where I was standing. I looked
down, and did indeed see what might well arouse her
displeasure my naked feet.
"Oh, Use! I left my stockings and shoes by tho
brook," I said, meekly.
" What folly ! Go get them instantly !"
She turned and strode back to the fireplace, which,
although modern in size, still maintained its place, as in
all old houses in Lower Saxony, at the very farthest end
of the threshing- or barn-floor. Use was frying at the
lire ; there issued thence a most savory odour, and the
pot of potatoes was bubbling merrily.
Supper was nearly ready. I should have to hurry to
be in time. Not for the world, however, would I leave
the house by the great doorway. I could slip out of a
side door, and so gain the brook without being observed
by the group at the mound.
CHAPTER IIL
I went towards the side door, which opened between
the threshing-hall and the dwelling-house into the court-
yard. But Use barred the way and lifted a warning
forefinger.
" You can't go out there, your grandmother is there,"
8he said, in a whisper.
The door was open, and through it I saw my grand-
mother at the well, moving the handle of the pump up and
down with great rapidity, not a very bewildering spec-
tacle ; I beheld it daily.
My grandmother was a tall, stalwart woman, her face
always covered with an even crimson from the roots of
her hair to her massive neck. This strange colouring of
features already sufficiently striking in outline, combined
with her sturdy form, her giant stride, and the energetic
play of her arms, made her savage and terrible of aspect;
and even now, when I recall her to my mind at such mo-
ments as she swept by me unexpectedly, and hear again
the creaking of the boards beneath her tread, and feel the
stir of her garments as with a sudden blast, I am reminded
vividly, in spite of her black eyes and unmistakably
Oriental profile, of tbose fierce Cambrian heroines who,
clad in skins of wild beasts and armed with battle-axes,
were wont to hurl themselves into the tide of battle.
She was holding her head beneath the strong stream
of water that poured over her face and upon the thick
gray braids that were hanging down in the trough
of the pump. It was her daily custom, never omitted
even in the coldest winter ; she seemed to need this re-
freshment as she did the air she breathed. Her colour
struck me more forcibly to-day than ever before, even
beneath the cold rush of the water it was deep, deep red ;
and as she stretched out her arms and threw back her
head, opening her mouth to breathe in the delightful
sense of relief and refreshment, her lips looked blue in
contrast with her large, white teeth.
I glanced at Use ; she was looking on unconsciously,
and her stern black eyes melted to an expression of pro-
found sorrow and anxiety.
" What is the matter with grandmother?" I asked, dis-
tressed.
" Nothing, it is sultry to-day," she answered, briefly.
She was greatly annoyed at my detecting her sorrowful
glance.
" Is there no remedy for that terrible rush of blood to
the head, Use ?"
" She will take nothing as you know. Last evening
she overturned upon the floor the footbath I carried to
her. Now go, child, and get your shoes and stockings. *
She turned to the fire, and I dutifully left the house by
a second side door. I reached the stream, which ran
scarcely thirty paces in the rear of the Dierkhof, and
tried to slip along its course through the underbrush that
lined its banks. It was no easy matter to penetrate the
thick growth that had sprung up and flourished undis-
turbed by human hand. But I was nothing daunted, for
the lithe willows, although they snapped back at me and
scraped and hurt my bare feet, entirely screened me from
observation ; and after I had progressed some distance I
had reason to bless their friendly shelter, for directly to-
wards me, across the moor, came the three gentlemen, with
Heinz at their head. I still hoped to gain in advance of
them the little pool where I had left my shoes and stock-
ings ; but it was impossible, they were there before me,
and I stopped short of my goal and crouched down among
the bushes.
I could easily understand why they had come hither.
Heinz was pointing out to them the strip of turf that bor-
dered the brook. It was far pleasanter, with its velvet
sod, for delicate feet than the stiff, stubbly heather. The
gentlemen passed close beside me; I heard the grass
rustle beneath their tread, and they brushed the bushes
amidst which I was hidden. They stopped beneath the
birch-tree.
" Aha, the little moorland Princess has made this her
dressing-room 1" cried the young man. I caught my
breath, peeped through the bushes, and saw him pick up
one of my shoes. Now, I knew perfectly well, in spite
of my seclusion from the world, just how a lady's shoe
ought to look. I had read in stories of pearl-embroidered
slippers and little red shoes, and the very paper upon
which these charming fairy-tales were printed had seemed
to me too coarse and thick to serve as soles for such
ethereal articles of costly satin and velvet. But the clumsy
thing that the stranger held up, with a laugh, was of the
stoutest calf-skin. Oh, Use, you would not have thought
wood sufficiently " stout and durable" for my restless feet !
That morning the shoes had stood by my bedside, brand-new,
in company with a pair of stiff stockings which
Use herself had span and knitted from the wool of our
moorland sheep, her splendid birthday gift for me. I
was happy, and Use had given a contented nod, for the
shoemaker, in tender affection for his work, had ranged
an orderly battalion of shining brass-headed nails upon
the thick soles of the shoes, and now those admired orna-
ments sparkled over at me with an evil glitter.
" Well, what a child 1 She's left her shoes here I Per
fectly new shoes 1" cried Heinz, shaking his head.
" Well, well, what will Use say ?" he added, with anx-
iety.
" To whom does the child whom we saw at the mound
belong ?" asked the old gentleman with the brown hat, in
his gentle voice.
" She belongs at the Dierkhof, sir."
" Yes, but what is her name ?"
Heinz pushed his hat on one side, and scratched his ear.
I saw it coming, his cunning reply. He evidently re-
membered that horrible moment when I had stamped my
foot, and, oh ! Heinz knew how to manage.
" Well, sir, Use calls her " child," and I say "
"Little Princess," the young man concluded in the
grave manner in which my clever friend had begun.
And, as he had balanced the dagger found in the mound
in his hand, so now he balanced the little monster of a
shoe, except that he moved his arm slowly, as if to call
attention to its weight.
" The moorland ladies like to advance with emphasis,"
he said to the gentleman in the brown hat. " Charlotte
ought to see this fairy-like article, uncle ; I have a great
mind to take it to her."
" No nonsense, Dagobert I" his uncle interrupted him,
sternly. And Heinz exclaimed, loudly,
"Oh, not for the world, sir! What would Use sayf
Perfectly new shoes."
"Bit this Use seems to be the dragon who guards
your barefooted little Princess, voild,!" laughed the
young man, dropping the shoe on the ground. Then he
quietly clapped his hands to remove any particles of dust
from his gloves.
They said good-night to Heinz, and went their way,
whilst my old friend deposited the unfortunate shoes in
his huge pockets. The stockings, which he discovered
hanging upon a bush near, followed them, and, with a
shake of the head, he walked quickly towards the Dierkhof.
I waited a little while in my hiding-place, listening to
the retreating footsteps of the strangers until they died
away on the soft turf. I was greatly excited. I did not
then know how to analyze the emotion that seemed to
choke my utterance, and caused me to struggle with re-
pressed tears, and to which, nevertheless, I resigned my
self with a kind of passionate eagerness, it was resent-
ment, inveterate resentment. " Silly fool 1" I muttered
between my teeth at Heinz's diplomatic reply. " There
was no reason why he should not say that I was the
child of Doctor von Sassen ;" but, no, he had delivered
himself like a Solomon, and I was bitterly angry with him
I left the thicket. The smoke was no longer rising
from the Dierkhof chimney. The potatoes were cooked.
Use had selected the finest to peel for me ; and the plate
containing them and a goblet of fresh milk awaited my
coming. Notwithstanding her stern looks, Use spoiled
me. Yes, my supper was awaiting me, but I could not
go home yet. I must see in what condition the strangers
had left the poor, plundered mound
All was better than I had expected. The block of
granite had been replaced and the earth roughly smoothed
around it ; the fragments of the urn had vanished ; the
torn bushes were lying about withering on the spot of
bare sand at the foot of the hill ; some of the ashes from
the urn were sprinkled around, and from beneath a twig
of broom peeped a small charred bone, forever separated
from its fellows that had, doubtless, been again consigned
to the grave.
I carefully picked it up. The young gentleman was
right. No giants had been buried in that mound. The
fragment in my hand might have been a finger-bone once,
perhaps clothed with rosy flesh, slenderly formed, and
covered with just such white, smooth skin as I bad seen
upon a hand to-day. It bad been beloved and admired
may be, encircled by precious metal, and the weal or
woe of many a human being might have hung upon one
of its gestures. I ascended the hillock and buried it be-
neath the fir. The good old tree stretched its boughs pro-
tectingly above it. Who could tell that it, too, had not
received its death-stroke on this day ?
Embracing its trunk with one arm, I looked across to
where the little stream turned aside towards the forest.
How strange it was that human beings should be moving
there, human beings upon the solemn, quiet, brown
level, above which only some bird of prey wheeled in
dizzy flight to vanish silently I It seemed to me that
those wandering there must leave indelible footprints
behind them.
They were hastening back into the world, the world !
I had been there, too, once. It is true that to me it
had consisted of a large, dark, back room and a damp
garden, surrounded by four high houses. Only a few
faces came near me from the swarming human life
that we call "the world." In that back room I had
passed the first three years of my life. Scanty curls,
blonde and gray, clustered about the face which was
most distinct in my memory of that time. I could now
almost paint the pale-green light of those languishing
eyes, the broad, pug nose, and the colourless complexion.
That was Fraulein Streit, my governess. Now and then
another face would hover like a pale reflection upon the
dim background of my memory. I had seen it rarely,
but when, in after-years, I heard the rustle of silk, it
arose before me like a phantom without any definite out-
line, and I heard a peevish voice say, " Child, you make
me nervous !" Cross and nervous were to me synonymous
terms. This rustle of silk that only passed through the
room, seldom laying a soft, warm hand upon my head,
was addressed as " madame" by Fraulein Streit, and I
called it mamma.
But once I awoke, not in the dark room. I was in
the arms of a tall man, with bristly, straw-coloured hair
upon his temples, who laughed, "Ha ! ha! ha! awake at
last?" Beside him walked Fraulein Streit in a black
bonnet and veil, and I could see her quietly wringing her
hands while large tears rolled down her cheeks. We
were close to the house with the stork's nest and the
four oaks, and when I looked terrified into the man's
hot face, and started up ready to scream with fright, ho
cried, "Here, chick! chick!" and a crowd of pretty
chickens came running out of the big door towards us.
There stood the woman with the red face. She held
oat her hand to Fraulein Streit, and cried as she kissed
me, which frightened me terribly. But my terror did not
last long. A calf was running about the courtyard. He
jumped clumsily upon all four feet, and stood stock-
still in a ridiculous attitude, bleating at the man.
The storks were clattering on the roof, and Use Use of
the black eyes held out to me a. little animal, upon
whose silky fur I timidly laid my hand, it was a little
mewing kitten. And the sunshine was everywhere,
golden, glorious sunshine I while the leaves on the trees
rustled and quivered ceaselessly in the fresh moorland
breeze. I clapped my hands and screamed with delight,
while Fraulein Streit, sobbing fit to break her heart, tot-
tered across the threshold.
Thus I made my first entrance into the Dierkhof in
Heinz's arms, and my life began from that time. I had
become a happy child, while others pitied me What
merry rides I had over the moor, day after day, upon
Heinz's back 1 And in the very loneliest spot stood a
little clay hut thatched with straw, Heinz had to stoop
to enter the door. But it was cosy enough inside. Tables
and chairs were snowy white, and behind two great
doors in the wall were huge feather-beds covered with
clean; fright-coloured counterpanes. Heinz and Use were
the children of a broom-maker. The old broom-maker
had built the hut with his own hands ; the two children
had been born there, and Heinz declared he would
die there. Every July he carried the beehives from the
neighbouring farms out upon the moor and tended them,
and every week he worked for several days as farm
servant at the Dierkhof.
I was soon as much at home in the clay hut as in my
grandmother's house. I helped Heinz to eat his oatmeal
porridge, and went with him when he cut litter on the
moor for the Dierkhof. He lifted me up, high above his
head, to the old, deserted beehives which hung from a
beam in the barn and were used as nests by the hens,
and I, chuckling with pleasure, reached down the smooth
white eggs to Use, who stood by his side.
In the mean while Fraulein Streit sat in the large dwell*
tag-room and sewed and cried all day long. The dear
old room must have looked ridiculously enough at that
time, for its walls were only whitewashed; behind the
stove there was still the old worn brown wooden bench,
and the tables and chairs were of rough, unplaned boards.
In Fraulein Streit's honour my grandmother had sent for a
stuffed sofa from town, and Use had put up blue-and-
white check curtains. These curtains Fraulein Streit kept
drawn almost always, declaring that the moor in its vast-
ness and tomblike silence frightened her as it basked in
the hot sunlight; and when the moon shone above it, it
frightened her no less. When I was four years old she
began to instruct me, and Use used to bring her work
and listen. Use had entered my grandmother's service
in town when she was fifteen years old, and had then
learned to read and write a little ; but, nevertheless,
she began again with me. Many a time in the evening,
when tired with play, I climbed into her lap and rested
my head upon her breast. Heinz would join us, of course
with his unlit pipe in his mouth, and Fraulein Streit
would rouse herself and begin to talk, a flush would rise
upon her thin cheeks, and the scanty little light curls
would flutter and quiver nervously. She would tell of
the daily life in my old city home, and gradually I began
to understand. I learned that my father was a distin-
guished man, and my dead mother had been a learned
lady and a poetess. Their house had been the resort of
many celebrated people, and when Fraulein Streit said,
with a sigh, "It was one of madame's reception even-
ings, I was dressed in white with pink ribbons in my
hair," all sorts of disagreeable memories were stirred in
my childish mind. I seemed to hear again the running
to and fro past my nursery-door. The milk for my supper
was brought tc me cold as ice, and if I chanced to awake,
I found myself entirely alone in the large, cheerless room.
32 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS
I was afraid, and began to scream, which brought
Fraulein Streit flying to me like a ghost in her white
dress. She would scold me, put a bonbon in my mouth,
cover me up close, and slip away again.
Otherwise the " divine reminiscences" of my governess
affected me very little. I generally dropped asleep dur-
ing their recital, and only waked when my hair was
pulled unmercifully in the process of being put up in
papers, to which my long, black locks were subjected
every evening in like manner with the little gray curls,
after which I was made to pray for my absent father,
whose face I could never by any possibility recall to my
remembrance.
Thus several years glided by, and Fraulein Streit grew
more restless and wept more bitterly. She used to stand
out in the courtyard, and, extending her arms towards
the sky, would pipe out, in a weak little voice,
" Hurrying clouds, as ye glide there in heaven,
Would that to me to sail with you 'twere given !"
and when, one day, one of her teeth fell out, it rattled
down upon her plate as we sat at table, and I was petrified
with amazement to find it was not her own, but a false
tooth, she made haste to wash her hands and pack her
trunk.
" I owe it to myself, my good Use ; there are no pros-
pects of any kind here," she said, amid torrents of tears,
as she bade Use farewell.
No prospects on the wide, wide moor 1 I was horror-
stricken at such a charge brought against my idolized
home. Heinz carried her trunk to the nearest village,
and I went part of the way with them. When they left
me, I looked after them until Fraulein Streit's fluttering
dress disappeared beyond the woods. Then I took off
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 33
my hat and flung it high into the air, and stripped off the
close, uncomfortable jacket, without which Fraulein Streit
would never let me leave the house. Oh, how delightful
it was to feel the warm summer wind caress my neck and
arms 1 Then I went home. Use had already pushed the
stuffed sofa into the next room, covering it to keep it
free from dust, and she was just folding the blue-aud-
white check curtains, to put them away also.
" Cut them off, Use," I said, holding out my long, un-
comfortable curls to her. And she cut them away with a
snipping of scissors that was music to my ears. The hair
was thrown into the fire, the jacket was hung up in the
closet, and thenceforth I wore a skirt and boddice like Use's.
All this passed through my mind as I stood beneath the
fir-tree and followed with my eyes the three figures van-
ishing in the distance. It was already twilight ; I could
hardly distinguish them from the dark bushes, or see them
move at all ; but I knew that they were hurrying, just as
Fraulein Streit had done, to leave the despised moor be-
hind them. What would the young gentleman have said
if he could have known that the old red-faced Frau at the
Dierkhof had once left a populous city for the moor, never
to return 1 Fraulein Streit said my grandmother was
profoundly melancholy, and she was afraid of her ; but
to me the old Frau's strange demeanour had always,
until the present moment, been an inseparable adjunct of
her whole appearance, and it grew stranger and stranger
by imperceptible degrees just as I grew in stature. I
thought all grandmothers were like her. How was it
that I began to ponder upon matters that had always
seemed quite natural and commonplace ? The surprise
expressed by the strangers at the " singular old lady who
would not have any money in the house," had made me
thoughtful. And was it not strange also that my grand-
o
&4 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
mother had grown entirely mute in the lapse of years?
That she avoided all intercourse with any member of her
household, and cast a look of fierce reproach upon me if
I did but cross her path ? That she would never eat a
morsel from the hand of another ? The eggs, which wero:
her chief sustenance, she took with her own hand from
the nests ; she milked the cow herself, that no other hand
might touch the milk-pan no other breath come near her
morning and evening drink; and she never ate either
bread or meat. During the first year that I was with her,
she occasionally caressed me ; since then she had seemed
entirely to have forgotten who I was.
My father did not send me another governess, my ;
grandmother ignored me, and the village schoolmaster,
who lived far away, was no conjurer. Use said it was
too bad she could not send me to school, and would
teach me herself in the evenings. Poor thing, it was
hard work I She usually read to me some chapter in the
Bible, always in an undertone, and it did not escape mo
that she often broke off abruptly, and glanced with an
anxious look towards the room where my grandmother
was. I was confirmed by the old pastor of the district ;
for I had learned a great deal by heart from Use, and one
day, leaving Heinz to keep watch at the Dierkhof, we
actually stole away, and I knelt in the little village
church and made my confession of faith, without my
grandmother's dreaming what we were about.
Thus I had grown up untrained and merry-hearted ,
like the willows by the stream, and as I stood beneath
the fir, barefooted, in my short, coarse skirt, with the
evening breeze toying with my fluttering hair, I laughed,
laughed aloud at the young gentleman who picked out
the softest turf for his delicate feet, and covered his white
hands with gloves, that was my revenge.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 8fr
CHAPTER IV.
In the farms of Lower Saxony, the room between
Jie barn and the dwelling-house, where the kitchen-fire
always is, is called the "Fleet." At the Dierkhof, this
oom was, after the fashion of ancient times, elevated a
few inches above the clay-stamped floor of the barn, but
was not separated from it in any other way, not even by
a low board partition. Standing at the hearth, one could
overlook the whole threshing-floor to the large entrance-
door, and the cattle-sheds beside it. Two windows and
two doors opened from the dwelling-house upon the Fleet,
which was neatly paved with little flat stones, and was
provided, as has been mentioned before, with doors at
each end leading into the open air. Here, in summer-
time, the table stood not far from the hearth, and the
Fleet was to me the cosiest place in the whole house.
As I entered this room with Use, after my long evening
expedition, the lamp was already lighted upon the table,
looking like a mere spark in the spacious, smoky apart-
ment. Through the open door the gray twilight from
without fell upon the front cattle-stalls; they were
empty, for at the Dierkhof we only kept what live stock
was necessary for our own use. But near to the Fleet,
with her head towards the barn, lay Molly, chewing the
cud. She held her horns towards me, evidently not con-
sidering the fluttering garland a desirable adornment for
the night.
Use glanced at the "gorgeously-decked" animal, turned
away her head and gave me a light blow on the shoulder
S6 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
^she would not for the world have had me suppose that
she could smile at my "silly nonsense."
They had eaten supper without me. I could tell where
Heinz had sat by the immense pile of potato-skins. Use,
for this once without a word of reproof, took the cold
potatoes from my plate, and in their place put a couple
of hot, soft-boiled eggs. I heard Heinz at work in the
courtyard, and Use went bustling about, she had " her
hands full." The moment was not favourable ; neverthe-
less, I asked the question that had been hovering upon
my lips :
" Use, what is the name of the house in which my father
lives now ?"
She was just passing me to go into the courtyard.
" Do you want to write to him ?" she asked, standing
still in her surprise.
I laughed aloud. " I ? write a letter ? Oh, Use, how
ridiculous that sounds I No, no, I only want to know
the name of the people with whom my father lives."
" Must I tell you now ?"
I did not venture to say "yes," but, perhaps, Use read
in my face my burning impatience. She went, without a
word, into the dwelling-room, and brought me a little box.
"There, Jook for the address yourself; I cannot re-
member it. But don't lose anything, and don't rummage
too much."
Then she went out. How neat and orderly was the
arrangement in the little box of the few written sheets
that connected the Dierkhof with the outer world I Here
was the meagre little packet of my father's letters. They
were all addressed to Use, and consisted of only a few
courteous lines, a greeting to my grandmother and my
self, and a decided negative returned to Use's repeated
requests that he would take me from the Dierkhof and send
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. J
me to school. All written communications that came to
the Dierkhof passed through Use's hand, and were re-
plied to by her, through much tribulation and many a
groan, in stiff characters, and with laconic brevity. I
took no heed of them, for I detested writing and tho
sight of a pen as much as I delighted in reading, hun-
grily devouring repeatedly everything in the way of a
book that Fraulein Streit had left for me.
Beneath the packet of my father's letters lay an enve-
lope which 1 knew had been received only a short time
before. It was addressed in a flowing, graceful hand to
"Frau Rath in von Sassen. Hanover." A clumsier hand
bad added the name of the village lying nearest the
Dierkhof. This was for my grandmother, the only
letter that I could remember ever to have reached us thus
addressed. When Heinz had banded it to Use a few
weeks before, I had glanced curiously at the address and
turned away with indifference, the world beyond the
moor had possessed not the slightest interest for me.
To-day all this was different. The broken seal tempted
me to look at the contents, but I did not dare to open it
without Use's permission, so I laid it aside on the corner
of the table.
My father's address was easily found. As I opened
his last letter I saw it plainly written beneath his auto-
graph, " Claudius & Co., No. 64 K ." It was like an
electric shock. I felt my face blush crimson as I recog-
nized the name heard repeatedly that afternoon from the
Professor. How easily I read on the instant my father's
cramped and crooked handwriting! The name actually
sprang into sight. I knew the contents of the letter ;
Use had told me of them, and yet I began to pore over
the lines. Ah, there was the same blank indifference
that characterized all his letters ! He never asked, " How
4
38 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
is ray child ? Is she well ? and does she think of me V 1
At that moment I felt for the first time, although dimly,
that my father was terribly unjust to me.
The unimportant note closed with this sentence, " The
letter from Naples is not to be answered. Of course it
must never meet my mother's eye." Evidently the letter
alluded to was the one lying on the corner of the table.
It was post-marked Naples, and was now doubly inter-
esting to me.
I folded the thin sheets together again, disappointed
and depressed. Not a word of my father's place of
residence, or of his relations to these people called
Claudius 1 I sprang up and threw the note into the
box. What had I to do with these strange people ?
I was bothering my brain about men and things that
were no affair no possible affair of mine, and the
night was falling outside, and Heinz was still bustling
and making a noise in the courtyard. Usually when he
worked late on a holiday, I rapped his fingers, hung on
his arm, and dragged him into the Fleet towards the huge,
uncushioned wooden chair, his accustomed seat; then
I handed him a light for his pipe, and on the instant
wreaths of smoke would obscure his stolid, smiling face.
Use brought, her sewing, and I read, with undiminished
enthusiasm, the stories and legends that I already knew
by heart. If it was cool or raining outside, the fire was
made up afresh, and Use brewed a cup of tea. How
cheery it was then in the Fleet, beneath its sheltering
roof upon which the plashing rain poured ceaselessly !
there was a warm glow upon the hearth, stillness
reigned in the spacious depths of the dark barn, through
which the smoke from Heinz's pipe floated ; now and
then the chain on Molly's neck rattled gently ; upon one
pf the lofty beams a fowl would stir in its sleep, or Spiti
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 30
would stretch himself with a comfortable sigh before the
fire. Everything that I loved was contained within those
four stout walls.
Then all was quiet within me. I had no wishes, no
desires. My heart was full of tenderness for the two
human beings between whom I was sitting. Now strange
faces suddenly thrust themselves in from without, and I
blushed to remember what their influence had made me
that very day. There was no denying it. Instead or
clinging to the old friend whom the fine young gentleman
had regarded so contemptuously, I had, like a coward,
been ashamed of him, had grown furiously angry and
stamped my foot at the man whose patience with me had
been exbaustless. I had called him sillv, because he in
his simplicity had done his best to reply as he thought
would please me. And why had I done this ? Because
I had conceived the magnificent idea of boasting of my
distinguished father, a father for whom I had no exist-
ence, while I had grown up in Heinz's arms !
I would apologize apologize humbly upon the spot.
And, as if to help my resolution, the door opened at this
moment, and Heinz, followed by Spitz, entered the Fleet.
I flew to him and laid my hands on his broad breast.
I could only fairly reach so high.
"Now, Heinz, confess; you are terribly angry with
me?"
"Body o* me, I ought to know why, little Princess !" ho
muttered through his teeth, that were holding the eternal
pipe, and standing stiff and clumsy before me.
" You must know, Heinz," I said. " Come, scold me
roll; I was as bad as bad could be. You would not
have thought it of me, would you ? that I could stamp
mv foot "
. " Oh, that was only in joke."
40 TIES LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS
"In joke ? Don't think it. It was earnest, good-for-
nothing earnest. Do not be so kind to me, Heinz. I dft
not deserve it. I ought to be punished. J am childish
and ill-tempered, and a wretched, thankless thing 1"
" Come, come, and what else beside ?"
"A coward, Heinz I Yes, that was what made me so
worthless. There I stood at the mound as if dropped
from the skies, and every one would surely have turned
and looked at me if you had said "
" But I didn't say. Aha, not a word I" he tapped hia
forehead with his forefinger, " I can be cunning enough,
not a word could they get out of me I" He thrust his
hand clumsily into his breast-pocket. " And that great
load of money that tumbled down upon the ground,
they never picked it up again, not they I I had to pick
it up, and here it is, little Princess I"
He counted out the bright thalers in a long row upon
his hand. His small eyes sparkled, and regarded them
with a tender ogle.
Five pieces of silver, one for each pearl. That was
what had been intended. The old gentleman's, " Here,
my child," had sounded as if it were a matter of course
that I should want the shining things, and I had meant
the pearls as a gift. This vexed me now beyond measure.
" I don't want them, Heinz I" I said, crossly, and
pushed away his hand.
Again the money fell on the ground. What a terrible
noise the heavy pieces of metal made as they rang
upon the stone pavement I I had never heard that noise
before, nor had the Dierkhof, for many, many years.
Involuntarily I started and looked around with a timid
glance to the windows of the dwelling-rooms. Behind
the dim panes of one of these windows there hung a
piece of thick, gay-coloured carpeting, which, in mj
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 41
memory, had never been withdrawn ; now it was dragged
aside, and my grandmother's eyes glared out -upon us.
It was a moment to inspire terror into the boldest
heart. I stooped, trembling, to collect the money; but
the door next the window was flung open, a hurricane
seemed to be upon us. I was seized by the shoulder and
pushed out into the barn.
" Do not touch it I" was yelled into my ears. How
terribly the long, silent voice vibrated ! I opened wide
my eyes in alarm.
There stood the stalwart woman shaking her fist angrily
at Heinz. "And you " came menacingly from her lips.
" Now, now, pray, madame I" he stuttered, in entreat-
ing tones. "I'll carry it all out this instant, all the
trash, this instant, and throw it into the brook !" He
shook like an aspen-leaf; for the first time in my life I
saw his ruddy colour pale to the very lips.
She turned her back upon him angrily. Her long, gray
braids lashed her hips, and my pulse stood still as I
awaited another onslaught upon myself. Suddenly her
foot touched one of the pieces of money ; she started as
if she had stepped upon a snake. And then ensued a
scene that I can never, never forget. With a giggle, she
tossed the piece away with her foot, it flew through the
air and fell clinking upon the stones ; so with a second,
and a third; she strode after them hither and thither
through the Fleet. I was reminded of the cat's cruel
play with the mouse. And what a ghastly play of feature
passed over her crimson face ! She spurned the money
from her with rage and aversion, and yet, as it fell whirl
ing upon the stones, she listened in unmistakable delight
her head bent forward, with a kind of eager greed in
her eyes to the last echo of the clink it. made upon the
pavement.
4*
42 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS
I never stirred, and scarcely dared to breathe ; Spits,
usually so bold, crept away from the hearth with his tail
between his legs, and pressed up close to Heinz, who
remained motionless, as if nailed to the spot where he
stood, only now and then glancing terrified towards me.
Oh, where was Use ? She was the only one who had any
power over my grandmother. Did she not hear the noise,
the dreary sound that echoed back from the rafters of
the old Dierkhof ?
The clatter and clink of the money continued. The old
Frau seemed to have forgotten that two human beings
were standing like pillars of stone near her. She ran to-
and fro in a frenzy, gesticulating and whispering, in pur-
suit of an invisible something. All at once a shudder
ran through her. As she passed the table she stood
perfectly still, and remained so for several minutes,
staring down at the corner of it There lay the ill-omened
tetter which, by my father's express command, was never
to meet her eyes.
" Frau Rath in von Sassen !" she at last said, breaking
the deathly silence, and, sighing profoundly, she passed
her hand across her brow. " Frau Rathin von Sassen!
That was I I !"
I debated with myself whether I should not spring
forward and wrest from her the letter upon which she
laid her hand, but what could such a tiny, frail creature
as I avail in a contest with that woman ? She would
have brushed me aside, and maintained possession of the
mysterious paper. I made eloquent signs to Heinz, he
looked stupidly at me, and what I dreaded occurred, *
my grandmother took the letter out of the envelope.
" Let us see," she said, slowly unfolding it.
She did not read it; her eye caught the signature,.
what could the name have been to produce such an effect?
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 43
With a frantic cry of rage the old woman crushed the
letter in her hand. " Your Christine I" she shrieked,
with a wild laugh, as she hurled the formless thing far
into the barn, and ran vith gestures of horror back into
her room ; the door sla nmed to, and we heard the bolt
shoot clanging home.
Use, coming in with a basket of peat from the yard,
stood amazed upon the threshold.
" Was not that your grandmother ?" she asked, half
frightened, half incredulous. The door that had just
been closed was never used. Lock and bolt were both
rusty from disuse.
My teeth chattered as in a fever fit ; but the spell was
broken, and in a breathless whisper I told her what bad
occurred. I saw how she started and turned pale ; but
Use was always Use, she said not one word, but placed
her basket on the hearth and began to take out the sods
of peat and pile them up symmetrically ; only when Heinz
approached she raised her head ; his wholesome terror of
her sharp eyes was but too well founded, they were
riveted with an annihilating look upon his frightened face.
11 You're a fine fellow, Heinz I" said she. " For years I
have taken care never to let a single groschen appear at
the Dierkhof, and now, wiseacre that you are, you serve
me a pretty trick, and throw a handful of silver thai era
upon the stones. Yss, yes, forty years on your shoulders,
and no brains in y^ur skull !"
The tears came into my eyes In spite of all I had
said, and my faithfully taking all the blame upon myself,
Heinz was scolded, and he bore it so patiently, with
never a word of self -justification. I threw my arms
around him, and pressed my face against the sleeve of
his shabby coat.
" Oh, yes, console your dear Heinz ! Stick to him like
44 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
a burr," said Use ; but all sharpness had vanished from
look and tone.
She took the lamp from the table and went into the
barn to look for the crumpled paper that my grandmother
had thrown there ; but in vain. Search as she could, it
was not to be found.
Until to-day I had seldom heard any sounds cf life
from my grandmother's room ; indeed, I had never listened
for any such, instinctively I avoided its vicinity. Now
there issued thence, through the carpet-hung window,
harsh, passionate mutte rings, interrupted by long-drawn,
Bobbing sighs.
" She is praying," Heinz whispered to me.
But that prayer was not offered kneeling. She was
walking to and fro with such heavy strides that the car*
pet behind the glass panes was stirred, and the floor of
the Fleet trembled beneath our feet
"Bring lights!" she suddenly screamed.
" Lights ?" Use repeated. " I have already carried
the lamps in." She ran towards the narrow passage
where was the principal door to my grandmother's apart*
ment, and which, bounding the long east side of the dwell-
ing-rooms, opened into the garden.
She soon reappeared, apparently greatly relieved, and
immediately afterwards we heard the creaking of the
pump-handle and the rush of the water into the trough.
" AH is dark before her eyes," Use replied, in answer
to my inquiries. " We shall have another fine night of
it I" she murmured, with a look of anxiety, as she cleared
away the dishes from the table and carried the box of
papers back into the sitting-room.
Then she often passed distressing nights with my
grandmother I It was uncomfortable news for me ; in
wy happy, healthy sleep, I had never suspected that any-
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 4ft
thing unusual went on in the house in the night. Now
I remembered that Use had often seemed depressed and
exhausted in the morning, but she had laid the blame
upon the headaches from which she frequently suffered.
I folded my arms upon the table and laid my head
upon them. My heart was filled with a dark presage, as
if the coming night were to bring misfortune upon its
wings to the Dierkhof. I listened mechanically to Heinz's
steps as he made his rounds through the house ; he pru-
dently avoided the courtyard, for, although the pump-
handle was quiet for the moment, my grandmother was
Ktill there. Where the low hedge of the yard made a
sharp angle upon the moor she would sometimes stand
for hours, gazing out into the illimitable distance.
" Go to bed, child, you are tired," said Use, passing her
hand lightly over my head.
Hitherto, in my easy, happy unconsciousness, I had
been the idlest and most egotistical of creatures. I felt
it deeply at this moment.
"No, I am not going to sleep," I said, trying to make
my voice sound decided. "Use, I am seventeen years old
to-day, and tall and strong enough. I am not going to
be sent to bed while you have such trouble with my
grandmother. "
I had arisen and was standing at her side.
" It needed but this that you should insist upon being
in my way I" she rejoined, dryly, looking down at ma
" Hra yes, now I know how a ' tall, strong, 7 young lady
looks. Her head reaches just above the supper-table, and
she cheeps about the world like a newly-hatched chicken."
" Use, am I, then, such a poor, miserable creature ?" I
interrupted her with irritation, but with self-abasement,
she never exaggerated.
"Besides, I do not know what you mean," she con-
t6 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
tinued, without heeding the interruption. " Ridiculous
Your grandmother is standing quietly in the yard, and
will be as sound asleep as the rest of us in an hour. But
I can tell you that it always excites her to see the light
burning too long in the Fleet."
Without another word she took the lamp from the
table, there was an end to my heroic determination. I
should have liked to have seen any one dare to resist or
reply to Use's words when uttered with that emphatic
movement of her head.
I bade good-night to Heinz, who was just closing the
house-door, and followed her dutifully into the corner-
room where we both slept.
CHAPTER V.
It was close and warm there. Use had closed the
wooden shutters of the two windows ; and if there had
been any curtains to them they would certainly have been
drawn close also.
" There, scatterbrain, are your new shoes," she said,
pointing beneath the chair by the side of my bed. " If
it had not been for Heinz they would have been still
out on the moor, and probably washed into the stream by
the storm to-night."
I felt my cheeks burn at sight of my two ugly nail-shod
companions in misery. Just then the light of the lamp
fell full upon the old smoky engraving of Charles the
Great. The eyes of the picture were riveted upon me.
I turned my back to it and stealthily pushed the shoes
with my foot farther underneath the ctair; I never
TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Wanted to see them again ; I never wanted to be reminded
of the stranger whose appearance had heralded a traia
of unhappy occurrences, and new and painful emotions.
in my peaceful, solitary life.
Use did not leave the room until I was in bed. But
even youth cannot conjure sleep when the heart is throb-
bing with anxious forebodings. I slipped on my clothes
again, opened the shutter of the western window that
looked out upon the courtyard, and seated myself close
beside it upon the foot of my bed. The black darkness
of the room grew lighter, and I became quieter, all
actual terror of the darkness vanished.
I noiselessly raised the sash. A dwarf southernwood
tree that, sheltered by the wall against which it grew;
was yearly laden, to the delight of the birds, with store
of crimson berries, extended its boughs across the panes;
and behind its leafy screen I sat securely hidden, and
could look beyond garden and meadow into the distance.
Use had alluded to a coming storm, but the starry canopy
above the moor could not be more entirely clear from
clouds than at present. The balmy, delicious night air
breathed almost imperceptibly past me. Not a leaf was
stirred, as it whispered out into the absolute silence that
reigned upon the waste, which, nevertheless, was fullof
life for me. True, it was no longer traversed by the
ghostly train of giant horsemen, the attendants of the
hoary monarch of the Huns; that crimson and golden
dream had been destroyed to-day by the merciless pick-
axe ; but I knew that life was pulsing in every tiny stalk
of heather, forming to exquisite perfection millions and
millions of fairy blossoms, that would shortly burst forth
and cast a royal purple robe upon the moorland. And
that very day I had peeped into the magpie's nest in the
topmost boughs of the oak and counted four eggs. Llffc
48 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS,
was busy there, too, day and night, restlessly act!**
until each little beak should chip open the shell, and two
new eyes look out upon the world. I knew, too, that on
the edge of the forest the deer were roaming with dainty
tread to snuff the moorland air that, blowing across
the Dierkhof, carried with it the odours of garden and
meadow.
Gradually my nerves were composed. Involuntarily
my thoughts fell back into their old channels, and I pon-
dered the quiet interests that had hitherto been all-suffi-
cient to content my mind.
All was still in the house, so still that I could have
heard the faintest rattle of Mollv's chain. Use had
spoken truly, and now she might enter the room with
ber light at any moment. Ah, how that thought brought
me to my feet ! I should certainly have been plunged
deep in the lofty feather-bed in the course of two mo-
ments, if the sudden banging of a distant door had not
shaken every post and beam of the Dierkhof.
I was just about to close the window when I heard a
loud breathing just outside, and my grandmother's mas-
sive gray head passed swiftly by, in alarming proximity
to where I was sitting.
" It burns, there ! there !" she gasped, as she passed,
clasping ber forehead in both hands.
I did not dare to lean out and look after her ; but 1
heard her pause, and her outstretched arm? came within
the range of my vision.
" For my anger kindled the fire there I" she said aloud,
with solemn pathos, " and it will burn down to the nether-
most hell, and devour the land and its increase, and kindle
the foundations of the hills 1"
She slowly passed beneath the oaks to the corner of
the courtyard. She was not very far from me, and it waa
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 49*
lignt enough for me to see her distinctly. The sky with
its sparkling stars made a striking background for the
powerful outline of her figure. She had taken off her
tipper garment; her wide linen sleeves hung gleaming
white from her shoulders, and her half-unbraided hair was
streaming down her back.
I could not understand what she said out into the silent
moor. I seemed to hear a jumble of all the old Profes-
sor's strange words uttered in a peculiar sing-song.
All at once the murmur ended in a shriek. My grand-
mother turned, and her restless feet renewed their wan-
derings with redoubled speed. I thought she was running
towards the well, but she ran blindly against an oak,
staggered back, made another attempt to run, and fell to
the ground headlong, as if thrust down by unseen hands.
"Use! Use!" I screamed. But Use was already on
the spot endeavouring, with Heinz's assistance, to raise
the fallen woman. They had both been watching my
grandmother from the courtyard gate. I sprang out of
the window.
"She is dead!" Heinz whispered, as I approached.
And he let the powerful frame, now a dead weight in its
lifelessness, sink back again.
" Be still I" Use ordered, in stifled accents. " Come,
use all your strength ; take her up !" And she took my
grandmother around the body underneath the arms, and,
with a power that seemed almost superhuman, lifted her
from the ground, while Heinz supported her feet.
I never shall forget that heart-rending sight. As they
staggered with their lifeless burden through the Fleet, the
long, gray hair swept the stones upon which, scarcely an
hour before, the pieces of money had been so frantically
tossed about.
I ran before and opened the door of my grandmotherla
i 5
50 ' THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
room, but before they could enter I had to push aside ft
high screen, which completely guarded the interior from
all prying eyes. I had never been allowed to enter this
room, even as a little child, and now in the midst of the
shock and terror of the moment there seemed to be re-
vealed to my startled eyes a new world of indescribable
gloom. I can compare the impression only to what I
have experienced upon entering an ancient church full of
half-tarnished splendour, hung with pictures of martyrdoms
and redolent of the strange mixture of cold, confined
church atmosphere and the stifling fames of frankincense.
My grandmother was laid upon a bed that stood in one
corner. It was hung with green, old-fashioned curtains
of stiff silk, embroidered with delicate golden flowers
What a rustling there was as they were drawn aside 1
and how ghastly was the livid face, with closed eyes, be-
neath the hard, dark green !
Heinz was mistaken. My grandmother was not dead !
She lay there breathing heavily, without moving a limb;
but when Use, in such tender, imploring tones as I had
never dreamed to hear from her lips, called her by name,
she opened her eyes for one moment and looked at her
intelligently. Use pushed pillows and bolsters beneath
her head, so as to lift her into a sitting posture ; and that
evidently did her good, the rattle that had accompanied
her breathing diminished.
In the mean while Heinz had left the Dierkbof in search
of a physician. He had to run to the nearest village,
whence he could dispatch a carriage to a town more than
a mile distant; so that three or four hours might elapse
before medical aid could arrive.
My endeavours' to assist Use were repulsed. With au
anxious glance at the invalid, she silently pushed away
my hands, but allowed me to remain in the room.
THE LITTLE MOORLAXD PRTXCESS. 5]
I crouched down, half hidden by the curtain, upon a
ittle cushioned seat at the foot of the bed, and looked
timidly around the strange apartment. It was the largest
in the house. My grandmother had probably demolished
a partition wall to obtain such an amount of space. The
walls were hung with woollen tapestry, interwoven with
figures. My gaze dwelt longest upon the life-size form of
a child with a beautiful face full of grief and gentle sub-
mission. It was the youthful Isaac bound upon the sacri-
ficial pile. The tapestry was very old and moth-eaten, so
that the muscular figure of Abraham had lost an eye and
one hand. Chairs with high backs, their cushions covered
with flowered silk damask, were ranged in stiff ranks
against the walls like an assemblage of stern old gray-
beards. In later years I learned to admire these arm-
chairs, richly carved as they were, out of the costliest
woods, and almost black with age. But at first sight the
strange heads and fabulous creatures that stared at me
from the winding arabesques, repeated on all the tables and
cabinets in the room, looked menacing and bewildering.
The sombre colouring and the deep corners greedily
absorbed the light of the two lamps standing upon the
table. The carpet, which covered the entire floor, was
dark, and the oppressively-low wooden ceiling was almost
black. The naked flesh of the pictures on the tapestry
had faded to a corpselike hue, and looked like extra-
neous points of light ; and one single object hovered like
a dazzling white dove in the gloom, it was a many-
branched silver candelabrum, furnished with wax-candles,
hanging from the middle of the ceiling.
In the course of the anxious hour that I had already
passed by the bed, the invalid seemed to have revived.
She opened her eyes wide, drank some fresh water, and
suddenly her speech returned.
fe2 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" What is the matter with me ?" she asked, slowly, in
an altered voice.
Use leaned over her without answering. I think grief
deprived her of the power of utterance, and gently and
caressingly she stroked the hair away from her brow.
" My good old Use !" she murmured, as she tried to rise
and could not. With a strange, fixed look of inquiry 3he
glanced down at her left arm.
" Dead !" she sighed. And her head sank back on the
pillow.
The exclamation excited in me a cold shudder. Invol-
untarily I started. My seat moved and the curtain
rustled.
" Who else is in the room ?" my grandmother asked,
listening.
"The child, madame, Lenore," Use answered, hesi-
tatingly.
44 Oh, Willibald's child, yes, yes, I know her. She
runs about the moor with her little naked feet, and sings
upon the mound yonder. I cannot hear her singing, Use !"
1 was sure of that. No word of song was ever allowed
to escape my lips at the Dierkhof, and, oh ! how I liked
to sing ! It seemed to me that my soul floated off into
space upon the tones that came full and free from my
6reast. So I used to sing in Heinz's hut until the coarse,
green panes of glass trembled, or upon my beloved
mound ; but I had never dreamed that the sound could
reach my grandmother's ears at the Dierkhof.
I stood up and timidly advanced a step towards her.
"Small, like her mother," she muttered to herself;
" the same large eyes, and a cold, contracted heart ; the
water has been sprinkled upon her forehead, too."
: " No, grandmother," I said, quietly, "my heart is Dot
cold." - -
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 53
Sbe looked at me in amazement, as if she had always
supposed that the little creature could sing, but not speak,
least of all, address herself. Use drew back behind
the curtain, and signed to me to be silent ; she feared that
my sudden appearance might cause renewed aberration
of the invalid's mind. But my grandmother remained
perfectly quiet, with her eyes riveted upon my face.
The eyes that had so frightened me, as she glanced
wildly at me in hurrying by, were very beautiful. Their
dark splendour was, it is true, partially veiled, but there
were soul and conscious intelligence in them.
"Come here," she said, after the silence had lasted
about a minute.
I went up close to the bedside.
" Do you know what it is to love anybody ?" she asked,
and there was melody in her broken voice.
" Yes, grandmother, indeed, I do 1 I love Use dearly,
* more than I can tell, and Heinz too 1"
Her lips quivered slightly, and with great effort she
held out her right hand to me.
"Are you afraid of me?" she asked.
"No." " Not nowl" I was about to add ; but I sup-
pressed the last two words and leaned over her.
" Well, then, give me your hand, and kiss my forehead !"
I did as she bade me, and, strange to say, at the mo-
ment when my lips touched the face I had so feared, and
my hand was gently pressed by the large, cold fingers, a
novel and delicious sensation invaded my breast. AW at
once I became aware that I belonged here. I felt the
mysterious tie of blood between grandmother and grand-
child, and, carried away by the sudden emotion, I seated
myself on the edge of the bed, and gently placed my arm
beneath her head.
A happy smile passed over the large, harsh features ;
54 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
she lay back upon ray arm like a tired child who want!
to sleep.
" Flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone, ah V 9 she sighed,
and closed her eyes.
Use stood behind the bed-curtain ; she buried her faun
in her hands and wept bitterly.
Again there was silence, broken only by the gasping
cf the invalid, and her heavy, irregular breathing, and
by a continual low whirr in the old tall clock in the coi
ner ; its shining face glared at us stonily, and it wheezed
with every swing of the pendulum.
A long, long time passed; it had already struck
one. Then the house-door opened, and Heinz came
through the barn ; some one accompanied him ; contrary
to our expectations, there he was, bringing the physician
with him.
Use gave a sigh of relief, and signed to me to give
place at the bedside ; so I carefully withdrew my stiffened
arm and let the invalid's head sink gently upon the pil-
low. She seemed still to sleep, and gave no sign that
she heard, when the chamber-door was softly opened and
the men entered.
There stood the pastor of the nearest village in full
clerical costume inside the room, while Heinz, hat in
hand, remained respectfully in the background. The
venerable form of the old clergyman looked solemn and
imposing in his black gown, his prayer-book in his hand.
But Use started as if at sight of a ghost, she rushed
towards him, motioning him away, but it was too late; as
if conscious of the gaze of a stranger, my grandmother
opened her eyes.
I recoiled, the change in the expression of her feat
ores, but now so peaceful, was frightful.
u What does the priest want ?" she gasped.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 55
" I would bring you consolation if you require it," the
old xflan answered, mildly, without betraying any discom-
posure at her rough address.
"Consolation ? I have found it already in the innocent
heart of a child, in the love which it gives freely without
asking ' What do you believe ? and what will you give
me for it?' Lenore, my dear child, where are you."
My heart bled at the yearning in her voice, and I ad-
vanced to the head of the bed where she could see me.
" You can bring me no consolation, you who thrust me
out into the sterile desert where the burning sun scorched
up my brain I" she continued, turning towards the pas-
tor. " You never offered me one drop of balm upon my
path, which you preach ends in hell I Intolerant that you
are, you boast of walking humbly before God, and yet
keep the stone to cast at your neighbour ready in your
hand, and dare to judge him standing at his grave, when
be is already in the presence of his Creator and Judge I
False prophets 1 You pretend to pray to a God of love
and compassion, and yet invoke his aid in savage and
murderous battles, making Him the angry and jealous
God of the Hebrews, whom you call an accursed people.
You adore Him as perfect, and yet you ascribe to Him all
the weaknesses of your corrupt human nature, your
malice, your lust of power, your cold cruelty ; your Re-
deemer put a palm-branch into your hand, but you convert
it into a scourge."
The pastor raised his hand as if to interrupt her, but
she continued yet more violently : " And with blows from
this scourge you thrust me forth from your heaven when
you declared ' Your father, the Jew who gave you life,
your mother, the Jewess who nourished you, are accursed
to all eternity !' Man, my father was one of the wisest
of men. He gathered and garnered up immense stores
56 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
of knowledge and wisdom, and is it all to avail him
nothing, while narrow bigots, who never thought, buf
only believed, inherit that heaven where truth and under*
standing are promised to those who seek after them?
And my father," she continued, " gave bread to the hun-
gry, and his left hand knew not the work of his right
hand. He hated lying, avarice, and arrogance ; he for-
gave his enemies, and forswore revenge upon those who
injured him. He loved the Lord his God with all bis
heart and mind and strength, and is he to languish in
hell to all eternity because water has not been poured
upon his head? Then let me be wherever he is, I
give you back your baptism 1 Keep your heaven, you
buy it dearly enough, you tyrants in priestly robes I"
With the most profound compassion expressed in his
benevolent face, the old pastor approached, but a recon-
ciliation was impossible.
" Leave me, I have done 1" she said, sharply, and
turned her face to the wall.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 5T
CHAPTER VI.
As gently as he had entered, the pastor left the room,
and I followed him involuntarily. Although I was con-
vinced that my grandmother had been grievously wronged/
I still felt very sorry for the good old man who had laid
his hand, in the church, in blessing on my head. He was
gentle and true, and not one of those who had driven the
unhappy daughter of the Jew out into the night of mad-
ness. He had come willingly and cheerfully at midnight,
dear, kind old man, to bring the consolations of the church
to a sick woman.
" Herr Pastor," Use said to him outside in the Fleet,
4 'do not think hardly of her; she was baptized by one
who was as truly, kind and good as you are, and she
really believed in Christ. But there was another let him
answer for it Who used to rave endlessly about damna-
tion and punishment. Yes; the misfortunes that fell
upon the family were but the just judgments of the Lord,
he said. And he destroyed her mind, he will have to
answer for it."
' I do not blame her," he replied, gently. " I know but
too well that false zeal in the vineyard of the Lord de-
stroys much noble fruit. This woman has suffered greatly.
God will be merciful ; I am only sorry that I can offer no
comfort when I would have done so gladly. But I can-
not press the unsought consolations of the church upon a
soul that is struggling mortally with the frail body." He
passed his hand caressingly over my hair. " Go back to
her, she will miss you. I wish I could lay upon your
lips all the comfort of our faith, that her troubled sou)
might find the true peace."
J8 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
I returned instantly to the room, while he, refusing
any refreshment save a glass of water, and without stop-
ping to rest, left the Dierkhof.
" Where is the child ?" I heard the invalid ask as I
passed along the passage.
" Here I am, grandmother I" I cried, as I entered, and
flew to the bedside. She was quite alone. Heinz, whom
we had left with her, had taken his departure, I shrewdly
suspected from fear of Use, since he had brought the
clergyman to the Dierkhof upon his own responsibility.
"Oh, yes, here you are, my little brown dove," she
said, tenderly, with a sigh of relief. " I thought you, too,
had turned from me, and gone away with him in scorn
and hatred."
J protested against this. "You must not think so,
grandmother," I said, earnestly. " He sent me back to
you, and he is very, very good, and I I do not even
know what it is to scorn and hate."
" That means, you love all the world," she said, with
a faint smile.
" Oh, yes, just as I told you 1 Use and Heinz and
Spitz and Molly, and the brave old fir over upon the
mound, and the blue sky"
I paused ashamed, what I was saying was not true ;
I no longer possessed this true affection for the whole
world. That very day I had been angry and passionate,
should I tell her about it ?
I was sitting again on the edge of the bed, and she was
holding my hand in hers, her fingers closed upon mine as
firmly as if they never were to be unclasped, and her
eyelids slowly drooped over her eyes. She had spoken
with so much energy, and I was so utterly inexperienced,
that I had not thought that she might be exhausted, but
now I put my left hand caressingly upon her wrist. I
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 51T
fc lew well that the stream of life ought to throb there
in distinct regular beats, now, to my profound dismay,
1 felt that it was fearfully quiet beneath my hand:
only at long, irregular intervals it throbbed against my
finger-tips.
11 We are as clay in the hands of the potter," she sud-
denly whispered. " What are we, what is our life and
our glory f But Thou art our Father, and we are Thy
children ; pity us like as a Father pitieth his children."
She was silent again ; and intense anxiety took pos-
session of me. I would have given worlds to see those
closed eyes open, and I pressed my lips lightly upon her
brow. She started, and looked lovingly up at me.
" Go, call Use," she said, faintly
I sprang up, and at that moment, to my unspeakable
relief, a vehicle rolled over the stones of the courtyard.
Immediately afterward Use entered the room with a
strange gentleman.
" The Herr Doctor has come, madame 1" she said. And
the physician approached the bed.
Instantly my grandmother's face assumed a firm, in-
telligent expression. She held out her hand to the doctor
that he might feel her pulse, and regarded him attentively.
" How much time do you give me ?" she asked, briefly
and decidedly.
He paused for a moment, and tried to avoid her eye
" We will make an attempt " he said, with hesitation.
"No, no, you need not trouble yourself," she inter-
rupted him. Then, looking down at her left side with a
shadowy smile, she said, coldly, " That has already re*
turned to the dust ! How much time do you give me
still?" she repeated with emphasis that would not be
denied.
"Well, then, an hour at most."
60 TjTE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
, I barst into a flood of tears, and Use retired to a ,
window and pressed her face against the panes* My
grandmother alone was perfectly calm. Her eyes were
riveted upon the silver candelabrum that hung from the
ceiling.
" Light them, Use 1" she ordered ; and as Use mounted
a chair, and flame after flame shot up beneath her hand,
the sick woman turned to the physician, " I thank you
for coming," she said, " and would ask a last act of cour-
tesy from you. Will you have the kindness to write down
what I shall dictate ?"
. " Most willingly, madame ; but if it is anything in the ,
shape of a last will, I would remind you that it will be
invalid without legal "
"I know that," she interrupted him ; " but there is no
time. My son must and will respect my last will in this
shape."
Use brought writing materials and my grandmother
dictated:
"I bequeath to Use Wichel the Dierkhof, with all its
furniture and properties "
" No, no," cried Use, in terror ; " I will not have it 1"
My grandmother gave her a stern glance of reproach,
and continued without pausing, "as a proof of my grati-
tude for her unbounded devotion and self-sacrifice. 1
bequeath further to my grandchild, Lenore von Sassen, all
the papers in my possession, and let no one else, who*
ever it may be, dare to lay claim to them."
Use started up and looked at her with surprise. The
sick woman pointed to a cabinet. " There must be a tiu
box there. Take it out, Use. I have entirely forgotten
how much it contains."
Use opened the cabinet and placed a flat tin box upon
the table. A rusty key was sticking in the lock
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 61
"It must be a long, long while since it was opened,*
muttered the sick woman, wearily raising her right hand
to her brow. " My mind grows dark, 1 feel it, what,
year is this ?"
" 1861," replied the physician.
"Ah, then, much that is there may have become worth-
less 1" she said, sorrowfully, as he laid back the cover.
By her wish he then reckoned up the papers, which filled
the box to the brim.
" Nine thousand thalers !" he announced.
"Nine thousand thalers!" repeated my grandmother
contentedly. "It is enough to keep off want. There
ought to be a little case in the box."
I saw Use shake her head mournfully at this sudden
clearness of memory, this connecting of the links of
thought sundered for so many years. The physician
took an unpretending little case out of the box. It con-
tained a pearl necklace.
" The last relic of the Jacobsohn splendour," the sick
woman whispered, mournfully, to herself. " Use, put the
necklace around that little brown neck. It belongs to
your face, my child !" she said to me as I shrank from
the cold, smooth contact. " You have your mother's eyes,
but the Jacobsohn cast of features. The trinket has been
a witness of much family affection, and happy, peaceful
times of comfort. It has also fled from the stake and
the persecution of Christian intolerance I" She gasped
for breath. "Now let me sign!" she said, eagerly,
after a pause of evident exhaustion.
The doctor placed the paper upon the bed, and put the
pen into her stiff fingers. She formed the letters her
last earthly act with infinite difficulty, but the name,
"Clotilde van Sassen, n&e Jacobsohn," was at last com.
plete in tolerably firm characters at the bottom of the
6
92 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
document, the physician adding a few words in attesta-
tion of his witness-ship.
" Do not cry, little dove," she said to me, soothingly
"Come here ouce more."
I threw myself speechless upon the bed and kissed her
hand. She sent her love to my father, and turned her
large, death-veiled eyes from me to Use with a beseeching
expression.
" This child must not languish on this lonely moor,"
she said, significantly.
" Madame, leave that to me," Use answered with her
usual brevity, although her lips quivered, and bright tears
hung upon her eyelashes.
Once more the cold, weary hand was passed lovingly
over my face ; then my grandmother pushed me from her
with that nervous haste that would hoard every second,
and gazed at one of the windows with a strange, yearn-
ing look that seemed to bear her soul upon its wings out
into the great beyond.
" Christine, I forgive I" she twice cried loudly out into
the distance. She was ready to go. Evidently relieved,
she settled her head upon her pillow, looked up devoutly,
and began with solemnity, although in a failing voice,
" Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God 1 Praised
be his holy name," her voice died away in a gasp, and
her head slowly and gently declined upon her breast.
" For ever and ever, amen 1" The physician completed
the sentence of the lips that were silent forever; and
then, with a gentle touch, he closed her eyes.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. *&
CHAPTER VII.
I left the room. The first sorrow of my life had come
upon me. I stood benumbed before the implacable " gone
forever I" that seems so incredible of the departed life.
I had clung in these last moments to my grandmother
with all the enthusiastic tenderness that is natural to an
overflowing, youthful heart. I had tasted to the full the
delicious sensation that my devoted love was ardently
desired, and now I was tortured by the thought that I
had not sufficiently impressed upon my grandmother how
dearly and fondly I would love her. I ought to have re-
peatedly assured her that care for her should be my
whole pleasure and duty, if she would only get well
again; but instead of that I had childishly wasted the
precious time in talking of my love for all the world.
That was the last thing I should have spoken of to one
who had been so unkindly treated by the world. And
now she was dead, and I could tell her nothing of all
this. Too late ! What a sense of utter helplessness there
is in those crushing words 1
I went out through the courtyard into the open air. A
strengthening breeze, still bearing with it traces of the
dews of night, was sweeping across the moor. It was
blowing the great, white, feathery night-cap above tlie
peat-swamp away, rarefying it to a delicate lace curtain,
behind which the fires of sunrise began to glow. The
rustling oak boughs were tipped with ruddy gold, and
the little panes in the gable window of the Dierkhof
began to glitter.
64 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS/?
The blades of grass swayed beneath the sparkling
dewdrops ; but none showed traces of my grandmother's
footsteps the night before. The windows of her chamber,
which had always been half-darkened, were now wide
open. I stood by the sill and looked in. The room was
empty. The curtains, emerald-green in the bright morn-
ing dawn, were caught back to the wall, letting the breeze
sweep across the bed. It must have been long years since
the sorrowful face of the boy Isaac had looked upon
touch a peaceful, quiet scene. The stalwart form, in which
the blood had coursed restlessly, lay stretched beneath a
white sheet, and was only to be recognized by the mag-
nificent gray braids that had slipped out and fell to the
floor over the side of the bed.
A fly buzzed past me, and the flames of the candles
in the candelabrum flickered in the draught. That was
all that was stirring in the room, even the clock had
stopped.
But without there were sounds of reawakening ex-
istence. The cocks were crowing; Spitz was barking
among the clucking and scratching hens ; and Molly
Was lowing for the hand that was to relieve her full
udders. The cat came gliding across the roof, she
crossed the grass of the courtyard noiselessly, and crept,
with a greedy sparkle in her green eyes, beneath the
southernwood-tree, in whose branches a little bird was
chirping merrily. I ran around the corner and fright-
ened her away. And in the nest of twigs upon the roof
a noisy morning toilet was making, after which the storks
flew rustling above my head to the swamp for their
breakfast. Everything appeared as usual ; the front of
the house alone presented an unwonted spectacle : a horse
was neighing there in the fresh morning air, and behind
the low garden-fence the doctor was standing with folded
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 65
arms, gazing abroad upon the moor, sprinkled with dew
and golden sunshine.
The little, dusty chaise in which he had come stood
before the door ; and in the Fleet I saw Use, as stiff and
straight as ever. There was a clean white napkin spread
upon the table, upon which stood cups, and bread and
butter, and she was making coffee for the doctor.
I went up to her in great agitation.
41 Use, how can you do that ? How is it possible at
such a moment?" I cried, in a tone of angry reproach.
" Are others to be hungry and thirsty because I am
Buffering ?" she asked, in sharp reproof. " Did you see
your grandmother die last night, and not learn from her
to carry your head erect in the darkest times ?"
Profoundly ashamed, I threw my arms around her
neck ; for the face that she turned towards me was rigid
with grief, and the healthy colour had entirely faded
from her cheeks. Yet still her hands never rested, not
the smallest duty was omitted.
The doctor entered, and the boy who had driven him.
I passed them and left the house again.
The Dierkhof ducks, their bills turned towards the
moor, were standing at the grated gate in the hedge,
awaiting the moment when it should be opened and
leave them free to run and plunge into the stream.
One, however, was poking with its bill at a white, shape-
less lump, tossing it about the yard, it was the letter
which my grandmother had hurled from her the night
before and which Use had sought for in vain. It had
flown through the open door. I unfastened the gate for
the ducks, and picked up the ball of paper ; it looked
forlorn enough, the dirty chaise-wheel had passed over
it, and the duck's bill had half torn it.
Retiring to the seat beneath the southernwood-tree, I
JB 6*
66 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRI1WES8.
smoothed the paper upon my knee and tried to fit the
torn pieces together : some of them were missing, and
the hand was a very faint one. With great difficulty I
deciphered the following lines :
"I have never appealed to you, because I thought
honour demanded that I should pursue, unaided and alone,
the path that I had chosen for myself. ' The outcast' did
all that she could to prevent the shadow of her career from
falling upon you, my own name has never passed my
lips or the lips of others in my presence ; I have avoided
all inquiries after you or my former home, lest I should
arouse a suspicion that I was related to the Yon Sassens;
but indeed it would not have disgraced you, for what-
ever you may think, I say it with pride I have been
unanimously pronounced the wonder, the most brilliant
star of the age " Here a piece of paper was missing,
but I read upon the next page of the sheet, " Now mis-
fortune has befallen me ; whither shall I go if not to
you ? I have lost my voice, my glorious voice 1 The
physicians say that a course of baths in Germany may
restore it to me. But my purse is empty. The dis-
honesty of others has lost me every penny that I pos-
sessed. On my knees I sue to you, you, who roll in
plenty, who have never known what want, grim want,
actually is. I could tell you of sleepless nights of agony.
Forget, for once, for one short hour, that I was obsti-
nate and disobedient, and send me the means of succour.
What are a few hundred thalers to you, who " The
broad, black trace of the wheel had entirely obliterated
the rest of the pale characters. Upon a small piece the
address of the writer was still legible, and upon another,
the two words that had sufficed to transport my grand-
mother with such fury, the signature, " Your Chris*
tine."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. (ft
Who was this Christine f this wonder, the most bril-
liant star of the age ?
The sentence, " On my knees I sue to you," produced
a tremendous dramatic effect upon my uncultured, un-
sophisticated mind. I saw before me the graceful maiden
of one of my story-books, falling upon her knees, and ex-
tending her white arms in imploring entreaty. And sh
bad lost her voice, her glorious voice! Instinctively
my hands sought my throat, how terrible it must be to
take breath for a full, free note, and have it die away
dumbly 1
Neither Fraulein Streit nor Use had ever said one word
about this " outcast," and yet she must have been very
dear to my grandmother, for she had filled her latest
thoughts. Her solemn, " Christine, I forgive," still thrilled
through me. Involuntarily I remembered the prodigal
son who had always been the beloved child of his father's
Becret heart.
I put the remains of the letter into my pocket and
went into the Fleet. The doctor's chaise was just rolling
out of the gate towards the break-neck road across
the moor, and from an opposite direction Heinz earn*
striding towards the Dierkhof. It occurred to me at
sight of him that he had absented himself for a strangely
long time, and I stood beside Use, who had accompanied
the doctor to the door and remained upon the threshold.
Also I thought that friend Heinz approached rather un-
certainly, he spent a great deal of unnecessary time over
the latch of the gate before he came towards us ; he evi-
dently drew near most reluctantly. At sight of our
swollen eyes, he stood still in bewilderment.
" Well, what did he think ?" he asked, with an embar-
rassed stammer, pointing with his thumb over his shoulder
after the doctor's vehicle.
68 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"Good heavens, Heinz! don't you know?" I cried;
but Use interrupted me.
' Where have you been?" she asked her brother,
shortly.
" At my own house," he replied, with a defiant air.
Heinz defiant! I could scarcely believe my eyes or
ears ; but sure enough, there he stood, he who had always
been docility itself, evidently gaining courage from the
sound of his own voice ; for he had the incredible auda-
city to return Use's angry glance.
" Indeed ! And what pressing duty required your pres-
ence at your own house ? Your birds, probably, needed
feeding !" she said, sharply.
He looked vaguely and anxiously about him. " Dear,
dear! feed the birds at one o'clock at night; who
would be such a fool ? I sat quietly within my four
walls," he blurted out, " which my father built with his
own honest hands, and there is a pious text over the
door. Was I to stay at the Dierkhof when a Jew soul
was going straight to hell ? Oh, Use, what would our
father think if he knew you had taken service with a Jew
woman ?"
" Oh, Heinz, what would our father think if he knew
that you had taken service with a Christian where you
were nearly starved and frozen to death, and threatened
with beatings ?" she angrily parodied his words. " What
new wisdom is this? but I know where it comes from !"
And she pointed in the direction of a large village beyond
the forest, where Heinz had once taken service.
" You are right, there's where I got it," he replied, as
defiantly as before, nodding his head stubbornly. " The
Jews are cursed to all eternity, because they crucified the
Saviour. My master said so, and he was a rich man and
a farmer ; and the pastor said so in the pulpit, and he
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 69
ought to know, or where was the use of his being a
pastor ?"
Use looked the speaker full iu the eye. "Now, see
here!" she said, resolutely, raising her forefinger, and
going so close to him that he shrank back in sudden
alarm. " Once for all, it is not true that tne Lord will take
revenge eternally upon the Jews for the death of the Sa-
viour. If that were true, then good-by to my faith in Him,
for He would not fulfil his own command, ' Bless them
that curse you !' When I read of Christ's sufferings, it
is true that I hate the Jews ; but, understand me, brother
Heinz, only those Jews who were living then. How could
I be so inhuman as to hate those who live to-day and
came into the world innocent little children, instructed by
their parents in the faith of their fathers ? Hey, Master
Heinz, how would you like it if any one injured me, and I
revenged myself by beating his children ?"
" That's all book-learning !" said Heinz, disheartened ;
"you learned all that from the old Frau."
" I did not learn it as we learned Bible-texts at school;
my conscience and" she pointed to her forehead " my
good, common sense taught it to me. I used to talk, it is
true, a great deal with my poor mistress ; one word led to
another, and I have comforted her many a time when thf
4 priests' did her a mischief. The Jews crucified the Sa-
viour once ; but such men as the pastor over yonder,"
and she pointed again towards the village beyond the
wood, " crucify him every day ; fire and sword, and cursing
and evil-speaking do not make a very pleasant kingdom
of heaven, and people are not to be blamed for not wish-
ing to go there! Now, you know what I think, and I
Bay again, fie upon you, you ought to be thoroughly
ashamed of yourself! You thankless man, you have eaten
bread at the Dierkhof for many a year, and I think you
JO THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
found it very good the Jew's bread, and then to leave
the old Frau alone upon her deathbed! Go home and
read the chapter of the good Samaritan !"
She turned round and went into the house.
She was right, perfectly right 1 Every word she said
found an echo in my heart, and lightened it of its bitter-
ness. I was greatly incensed, and yet I pitied the poor
fellow as he stood there almost crushed, with downcast
eyes, not daring to enter the house. How could it be f
This man, whose heart was as tender as a child's, who
would not hurt a fly, suddenly developed a vein in his
character of harshness and implacability, actually believ-
ing that he was fully justified, nay, authorized as a
Chritian, in so doing!
" Heinz, you've done very wrong," I said, severely, to
him.
" Ah, little Princess, how can I tell what's right ?" he
sighed, and the tears stood in his eyes. "It's a mortal
sin before God if I don't obey the pastor, and now Use
says I'm a bad fellow because I do obey him."
" Use is always right, you certainly ought to have
known that," I said, no longer able to maintain the tone
of severity that I had adopted. Crude as my thoughts
were, I could understand that there was not one spark of
cruelty in his nature; he had been systematically inocu-
lated with it.
I gazed up into the sky, the bright light that flooded
everything was balm to my burdened heart, and for the
first time, having witnessed death in the night, I grasped
the glorious idea of the resurrection.
I took Heinz's hand between mv own. "You must not
stand out here in the yard," I said. " Come in with me.
Use will soon be kind again, and my poor, dear grand
n? other has long forgiven you, she is in heaven !"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 71
"God knows how sorry I am for the old Frau I" he
murmured; and let me lead him into the Fleet like a little
child.
Use was in the courtyard: she placed her bucket in
the trough of the pump and raised the pump-handle,
but, at the first sound it made, she dropped it aud grew
ashy pale. " Oh, God ! I cannot hear that!" she sobbed.
She came in, dropped into a chair, and hid her eyes
with her apron. But her agitation lasted only a minute.
" What folly is this 1" she said, harshly, sat upright,
and smoothed her apron over her knees. " I would gladly
see the old Frau standing by the well once more, where
she so often cooled her poor, hot head, and yet I ought to
thank God that she lies there quiet and peaceful, and is
released from her sufferings."
"Use, was Christine the cause of her suffering?" I
asked, timidly.
She looked sharply at me. "Hm !" she ejaculated, after
a moment's reflection, "you heard that last night. Well, I
may as well tell you that she caused your grandmother
all the suffering that a bad daughter can."
" Ah ! my father has a sister ?" I cried, in amazement.
" A step-sister, child. Your grandmother was married
first to a Jew, who died young, Christine was still in
swaddling-clothes. At the end of two years your grand-
mother had the child and herself baptized, and became
Frau Rathin von Sassen, now you know everything."
" No, Use, not yet, what wrong did Christine do ?"
" She ran away secretly, and joined the play-actors."
" Is that so very bad ?"
" The running away is, of course, you ought to know
that for yourself. As to the play-actors, I never knew
any, and so I can't say whether they are bad or good.
Uave you done now ?"
72 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Use, don't be angry," I said, hesitating. " I want to
tell you something, Christine is very unhappy, she has
lost her voice."
" Aha ! you found the letter, then, and read it, Lenore 1 n
one asked, in her most chilling tone.
I mutely nodded.
"Are you not ashamed of yourself?" she scolded.
** You reproached me with doing my duty in the hour of
grief, while at the same time you were prying into strange
letters that did not in the least concern you. That is the
same as stealing, do you know that ? Besides, I don't
believe one word in the whole letter, rest assured of
that, and be content !"
" No, I cannot be content ! I pity her. Are you really
not going to send her anything ? Ah, Use, I beg you n
" Not a penny, she took more than her share of the
inheritance when she left her home secretly in the night,
and that, too, rankled in that poor old brain in there "
"My grandmother forgave her, Use."
" What need to tell me that ? A mother might forgive
when she was bidding farewell to earth ; but I, who have
witnessed her misery for years, and shared the burden
with her, cannot. Do you suppose there is any truth in
the letter ? Oh, yes, she will fall on her knees, but not
to ask for forgiveness, God forbid ! She has lived long
enough, and comfortably enough, without that. She
wants money ! the money that she loves that is worth
falling on her knees for I"
How deep the feeling must have been that forced such
bitter words from Use, usually so taciturn !
"And now you know why your grandmother never
could endure the chink of money," she continued, drawing
a deep breath. " It can do you no harm to learn what
terrible misfortunes are often caused by those shining
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 78
Jhalers that you saw yesterday for the first time in yout
life. Your grandmother was once the richest lady in
Hanover: her first husband left her full and plenty.
Afterwards, when she married the second time, she loved
her husband too well, and sacrificed everything to him.
She gave up her faith, she dared not take that to him ; but
there is not much fuss made about receiving Jewish
money. Before very long she found out that her husband
cared nothing for her love: her money was all he wanted,
and he scattered it to the winds, he knew well enough
how to do that !"
" Was that my grandfather, Use ? ,?
The ruddy colour suddenly reappeared in all its in ten-
sity of hue upon Use's cheek-bones.
" Now, child, you give me no peace, you would ask
the blue off the sky to see what there was behind it !"
she said, with irritation, getting up from her chair. " But
let me tell you never to come to me with your Christine
again, she is dead as far as I am concerned : remember
that, child ! You need never more think of the wretched
creature, such thoughts do not belong in your young
head 1"
She pushed a cup towards Heinz, who had seated him-
self humbly and silently on a chair, and poured him out
some coffee, but she did not look at him. Then she went
again to the well. I saw her bite her lips as she raised
the pump-handle, but it had to be done. The water
came pouring out until the bucket was full.
But, even if Use were always right, I could not obey
her here. I could not but think of the unhappy Christine !
Why, she was my aunt I My aunt ! It sounded sweet
and good, but far too prosaic for the charming image that
hovered before me. And yet she was older than my
father, more than forty-two years old, how horrible!
7
Y4 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
But all that mattered little : my fancy adorned her with
every grace, she was a singer.
I fled with my overflowing heart to the solitary mound,
and gazed up with aching eyes into the clear, blue sky.
Could she, my dear grandmother, see me sadly sitting
there, she would not be angry that I still thought of
Christine, she had forgiven her.
CHAPTER VIII.
Four weeks had passed since my grandmother's death
I saw her laid in the churchyard of the nearest village
The good old pastor prayed as fervently for the soul of
the departed as if she had been one of the most devoted
of his flock, and Heinz seemed entirely to have forgotten
that within those planks lay a baptized Jewess who had
returned to the faith of her fathers, he wept bitterly.
Already bright summer flowers were blooming on the
freshly-made mound, they burst forth of their own ac-
cord from the dark earth, like lovely visions from those
who slept below, and nodded, bright-eyed, in the sunny air.
It was the most beautiful time of year for the solitary
Dierkhof, which lay in the midst of a cherry-coloured ex-
panse. The heath was coming into bloom, and the b es,
that had hitherto been dallying in the sweet fields of rape-
seed and buckwheat blossoms, were luxuriating upon the
broad, honey-dripping level. Again they hummed sooth-
ingly and beguilingly about the dear old roof, the world-
old, monotonous melody of the moorland ! And such
crowds of my favourites, the blue butterflies, floated hither
and thither that it seemed as if the heavens above
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 75
had been scattered abroad in fragments ; on tbe spots of
sandy waste glittering gold beetles ran to and fro, and
around the flowers, in meadow and garden, fluttered gor-
geous humming-birds and many-coloured butterflies.
Formerly I had chased the butterflies sometimes for
hours on the moor, delighted to observe closely the va-
riety of hues upon their painted wings; but all that was
at an end. I spent much of my time in my grandmother's
room that, with its old-fashioned furniture, brought long
ago from her Jewish home, possessed a mysterious charm
for me. Everything was kept in its former place, not a
chair had been moved : the old clock was regularly wound
up; and that nothing might disturb the belief that the de-
parted still lingered there, Use had replaced the burned
candles in tbe candelabrum with fresh ones.
Sometimes she would open a drawer or a cabinet here
and there for me, they were, for the most part, empty ;
when she fled from the world, my grandmother had left
all that she could behind her. For me every scrap of
paper containing written words, every faded flower, was
an interesting discovery.
In one closet were hanging various articles of dress
which my grandmother had never worn upon the moor.
One day Use selected from among them a black woollen
gown, ripped it, and began to make it up. She had
learned dressmaking in the city; it was her greatest
pride. I was terrified when she requested me to let her
try it on me, it looked like a breastplate.
' Oh, Use, pray don't 1" I protested, with a shiver,
plucking at the neck, which came close up around my
throat, while my elbows threatened to burst the seams of
the sleeves.
" Never mind, you will soon get used to it," she said,
coldly, and went on sewing.
76 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
We were sitting in the courtyard beneath the oaks,
whither I had carried a table and chairs. The quivering
noonday glare was brooding above the plain beyond, but
here it was shady, cool, and quiet; the bees hummed
drowsily, and now and then the young storks would
chatter in their nest. I held in my lap the huge round
brown straw hat that Use, about five years before, had
procured from the city for me, and I was busy, at her
bidding, in stripping from it the pink ribbons that had
been the delight of my eyes.
Heinz returned from the village and laid a letter upon
the table before Use.
My father had replied by letter to the telegraphic de-
spatch announcing my grandmother's death, excusing
himself from attending the funeral upon the plea of seri-
ous illness. Since then there had been a tolerably lively
correspondence between Use and himself; what it was
about I did not know, I was not allowed to see one line
of it, but I knew that scarcely five days had elapsed be-
tween Use's last letter and my father's reply, which she
now read to herself before me.
" Nothing in it !" she said, putting it into her pocket.
" Day after to-morrow we leave, that's decided 1"
Hat and scissors fell from my hands.
" We leave 1" I repeated, in dismay. " You are going
away with Heinz ? And you will leave me utterly alone
at the Dierkhof ?"
"That would be lively for the poor Dierkhof 1" she
cried, and for the first time since my grandmother's death
a faint smile hovered upon her lips. " Foolish child, it is
you who are going away !"
I rose and pushed back my chair so hastily that it fell
over with a clatter.
" I ? Where to ?" I ejaculated.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. fj
11 To the city," was the laconic reply.
The vast, sunny moorland, the vigorous, rustling oaks
above me, vanished, the wretched, dark back room
opened before me, and I looked out upon the damp,
barren garden inclosed within high houses.
" And what am I to do in the city ?" I feebly asked
" Learn "
" I will not go, Use, you may rely upon it," I declared,
with decision, struggling the while with bitter, scalding
tears. " Do with me what you will, you shall see how,
when it comes to the last, I will cling to the very door-
posts. Could you have the heart to tear me away ?"
In despair, I shook Heinz by the sleeve as he stood with
his mouth open like a pillar of stone. " Do you hear ? I
am to go away. Heinz, will you allow it?"
" Is it really true, Use ?" he asked, in distress, clasp-
ing his hard, rough hands.
" Just hearken to these two children 1 they really be-
have as if the little one's throat were to be cut !" she
said, but I could see perfectly well that she was far from
unmoved by my violent outburst. "Do you suppose,
Heinz, that this can go on forever, that the child can wan-
der about the moor like a heathen all day long, and come
home to me in the evening, barefoot, with her stockings
and shoes in her hand ? She knows nothing, and under-
stands nothing, but runs like a hare if a stranger crosses
her path. What will become of her? Be reasonable,
Lienore," she said, drawing me down into her lap like a
little child. " I am going to take you to your father.
Stay away two years and learn what you should, and
then, if you do not like it, you shall come back, and we
will live together always, hey ?"
Two years 1 Why, it was an eternity 1 Twice over the
heather would bloom, the storks would depart and return
7*
T8 THE LITTLE MOORLAND rRINCESS.
twice, and I not at the Dierkhof 1 I should be immured
within four dull walls, knitting stockings, writing exer-
cises, or learning Bible-texts by heart 1 I shuddered and
shook myself, every fibre of my body was steeled to re*
sistance and energetic opposition.
" Use, let me be buried deep at once in the church-
yard 1" I exclaimed. " You shall not take me back to
that horrible back room !"
" What nonsense 1" she interrupted me. " Do you
suppose your father carries it about with him in his
trunk ? He has moved away from there, and everything
is different. He lives now in K ."
In an instant there rose before me a vision of a head
covered with brown curls and a dazzling white forehead,
it always came thus unexpectedly, and each time
frightened me so that the blood rose to my temples.
" My father does not want me," I said, hiding my face
on Use's neck.
" We shall see," she replied, with an ill-suppressed sigh,
but she threw back her head, and pushed me from her.
" Must it really be ? Oh, Use "
"It must be, child. And now be quiet, and don't
make my life a burden. Think of your grandmother,-
it was her wish."
And she sewed the second sleeve into the black gown
with renewed diligence; but Heinz dropped his extin-
guished pipe into his pocket and slipped away. Towards
evening I saw him sitting over on the old Hun mound;
his hands were resting on bis knees, and he was gazing
fixedly into space. I ran over there and sat down beside
him ; the tears that Use's stern presence had controlled
burst forth unrestrainedly. The blue sky above us did
not often witness such grief at parting.
The next day the dwelling-room looked forlorn. A
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 1%
buge wooden chest stood upon the floor, and Use was
packing it.
" There, look here !" she said, holding towards me a
bundle of coarse, gaily checked bed-coverings. " Are
they not splendid ? There is real stuff in them ! Those
cobwebs that your grandmother slept upon I never could
endure."
She pushed contemptuously aside a pile of very fine
embroidered linen sheets. " You shall take these new
coverings with you : I have spun them from time to
time for the Dierkhof. Keep them nice 1"
And a quantity of stiff woollen stockings took up con*
siderable room in the trunk. For years Use had been
accumulating all sorts of supplies for me, and now they
were to be displayed to the world. Colossal feather-beds
were tied up into as small a compass as possible, and
sewed in bagging, a huge piece of luggage.
All this preparation made my heart sore, and yet there
were moments when my youthful soul was thrilled with
expectation, when hope dawned brightly for an instant;
but it was gone like lightning, and by a train of thought
that was odd enough, my eyes then glanced down timidly
at my shoes. They were well worn, and accorded liberal
space for my feet I trod upon them as heavily as I pos-
sibly could, and sought to soothe my anxious mind with
the undeniable certainty that the nails did not make half
so loud a clatter as they had produced a few weeks be-
fore But this did not always suffice, and gradually my
uneasiness brought me to the point of preferring a humble
request that Use would buy me a new pair of shoes upon
our journey. This was characteristically received. She
took off one of my shoes and held it towards the light.
"It would be hard to find such stitching and such
Holes," said she. " Those shoes will do to dance in
80 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
for two years to come! There's no need of any new
ones."
And there was an end of the matter.
At last the morning actually arrived when I was to
leave my beloved Dierkhof. By four o'clock I was run-
ning about the dewy moor ; I opened wide my arms
above the blooming heather towards the misty peat-marsh,
and shook the good old fir so violently by way of fare-
well that the last dry needles of the previous year came
fluttering down upon my tossing hair. Spitz ran by my
side in high gloe ; he thought all my wild antics were in-
tended to make play for him. I wove a gay garland and
hung it upon Molly's horns ; she looked up sleepily, too
comfortable to low gently by way of thanks or adieu.
Then Use put on me my new black dress, and tied
around my neck a huge, snow-white linen ruffle from
my grandmother's wardrobe, upon which my brown head
lay like a ripe hazel-nut upon a little heap of snow.
Above it arched the immense brown straw hat which Use
had trimmed with a black ribbon. I must have presented
an extraordinary appearance, not unlike the little toad-
stools with their huge hats which I had always thought
so comical.
After I had swallowed my coffee, well diluted with
tears, Use produced a bandbox, from which she took,
with great solemnity and with the tips of her fingers, a
purple silk bonnet. " This was my Sunday bonnet in
Hanover," she said, going to the mirror and putting the
silken roof carefully upon the top of her head. " In the
city one can't go out in the street without a bonnet ; it
does not do."
I looked shyly up at her. The idea of fashion, of
course, could not enter my mind. I never dreamed that
beyond the moor there was in existence a power to which
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. %\
human beings subjected themselves without a will of
tbeir own, defacing and altering their exterior forms ac
cording to its whim and pleasure. Therefore my respect
for the beak-like shape of Use's bonnet was undiminished,
but her head-covering certainly had suffered both in colour
and gloss during its twenty years of seclusion in the band-
box. Use did not seem to think so, however. She twisted
the discoloured pansies about, above her frizzled yellow
hair, tossed the hanging strings back over her shoulders,
put on a large black woollen shawl, and was ready to go.
Heinz and a man from the nearest village carried the
luggage. Gently but firmly Use led me out of the door
when my feet lingered upon the threshold. I heard the
key turn in the lock behind me. Use drove back the
ducks and hens that would have followed us; thev
quacked and clucked, while Molly lowed softly from her
imprisonment in the barn. Ah, the grated gate was closed
and bolted behind me, and I wandered away from my
childhood's paradise by the same path that Fraulein
Streit had taken years before I
How I took leave of Heinz I cannot tell. There still
hangs a veiling mist of tears over that sunny morning of
my departure. I only know that I threw both arms
around the kindly old fellow, and buried my face in his
shabby linen coat, in spite of the broad, stiff brim of my
hat, add that he, in the midst of the gaping village youth,
kept his face hidden in his blue checked handkerchief
while I mounted to the seat of the vehicle that was ta
convey us to the nearest railway station.
02 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
CHAPTER IX
It was high noon when, stiff and exhausted, we ar-
rived at the railway depot in K , after having passed
half of the previous day and all the night in the cars.
The novel impressions of the journey had almost over*
powered me. The sun was just above our heads; it
Seemed determined to scorch up the snorting train, the*
crowded city ; and our insignificant selves.
" To Doctor von Sassen's I" Use said, with a command-
ing air, to two men who were piling our luggage upon a
hand-cart.
" Don't know him," said one of them.
Use told the number of the house.
" Oh, the great seed-house, Claudius & Co. I" he said,
respectfully, and the cart rolled away.
A stifling cloud of dust enveloped us upon the journey
from the depot to the town, and it lay like ashes upon th6
grass around and the pretty slender chestnut-trees above
our heads. Here, at least, there was a breath of air, but
as we entered the streets a sultry mephitic atmosphere
received us. Oh, for the purple level at home, the re-
freshing moorland breeze, and the cool, rustling oaks
around the Dierkhof I
" This is too terrible, Use I" I gasped, as she seized my
hand and dragged me to the pavement, when a carriage
rolled around the corner.
Hitherto we had met only few people, the noonday heat
causing the streets to bo silent and deserted. Now the
sound of drums and lifes was heard.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 88
"The guards!" said Use, listening with a pleased
smile, perhaps old Hanoverian memories of five-and*
twenty years before were stirring within her.
The sound drew nearer, and presently a crowd of people
came pouring along the street.
" Ho, look at them ! look at them ! They've been hang-
ing up in the closet a hundred years 1" shouted a boy,
standing just in front of Use. He twisted his fingers
together on the top of bis head in imitation of the shape
of her bonnet, and made a face. Every one laughed, and
even the two men with our luggage grinned.
" Rabble of boys !" Use said, scornfully, holding her-
self particularly stiff and straight, while to my infinite
relief we turned aside into a quieter street. " In Han-^
over the people are better mannered. I never saw such
behaviour before !"
Every nerve in my body quivered, and I was over-
come with profound depression. Use, whom I held in
such sacred respect, had been insulted. I pressed her
hand, which had hitherto guided and protected me, caress-
ingly and tenderly to my cheek, and walked on mechani-
cally by her side.
The noise of the parade died away in the distance, and
the men before us at last halted in a secluded, quiet street
of very imposing mansions, just before a gloomy building
of stone. Its basement windows were all grated, and a
high flight of steps, provided with an elegant iron railing,
led up to the principal door of entrance. The old house,
with its massive front towards the north, might well have
impressed me, but I shrank back from the grated win-
dows, from the discoloured stones, where no sunlight ever
fell, and the heavy oaken door, richly carved and fluted,
with its huge, shining brass knobs, stared at me like some
gloomy, dreary riddle.
84 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Oh, Use, Use, you see I was right about the back
room I" I cried, in despair. " Let us return I"
" Wait," she said, and urged rne up the steps. The
men took the trunks upon their shoulders and stood be-
hind us. Use rang. Instantly the door was slowly
opened, and an old man admitted us to a spacious and
lofty hall. The floor beneath our feet was a mosaic of
polished marble ; the broad, winding staircase in tho
background was of marble, as well as the two huge pil-
lars that formed an arch overhead in the midst of the hall.
This marble made the place delightfully cool, but it was
all in shadow, pervaded by a dim, religious light that
even the sunshine that streamed in at the top of the stairs
could not brighten.
" Claudius & Co.?" asked Use.
The man nodded stiffly, stepping back with evident
reluctance to allow the heavily-laden porters to enter.
" Doctor von Sassen lives here ?"
"No, not here," he replied, advancing again to bar the
way. " Herr von Sassen lives in the Karolinenlust. You
must turn round the street corner to your right "
" Gracious heavens I must we go out into that fearful
heat again ?" Use groaned, with a side glance at me.
" I am sorry," said the old man, with a cold shrug,
"but you cannot go through this house; and these men
ought to know that there is a side street and door for such
clumsy luggage as this," he added, pointing at it.
As he raised his voice in remonstrance a dog began to
bark angrily in the background of the hall, where a few
steps led down to a door. Upon these steps stood an
old lady, in a black silk dress, and cap trimmed with
gay ribbons, carefully wiping with a cloth the little
paws of a pretty greyhouid that had just come in from
outside.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 85
"Let them go through, Erdmann," she called out,
kindly.
11 But, Fraulein Fliedner, just look at the dust," he said,
in a tone of distress, as if there were danger of our cov-
ering the polished floor with all the ashes of Vesuvius
from our clothes and shoes ; " and if Herr Claudius
should be in the back office and see them going across the
yard, what will he say, Fraulein Fliedner ?"
" I will send Dora down with a broom," she said, " and
I will take all the blame, if there is any, upon myself.
Besides, Herr Claudius is certainly not in the back office ;
he is to drive to Dorotheenthal in five minutes."
And she herself opened the door of the courtyard and
beckoned to us to pass through the hall. A smile that
she could not quite suppress hovered upon her delicate
features as Use inclined her tower-crowned head in
acknowledgment, but she quickly turned away and as-
cended the steps again, with the growling dog in her
arms.
"A sensible woman," said Use to herself with satisfac-
tion, as the door closed behind us.
The word "yard" had fairly electrified me. There in*
stantlv fluttered before me all the feathered inhabitants of
the Dierkhof, but nothing like them was to be seen in the
great blank square upon which we entered. It was formed
by the principal house, two long side wings at right angles
to it, and a wall at the back. There was a large, open
gateway in the left wing, through which the houses in
the neighbouring streets were to be seen. A number of
new wooden boxes were piled up on the clean-swept
pavement, and the total absence of curtains to the win-
dows of these back buildings designated them as the
business part of the house of Claudius & Co.
Just as we entered the yard a groom was leading
8
St THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRWCES8.
pair of fiery horses from the stable towards a glittering
barouche that stood before the carriage-house.
The men with our Inggage went straight towards a gate
in the wall opposite us, and we followed them.
" Where are those people going ?" a voice suddenly
called after us in a rather displeased tone.
I drew my hat down over my eyes, and took good care
not to turn my head. I instantly recognized the voice of
the old gentleman in the brown hat, although it was not
as gentle as it had been four weeks before on the moor.
Then he was in the back office, and now " what would he
say?" as the old man in the ball had remarked. The
two men halted as at the word of command, not ventur-
ing to go a step farther ; but Use was determined.
" We wish to go to Herr von Sassen's ; may we pass
through here ?" she asked, politely.
No answer was returned, but the gentleman must have
made some assenting gesture, for Use opened the gate
without delay, and the porters passed through. Again,
as on the morning before at the Dierkhof, she had to push
me over the threshold, for I stood transfixed. My eyes,
accustomed only to the uniform grayish-brown or purple
of the moorland, roamed in utter bewilderment over the
sea of colour that actually flooded the wide space before
me. It was impossible for me to believe that those rich
streams of variegated or delicately-shaded hues were in
reality only thickly- planted flower-beds. For the first
time I began to understand how human fancy could have
conceived the world of fairy lore ; this exquisite field of
flowers floated like a lovely enchanted island in the midst
of the novel world, which bad hitherto seemed to me so
odious and dusty.
Just at my feet there was a large bed of heliotrope ; a
strong fragrance of vanilla made the air around heavy ; I
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 81
became, as it were, intoxicated. The hot, dusty streets,
the tiresome journey, the noisy parade, the jeering rab-
ble, and my horror of the dreary back room were all for-
gotten. My hat was no longer pulled firmly down upon
my head, I threw it high into the air.
" Oh, Use, I should like to lie down and bury myself
among these flowers !" I cried, in delight.
" You are quite capable of it," she said, dryly, retain-
ing me by her side.
The uninterrupted hum of bees and the babbling of
distant water were all that disturbed the silence and soli-
tude of the garden. The birds bad silently withdrawn to
the cool shade of the bushes, aud human beings were en-
joying their noonday repose. One elderly man only, in
the dress of a gardener, came out of a green-house as we
passed, and showed the porters the nearest way to the
"Karolinenlust." Use thanked him.
We reached a stream spanned by a pretty iron bridge ;
it formed the boundary of tbe large flower-garden ; the
opposite bank was clothed with luxuriant shrubbery,
which, where it parted, showed glimpses of shady velvet
lawn planted with groups of trees, and intersected by
well-kept gravel-walks.
I started and fled behind Use when we had crossed the
bridge, for a laugh greeted our ears, the same melo-
dious laugh that I had heard at the mound four weeks
before, and which I knew I never should forget as long
as I lived. I dreaded it in spite of its melody, for where-
evcr it was there were the disdainful eyes that inspired
me with such terror. Use's broad, bony figure entirely
hid my diminutive person; so we passed on through
shady alleys and cool groves. Loud exclamations, laugh-
ter, and ringing, girlish voices sounded more and more
distinctly, until we suddenly saw gay-coloured rings
^88 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
flying through the air above the gravel- walk upon which
we had just entered.
One of the rings went astray and flew in among the
shrubbery. A young, delicate lady and a slender man in
light summer costume pursued it with lifted arms and
sticks held high in the air ; together they plunged deep
into the bushes where it had disappeared. The slender
man was Herr Claudius, and the girl running beside him
with swift, delicately-shod feet, and loose, floating hair,
seemed utterly odious to me with her silvery laughter,
although I had not even seen her face. I felt very oddly.
I was vexed, yet knew not why, and I breathed easier,
with a sense of relief, when I saw I could slip past with*
out meeting the young gentleman.
I peeped out from behind Use, and saw several other
ladies standing about, one overtopping them all, a tall,
strongly-made figure in a white dress, over which she had
thrown a flame-coloured jacket embroidered with gold.
There was something bold in her gestures, and yet again
something of proud indifference, the result of conscious-
ness of power and great self-possession.
"All good spirits, praise the Lord !" she cried, with a
mock air of fright, as Use, followed by the porters, came
in sight, and then she gave way to a thoughtless burst of
laughter.
Use turned with a look of intelligence and glanced at
the bundle of bedding that rocked ridiculously to and fro
upon the porter's head.
In an instant all the ladies surrounded us.
Good gracious, Lenore I what are you pulling at my
skirts for, and hanging back like a small child ?" Use re-
monstrated, shaking me off and then dragging me for*
ward.
How ashgjnecl J wq,s ! In one hand I held my l^t and
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 89
in the other the huge white ruffle which, Heaven only
knows how or when, I had taken off of my neck. If I
had been standing in the pillory, my shy face could not
have worked and flushed more painfully than it did, ex-
posed to the fire of all those strange, curious eyes.
" Oh, a little gipsy I" two voices cried at the same time,
as I raised my eyes.
"Oh, yes, why not? a gipsy girl!" said Use, greatly
offended. " She is Herr von Sassen's own child."
"What! has that mummy any children?" the tall
young lady interrupted her, and her red lips quivered
with suppressed irritation. But the others drew back a
little and regarded me differently, with a kind of amiable
respect.
At this moment the young gentleman returned to
the open space where we were. I looked down at my
shoes, as they sprawled their clumsy proportions upon
the gravel, and then I pulled at the skirt of my black
dress, to lengthen it, if I might, by even a fraction of an
inch.
As he came across the grass, the young man gracefully
tossed up the ring and caught it repeatedly, in spite of
all the endeavours of the young lady at his side to catch
the pretty thing in her own white hands. Suddenly he
saw me, he started, and. contracted his eyebrows over his
large brown eyes in a gaze of scrutiny; then he came
directly towards me.
" What ! by Jove ! here is the little moorland Prin-
cess !" he cried, in amazement.
" Who ?" asked the tall young lady, surprised.
"Why, you know, Charlotte, the little moorland Prin-
cess I told you about ! the barefooted little creature that
slipped through the heather like a lizard, a lizard, to be
sure, with the Princess's crown !" He birst into a laugh,
8*
90 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"How in all the world did the little pearl-seller come
Here ?"
The want of consideration with which he criticised me
in my presence, and the haughty young man's astonish-
ment at finding me in his garden, destroyed every remnant
of my self-consciousness, and the designation of " pearl-
seller" made my blood boil.
" It is not true 1" I declared. $t I did not sell you the
pearls. You know well that I threw your thalers on the
ground 1 '
Charlotte smiled, and came hastily towards me with
sparkling eyes.
" Oh, how charming ! the child is proud !" she cried ;
then stooping she stroked back my hair with her long,
soft hand, much as one would stroke a pretty little
poodle. " What do you think of the astounding news,
Dagobert?" she asked the young gentleman. "The
mummy has human ties ; this pretty creature is a daugh-
ter of Doctor von Sassen."
" Impossible !" And he recoiled in blank astonishment.
"Well, and what is there so amazing in that?" Use
interposed, dryly. " Do you suppose that because the
child has not such gay gear aa that over her shoulders,"
and she pointed to Charlotte's jacket, "she cannot come
of distinguished folk?"
The young lady laughed elfishly ; the cutting reproof
seemed to afford her intense amusement.
"Bub what a figure you are, Lenore !" Use said, scold-
i Q gly to me. " You had better take off your shoes and
stockings, too 1" She put the ruffle around my neck,
smoothed my hair with her hands, and tied on my hat.
I looked timidly round at the circle of ladies. I had
suddenly become perfectly aware of the ridiculous figure
I presented beside them ; they would surely laugh, but
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 91
not one smiled ; on the contrary, they looked on as seri-
ously as if at the toilet of a genuine princess. Only upon
Charlotte's lips there flitted an irrepressible expression
of merriment.
" Poor victim 1" she said, in tones of profound compas-
sion. " But how is it, then ; is the little moorland Prin*
cess to stay with her papa ?" she added, gaily.
"Of course," Use replied, categorically. " Whom else
should she stay with ? May we beg to be allowed to
proceed ? we are very tired. Is that the ' Karolinenlust,'
or whatever they call it, at last ?" she asked, pointing to
a faint white streak that glimmered through the trees and
bushes.
" I will conduct you thither," said the young gentle-
man, very courteously. He was entirely transformed ;
even his eyes, that had before looked continually and with
undisguised amusement at Use's unfortunate head-gear,
were not allowed one mocking glance.
My heart swelled within me. What a man my father
must be when his mere name sufficed to obtain such re-
spectful attention for Use and myself 1 The ladies retired,
bidding us farewell, and, accompanied by the young gen-
tleman, we crossed the open space and entered the yew
grove.
8 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
CHAPTER X.
There was only a short path through the cool, green
shade. I walked along it with a wildly-throbbing heart.
Use strode on boldly, never turning round. But scarcely
had the girlish forms vanished behind the trees when the
young man hastily stooped, and, gazing full and archly
into my eyes, asked, in a half-suppressed voice, " Is the
little moorland Princess still angry with me ?"
I shook my head. How strange that a few whispered
words should so thrill one to the very core of one's
being
Suddenly there lay before us the " Karolinenlust." I
should not have been in the least surprised if Frau Holle
had nodded to me from one of the lofty windows, and
told me to shake up her feather-beds and sweep out her
rooms. There was already a spell upon me, and the
building before us was by no means calculated to break
it and set me free. What did I know then of renaissance
and baroque I No knowledge of the strict rules of art
disturbed the enchantment around me. I only saw lines
of beauty and grace cleaving the air as if moulded of
wax, not of stone. I saw pillars, pilasters, and cornices
wreathed together by lavish garlands of fruit and flowers,
and from among them gleamed broad, mirror-like win-
dows, a rococo chateau loaded with ornament, as only
such a building, in the taste of the last century, could be.
It was reflected in the glassy water that lay at its feet,
surrounded by a perforated stone railing. This por.d
and a green lawn, spreading from it like a fan, and
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 93
Adorned with white statues and stiff pyramids of yew,
filled all the open space in front, which was surrounded
by a broad, gravelled road, across which a deep woodland
shade was thrown. Like a pearl in a green billow, the
little castle lay embosomed in the forest that climbed the
mountain in the background. As we emerged from the
bushes, a silver pheasant hopped almost across our feet,
and before the portico, in the cool shadow of the house, a
peacock was strutting, spreading abroad his jewelled
plumage, while an ash-coloured crane stood immovably
upon one leg upon the brink of the pond, his bald, red
head inclining forward upon his breast. He came gravely
up to us, and danced about upon the tips of his toes with
the most ridiculous air, as if he were master of ceremo-
nies to the villa, miracle upon miracle for my unaccus-
tomed eyes !
In an open hall on the ground floor the porters put
down our luggage ; they departed, and then we mounted
a staircase. In the first story we passed by lofty doors,
strangely enough closed and sealed up, broad white
strips of paper were pasted over the locks of the folding-
doors, like a silencing finger upon two lips.
We made a pause in the second story. The young
gentleman opened a door and we entered, while he with
a courteous inclination withdrew, closing the door noise
lessly behind us.
I was suddenly overcome with mortal trepidation. I
had known well enough at home that my father did not
want me, that I should be a burden to him, which he
would gladly leave forever on the moor; and the surprise
at my existence that I everywhere encountered con-
firmed my belief that he had never mentioned his child.
And now here I stood in his room as importunate as it
was possible to be, looking with 3cared eyes into the
94 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS,
world in which he lived and laboured. How Strang*
and incomprehensible was everything that I beheld I The
walls of the spacious apartment in which we stood were
lined with books from floor to ceiling, as many books, I
thought, as there were stalks of heather on the moor.
There was only room for four tall windows, hung with
green cloth curtains, and two doors. The door to the
left was wide open into a second apartment, with a sky-
light. The sunshine streamed dazzlingly down through
a large, deep window in the ceiling, upon white extended
limbs, upon a fierce, menacing figure, wielding a huge
club, and upon the images also of lovely women in softy
flowing robes.
In one of the window-recesses of the back room stood
a writing-table, at which a gentleman was sitting writing.
He did not notice our entrance, for as we stood for a mo-
ment motionless, just inside the door, we heard the con-
tinual scratching of his pen, and it caused me a nervous
shiver. I don't know whether she felt the strangeness and
novelty of the surroundings, or the same feeling that pos-
sessed me, fear of my father, but Use, the decided,
strong-minded Use, hesitated for a moment, and then
resolutely took my hand and led me to the window.
" Good-day to you, Herr Doctor ; here we are !" To me
that sonorous voice, although it trembled slightly, re-
sounded like a thunderclap from the quiet walls.
My father started from among his heaps of papers and
stared at us ; then he sprang up as if electrified.
" Use I" he cried, in undisguised alarm.
"Yes, Use, Herr Doctor," she said, quietly. "And
here is Lenore, your only child, who has not seen her
father for fourteen years. It is a long time, Herr Doctor,
and it would be no wonder if you should not recogni;
ach other."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 95
He said not a word for a minute, but passed his hand
repeatedly across his brow, as if in an effort to collect his
thoughts and understand our presence there. He gently
pushed back my hat and looked into my eyes, and I
thought with an inward tremor that there certainly could
not be many faces as thin and shrivelled as my father's ;
Btill he had my grandmother's fine eyes.
" And you are Lenore ?" he said, very gently kissing
my forehead. " She is small, Use, smaller than my wife
was, I think." He sighed profoundly. " How old is the
child ?"
41 Seventeen years, Herr Doctor; I wrote you so twice."
" Ah, indeed I" he said, again passing his hand across
his brow, and then clasping his hands so tightly that the
joints cracked ; he was the perfect picture of a man sud-
denly awakened from a dream and confronted with prosaic
reality.
"You are tired, my child; forgive me for letting you
stand so long," he said to me, with extreme courtesy,
after he had once walked rapidly to and fro. A large
table, covered with books and papers, stood in the centre
of the room ; my father pushed towards us two of the
arm-chairs that were placed around it.
" Be careful, my dear Use, let me entreat you 1" he
cried, hastily, as she thoughtlessly placed her knitting-
basket upon a sheet of manuscript lying on the table.
His thin hands trembled as he removed the basket, and
no tender mother could examine the features of her invalid
darling more eagerly than my father examined the ap-
parently ancient paper after it had been relieved from the
unaccustomed contact.
I looked at Use ; her face was immovable. Evidently
he knew my father's eccentricities of old.
"Come, rest yourself a little," he said, when he saw
96 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
that ] hesitated to sit down ; " then we will go to tho
hotel "
" To the hotel, Herr Doctor ?" Use composedly asked.
" What should the child do at an inn ? It would cost
you a pretty penny to keep her there for two years."
My father actually staggered backwards. " Two
years ? What are you talking about, Use ?"
"lam only saying what I have been writing to you
foi ten years ; here we are, bag and baggage. Once for
all, the child shall not run wild on the moor! Look at
Lenore ! She can hardly read ; as for her writing-
Lord have mercy on us! you should see what work she
makes of it. She can climb trees, and peep into birds'
nests, but not a decent stitch can she sew, or knit a row
upon a stocking; all I could do I never could teach her.
And she runs from a stranger as from a dragon, with-
out even a civil ' good-day. } And this is Herr von
Sassen's only child ! Your wife would turn in. her grave
if she knew it."
It uever occurred to my father to turn and scrutinize
my small person at this description.
" Good heavens, all this may be perfectly true !" he'
cried, running both hands through his hair in desperation.
" But what under the sun, Use, can 7 do with the child V f
Hitherto I had remained a silent auditor of what was
said ; but now I rose.
" Oh, how terrible all this is !" I cried, my voice trem-
bling with pain and grief. " Do not be disturbed, father,
you shall never see me again. I will go away this in-
stant, and, if needs must, I will run back alone to the
moor ; Heinz is there, and he will surely be glad to see
me. And I will be diligent, too, father, you may rely
upon it, I will knit and sew, oh, you shall see I will not
be a burden to you !"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 97
" Be quiet, child," said Use, rising hastily, her eyea
brimming over.
But I was held in a close embrace ; I was folded to my
father's heart. He took off my hat, threw it on the floor,
and pressed my head lovingly to his breast.
"No, no, my child, my poor little Lorchen, I did not
mean that!" he said, soothingly, much agitated. Strangely
enough it seemed as if my words had first impressed him
with the true state of the case. " You shall stav with
me. Why, Use, the child has my wife's voice ; it is just
as sweet and clear. She shall stay with me ; she shall
not go back to the moor, that is settled ! But, my dear
Use, how is the matter to be arranged ? This is not my
home ; I am only a guest here for an uncertain period of
time. Now, what is to be done ?"
" Let me manage all that, Herr Doctor," Use replied,
quite in her element once more. "I can easily stay away
a week from the Dierkhof, even although Heinz should
make a few blunders meanwhile. I will arrange every-
thing. A.nd the child does not come quite empty-handed,
either."
She took a paper from her basket and handed it to my
father ; it was my grandmother's last will.
I raised my head from his breast and gave him her
farewell messages of love.
" She did not die insane, my poor mother?" he asked.
" No," said Use. " She was as much herself as in her
beet days, and put her house in order before she left the
world. Only read it. It was not written by a lawyer,
but she thought you would respect her last will "
" Of course ! of course !" He opened the paper and ran
over the first lines. " That is as it should be, my dear
ltee, the Dierkhof belongs to you of right."
" Do you really think so, Herr Doctor ? If I were in
G 9
98 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
your place I should think, 'Aha! Use stuck to t be old
Prau in hopes of getting that fine farm.'"
" I never thought of such a ..."
"But I did. I shall not take the Dierkhof. With
your permission, it belongs to the child. She must have
a refuge, a spot of her own to retire to if she is not con-
tent in the great world. If I may stay at the Dierkhof,
and you let me keep it in order as long as I live, that is
quite enough. I would have torn that paper in pieces as
soon as my poor mistress closed her eyes, but I did not
dare to, for there is more written on it."
My father read further. " What ! was there still soma
property there, then ?" he said, in extreme surprise. " You
always wrote me that my mother lived solely upon her
annuity and the insignificant income of the Dierkhof."
" And that was perfectly true, Herr Doctor. At first
some extra sums came in now and then, but I know
next to nothing of such matters, and as soon as madame
stopped writing her own letters, not another groschen
was received. The doctor explained to me that the little
pieces of printed paper must be cut off and given up
when you want the interest upon them."
" Did you bring the papers with you ?"
"Yes," she said, with sudden hesitation and reluctance.
" But, Herr Doctor, I must tell you that they are not to
be expended immediately ; like," and she nodded signifi-
cantly towards the adjoining apartment, " the packages of
money that madame used to send you from Hanover."
A flush rose to my father's sunken cheeks, and he cast
down his eyes as if he had been caught in some mischief.
" No, no 1" he protested, eagerly. " Do not be afraid,
the money belongs to Lenore."
"And you will collect it correctly ? And punctual!?
every quarter "
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. &
"No, Use, that I cannot do I" he interrupted her in
dismay. "I cannot possibly have anything to do with
money matters. I am so thoroughly occupied with my
profession M
" Oh, don't take any trouble about it, we will manage
it all, Herr Doctor," she said, not without a certain re-
lief in her tone, as I could not help noticing. "And
now, what is to be done ? We cannot stay in the large
room in there. I see no wardrobe or closet"
"I will take you down to my rooms, only have
patience for one little moment ! I merely want to put away
my manuscript."
He went to his table, and, with his head bent thought*
fully, began to turn over the papers upon it. He repeat-
edly passed his hand across his brow, stroked his thin
3?ray beard, and finally sank down slowly into the arm-
chair, seized a pen and began to write.
Use, meanwhile, went into the next apartment, and I
followed her. I can appreciate now the figures that we
presented in the antique cabinet, and the sensations with
which I then regarded the objects of art, to which, of
course, I could give no name. They stood and lay about
in utter confusion, awaiting fit arrangement, so much
was plain. There was a gleam of marble from chests
packed with straw. Pompeian bronzes and antique terra
cotta stood on tables ; half-broken clay ornaments with
traces of colour, to which I paid no heed, lay on the floor.
Many things seemed broken or fragmentary. On top of a
closed chest lay a female figure without hands or feet.
What did I know of a torso ?
11 Could all this be believed possible ?" Use murmured
indignantly, almost angrily. " Nearly half the Jacob
Bonn property in such broken rubbish as this 1"
It was quite incomprehensible to me, too ; but sud
47S95*
100 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PEfNCESS.
denly I stood chained to the spot, and unconsciously
there dawned within me the first dim perception of the
wonders, the immense power of art. Leaning back
against the trunk of a tree lay a boy, his left arm raised
and embracing a broken bough, his limbs pervaded
by the gentle natural relaxation of coming slumber. I
gazed motionless for a moment at his beautiful face, the
breath hovered upon the half-closed lips, the closing eye-
lids trembled in half resistance to the sleep that was
weighing them down, and in the drooping hand thin
but muscular the veins were swollen beneath the yellow-
ish skin, there was life in them, a strange pulsing, I
recoiled.
" Don't be afraid, child," said Use. " Though, to be
sure, it is horrible enough ! But just look at your
father. I really believe he has clean forgot that we are
here."
At this moment there was a knock at the door, my
father did not hear it ; he continued to write. The knock
was repeated, and Use replied to it by a loud and distinct
"Come in 1" Just as when we made our entrance, he
looked up bewildered at the lackey in rich livery, who
advanced respectfully towards the writing-table.
" His Highness the Duke sends his cordial regards to
Herr von Sassen, and requests his presence this after-
noon at five o'clock in the yellow chamber," he said, with
a profound reverence.
"Ah, indeed, indeed! I am always at his service!"
my father replied, running his hands through his hair.
The servant glided noiselessly from the room.
"We are still here, Herr Doctor!" cried Use, seeing
bim about to go on writing.
I could not help laughing to myself; but a load seemed
lifted from my breast. I began to understand my father
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 101
Not from indifference or coldness of heart had he forgot-
ten his mother and myself, he simply lived in another
world. I was sure of his affection as long as distance
did not intervene between us. My duty now was to over-
come my wretched timidity and no longer to shrink a*
the sound of my own voice.
" Father," I said, almost as boldly as my model Use,
pointing as I spoke to the sleeping child, whilst my
father, rubbing his hands in almost ridiculous perplexity,
came slowly towards us, "pray don't laugh at me ; but,
indeed, that child must wake up, or take his arm from
around that bough ; the blood is all running down into
his hand."
" I laugh at you, my little Lorchen, because you have
immediately discovered my pearl, my jewel !" he cried,
with evident delight, stroking the yellow marble even more
tenderly than he had caressed my cheek. " Yes, look
well at it, child. It is a glorious work, the artist was
akin to the great Creator of all. And only one in the
world, only this one here. What a prize 1 God only
knows how the fellow came by it 1 There are countless
treasures hidden in the house where I found this price*
less work, only the day before yesterday. In the cellars,
underground, in dark corners and closets, where they
have been thrust away, packed in chests, and forgotten
for forty years at least, a loss to science that cannot be
excused ! Oh, these tradesfolk !"
All this did not sound at all as if be were speaking to
me, the moorland child, who was just having a first dim
glimpse of the realm of art and science ; but his manner
of speech was far more intelligible than the long words
of the Professor at the mound, and the unexpected treas
urea of the " tradesman's" house suddenly had for me tin.
9*
10? TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PUIS CESS,
Bame charm that bad invested the contents of the Hun 'a
grave.
Use gave me a side glance, as if to say, "There, she is
beginning, too ;" but she made no remark, pursuing her
aim after her usual direct fashion. She pointed to her
dusty shoes.
" My feet burn and ache," she said, " and I should be
very glad of a glass of cold water, Herr Doctor."
He smiled, locked up his papers, and conducted us
down to the lower story. As we passed by an open door
we saw a pretty chamber-maid, in a white apron, dusting
the furniture.
" Fraulein Fliedner has had two rooms opened and
prepared for Fraulein von Sassen," she said, respectfully,
to my father. I almost laughed in her face, this same
Fraulein von Sassen had taken a farewell trip barefooted
across the moor the morning before. " Herr Claudius
has driven out to Dorotheenthal," she continued, " and
Fraulein Fliedner does not know what arrangements he
may desire when he returns ; but, in the mean while, she
has seen that what is absolutely necessary is provided.
I have laid two more covers at table, and the dinner is
arranged for two more guests."
My father thanked her and opened the door of his
elegant drawing-room.
Shall I tell of the miracle of the awakening of feminino
instinct that was now manifest in the wild and wanton
child, the miracle by which a thousand tender fibres
stir in a girl's heart as soon as loving duties devolve
upon her? My hands, that had been so often called
" awkward," peeled the potato that was then shyly laid
upon my father's plate ; I sprang up and drew the win-
dow-curtain when a passing sunbeam annoyed him, and
at the end of an . our, upon his return to his beloved
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS 103
library, I called after him not to forget the Duke's ap-
pointment at five o'clock, and asked him whether I had
not better come up to him at the time and remind him.
He turned round in the doorway with beaming eyes.
"I thank you, Use," he cried; "you have brought
back with my child the happy days when I had my little
wife about me I Lorchen, come up for me at five o'clock
punctually ! I am sometimes a little preoccupied, and I
have even, on several occasions, utterly forgotten these
invitations."
He left the room, and Use said, with an air of satisfac-
tion, as she rolled up her jacket-sleeves above her elbows,
" Now affairs will take care of themselves."
CHAPTER XL
Adjoining my father's rooms was the apartment which
Fraulein Fliedner had appropriated to my use, and a
sleeping-room opened into it, this last formed the south-
west corner of the house, and before its two windows
hung heavy, although rather faded, yellow damask cur-
tains. It contained a bed with a yellow silk quilt, and
pillows freshly covered with fragrant linen, an elegant
toilet-table draped with yellow, and in a recess in the
wall there was a wardrobe with claw feet, and inlaid
with coloured woods.
" We don't need their bedding," said Use, dragging
across the threshold, in her strong, bare arms, the gigan-
tic bundle, sewed in bagging, that we had brought with
us. " We have bedding of our own, and good bedding
it is !" She took the fine pillows from the bedstead, eye*
104 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
ing their delicate cases scornfully the while. " A ml is
not that stupid ?" she suddenly exclaimed, surveying the
little room with her arms akimbo. " As the bed is placed
now, you will lie half in the draught from the window
while the wardrobe stands in that sheltered recess. Here,
take hold, child, this must be moved."
We pushed the wardrobe aside. Use clasped her
hands in dismay. " Gracious goodness 1 silk hangings be-
fore the windows, and cobwebs as thick as your finger
behind the wardrobes, and dust an inch deep, fine
housekeeping !"
I thought of the boxes and chests that had been packed
away and forgotten for forty years. Certainly it must
have been quite as long since the spiders in this corner
had been disturbed. But besides the layers of dust and
the many-legged spinners, a small door was revealed.
Use opened it without hesitation, and discovered a steep,
narrow staircase leading to the upper story.
" There was reason in the wardrobe's standing where
it did," said Use, as she closed the door again. " It must
be put back in the same place."
She went out to look for a brush and dust-pan.
I softly reopened the door. Who lived up there ? That
handsome Charlotte, perhaps ? Step by step I ascended.
Suddenly, just to the right, I saw daylight through the
crack of a door corresponding to the one below. Noise-
lessly, as I thought, I opened it, dear me, there was a
loud rustling, and the hinges creaked as if they had
not been oiled for a score of years ! I snatched my hand
from the door-handle, and was within a hair's breadth of
falling down-stairs in my terror. The door slowly swung
open, there was no one in the room, a black silk robe
had been partly hanging over the door-handle, and had
caused the rustle that had so startled me.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 105
The rosy dawn of morning, as I had often welcomed
it upon the moor, seemed to flush all the walls of this
room, which were covered with thickly-plaited piuk gauze ;
bunches of roses were strewed on the soft, gray ground
of the carpet, were embroidered upon the small, armless
chairs, and covered the closely-drawn curtains where, it
is true, they were only the ghosts of roses, the sun had
so bleached them. Near one window stood a toilet-table
covered with silver toilet articles ; except which and the
chairs, there was no other furniture in the room.
I entered cautiously. Pah I it could not have been
swept here for a long time. " Pretty housekeeping !"
Use would have said again. One of the folding-doors to
my left was open, and my glance lighted upon two beds
standing side by side beneath a dark violet canopy. Be*
side one of the beds upon a simple stand stood a large
wicker-basket full of little cushions, over which a green
veil was thrown. Strange, who could be living here ?
Silence, profound and ghostly, reigned in the darkened
room ; not only were the shades drawn down, but the
curtains were also drawn close, and everything looked in
disuse. Oh, now I know I The family to whom all this
belonged were travelling ! For an instant my conscience,
untrained as it was, pricked me. What right had my
small, prying person here ? But, oh ! it was so delightful,
this stolen glimpse of all the strange splendour! Certainly
I was at Erau Holle's, in her castle full of silk and velvet
and silver and gold. There was dust enough to be swept
up, and plenty of beds to be shaken, too. And I was
wandering alone through her halls and chambers en-
tirely alone 1 But I was not in the least afraid. Even
if she were really sitting in the next room, Prau Hollo
in her high-backed chair, with her long teeth and palsied
head,- I would go boldly up to her and courtesy. There
106 tUF LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
needed no great courage for that, none at all ; but I
suddenly screamed so that the high walls echoed, and
clasped my hands over my eyes. I had pushed open the
door. I was no longer alone, Frau Holle was not sitting
there, a little black creature came towards me from the
opposite door.
My heart throbbed wildly as I awaited the stranger's
approach ; I thought she would pull down my hands
from my face and question me ; but silence still reigned,
there was no sound of footsteps on the floor, and I did
not hear the door shut again. With a resolute gesture,
I put a stop to the desperate uncertainty; I looked up.
The black figure still stood upon the opposite threshold ;
ehe slowly took down a, couple of brown hands from her
face, and then tossed back a mass of dark elf-locks from
her forehead, why, that was just what I was doing ray-
self ! I laughed aloud. The opposite wall was one tall
mirror, reaching from floor to ceiling: it well might won-
der at the strange little figure it reflected ! I shook my
curls with another laugh, and entered the room.
It extended the entire depth of the house, and in the
walls fronting south and north there were three tall glass
doors leading out into the open air. They were hung
with blue silk, but the curtains on the south side had
faded to a dirty grayish-white. Life breathed upon me
here from all sides. Little hovering, chubby-cheeked
boys, supporting medallions in their hands, laughed
roguishly at me from the walls, and on the ceiling a group
of lovely female forms were showering down flowers.
There was an immense quantity of rich gilt arabesque
interspersed among and around the gay frescos. The
furniture was white-and-gold, covered with blue silk.
It had been a state apartment, but it was evidently
used as a cosy drawing-room. The furniture was scat-
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 107
tered about so as to give an air of comfort to the whole,
and ill the light of the centre-door upon the north side
stood a large writing-table. It was covered with por-
celain figures and a quantity of pretty articles, of the
use of which I was utterly ignorant. There was a silver
inkstand formed of a number of leaves artistically thrown
together from which the inkstand and sand-box peeped
in the shape of rosebuds. Upon one of the leaves was
engraved a coat-of-arms, surmounted by a crown; and
the same insignia were engraved upon the loose sheets
of paper lying in front of the inkstand. Evidently a
feminine hand had been busy here tiying a pen. " Sidonie,
Princess of K.," was written repeatedly, now and then
interspersed with the names " Claudius" and "Lothar."
I started back. What! were these then royal apart-
ments ? A princess had been sitting at this table and
writing with the gold pen-handle so carelessly thrown
aside I Her little feet had glided over the polished
floor where I was now standing, and her delicate, re-
fined face had looked out of those glass doors ! I was
overcome by timidity again, and without daring to
turn the handle of the next door, I peeped through the
key^-hole, and saw outside, the broad, winding staircase
up which Use and I had been conducted not long before
by the young gentleman. Ah, I was standing behind
one of the doors upon which I had seen the large seal 1
The princess had been obliged to secure her apartments
from all intrusion during her absence by placing seals
upon the doors. And it had not sufficed: I was here
looking with prying eyes at everything that should have
been safe from the glance of a stranger. But my con-
science did not then reproach me. I snatched a fearful
joy, on the contrary, from the thought that the doors
were all sealed up, that no living creature, except perhaps
108 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
an impertinent fly creeping through the key-hole, could
enter here, save only myself alone I
And now I wished to see what had greeted the princess's
eyes when she looked through the glass doors. I pushed
one of the curtains a little aside, and discovered a bal-
cony upon which the door opened, a beautiful little
room without any roof. I had never seen a balcony
before. How delightful to step out of the warm room
into the open air so high above the earth !
Perhaps there was a glimpse of the country to be had
from this balcony through some gap in the trees. I was
bold and reckless enough to turn the key and open the
door a little way; the sultry summer air breathed into
the room, bringing with it delicious odours from the gar-
dens. I put out my head for one moment. Heavens !
there was Use coming from the shrubbery below, with a
long broom over her shoulder. I closed the door, ran like
one possessed through the rooms, and slipped down the
stairs. I had just closed the little door behind me, and
seated myself with as innocent an air as I could assume,
when Use entered.
" I actually had to run back to the yard for this
broom !" she said. " The house here seems like an en-
chanted castle, the doors locked in all directions, and
never a human being to be seen. And I had my own
troubles, too I The chambermaid would scarcely let me
have the broom from sheer respect. I got angry. This
miserable Sunday bonnet, I never want to put it on
again !"
She carefully removed all the dust, turned the key
twice in the lock of the door, and replaced the wardrobe
in its old spot. Then she unsewed my bedding and piled
up the huge feather-beds on the carved bedstead. Oh,
how insolently the red-and-white checked coverlet paraded
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 109
Itself beside the yellow silk damask, and how timidly
the fine linen pillow-cases shrank up beside my sheet-
ing, in which at quite a distance I could count the
threads I
But Use contemplated the work of her hands with
immense satisfaction ; it was stout and strong, no one
could deny that.
"Early to-morrow we \ull go to the other house,"
she said to me, as she took a fresh white ruffle out of
the trunk and laid it on the toilet-table. " From what
your father said to-day, they seem to be sensible people
there."
What did she mean? My father had only referred
indignantly to the neglected chests, and called these
sensible people "tradesfolk."
" Perhaps I can speak to the gentleman himself about
you," she added.
" No, no, Use ! do not, for Heaven's sake 1" I cried.
' If you do, I will run away, and you shall never, never
see mo again !"
SJ opened her eyes wide. "Are you quite right
here ?" she asked, tapping her forehead significantly with
her forefinger.
" Think what you please ; but I will not allow you to
say one word about me to the young gentleman."
" What 1 that young dandy ? That jointed doll of a
man who plays with little hoops ? I never thought of
him 1"
I felt my face flush. Indignation, pain, and shame
pierced my heart like knives. Indeed, Use was some-
times too cross and inconsiderate.
" I mean the gentleman who called after us yesterday
in the yard," she continued.
" Oh, that one !" I said ; " you may speak with him an
10
HO THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
much as you please for all I care, he is old, old as the
Dills I"
" And these are really the people who were on the
moor four weeks ago ?"
I nodded assent.
" And the old one gave you those unlucky thalers V 1
"Yes, Use."
I went to the window and looked out I was on the
point of making myself very ridiculous, tears filled my
eyes. Use knew well that I could not help crying when
she was cross to Heinz; but that was entirely different;
I had loved him since I was a baby, but what had I
to do with the young stranger ? What in the world was
it to me if Use chose to call him a dandy and a jointed
doll ? It was too silly, and yet this abuse irritated me
unaccountably, much more than when Use scolded my
good old Heinz
CHAPTER XII.
How Rtrangely I felt when I awoke the next morning !
The novql impressions of the day before had transformed
me for the time. I had gone to sleep in a kind of intoxi-
cation 5 now that the light of day shone bright and clear,
and I was restored by rest to my old self, I was once
again the timid little lizard, ready to hide away in any
dark corner from human eyes.
In the midst of my rather depressing meditations, a
little bird chirped and twittered consolingly He mast
have been sitting outside upon the window-sill, and J
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. Ill
imagined in my melancholy that he had come directly
from the moor, from the southernwood-tree by the wall
of the Dierkhof. But the silence of the early morning
was, to my surprise, broken by other sounds. Behind
the wall against which the wardrobe stood, a deep,
melodious voice suddenly sang, in long-drawn tones,
ii verse of a hymn. Just then the door of my room
opened, and Use stood listening on the threshold. She
nodded a silent good-morning to me, and remained still
with folded arms.
" A pious man !" she said, much edified, as she came to
my bedside at the conclusion of the verse. " There are
other people living in the house beside your father, then.
Yesterday the whole place seemed to me so heathenish
and uncanny "
She stopped, for the voice began a second verse : the
lovely trilling on the window-sill had ceased, the little
singer had been scared away by the first notes of the
powerful voice.
" There, now get up, child 1" said Use, after she had
devoutly listened to the second verse. "Such a neighbour
is more to me than if I had found a treasure I That was
a beautiful morning prayer! Now for the duties of
the day !"
And she drew up the shades and left the room.
I sprang out of bed. Without, golden sparks were
gleaming and dancing on the surface of the little lake.
The trees and bushes were dripping with glittering dew,
and peacocks and golden pheasants were walking about
on the velvet grass.
Whilst I was dressing, the voice in the next room sang
on without stop or stay.
" Whoever pays for that, gets his money's worth ! w Use
exclaimed, looking into the room with a frown of im-
112 THE LITTLti MOORLAND PRINCESS.
patience contracting her light eyebrows, as, after the sixth
verse, the voice began a seventh. " Our Lord must be
wearied out with all that singing. It is not what Ha
made the precious fresh morning for I"
She had certainly not been idle. She had opened one
of the kitchens, and in spite of all offers of service from
the maid, had prepared the breakfast herself. Use " could
not possibly drink strange coffee." The room was swept
and dusted ; the bed that she had made up for herself
upon a sofa was cleared away, and the breakfast-service,
sent for our use by Fraulcin Fliedner, was neatly arranged
apon the table.
I knocked timidly at the door of my father's room.
44 Come in, little LorchenI" he called from within.
Thank God, he knew that I was there ! I should not
have to present myself afresh. He took my hand and
drew me into the room, excusing himself as he kissed my
forehead for leaving us so much alone the day before,
he had been obliged to stay with the Duke until eleven
o'clock. Use informed him that she would take counsel
with Fraulein Fliedner as to what had better be done
with me at first, and to this he agreed perfectly. Frau-
lein Fliedner was a most worthy and estimable lady,
he should be very glad to have her interest herself in
his little daughter, he would shortly pay her a visit
mViself and request her to do so. But not to-day;
he had too much to attend to, and every moment was
precious.
He was not nearly so absent-minded as at his writing-
table in the library, and although he addressed me several
times by my mother's name, and inquired again how old
I was, I was glad to feel assured that he was entirely
reconciled to the thought that his daughter was to live
with him. He held ny hand clasped in his own, and I
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. J13
accompanied hiin to the door of the library, where he
always took his coffee.
In the hall we passed a tall old gentleman. His hair
was snowy and his cravat as white, while his black coat
shone like satin in the morning sun. He took off his hat
and bowed profoundly, but in a stiff, measured manner,
while his light-blue eyes glanced with arrogant distaste at
my father's neglected toilet.
" Who is that ?" I softly asked, as he passed quickly,
but with immense dignity, around the pond. His unex-
pected appearance had produced a most unpleasant im
pression upon me.
"The old bookkeeper of the firm of Claudius," said my
father. " He is your neighbour ; did you not hear him
singing this morning ?" A sarcastic smile hovered upon
his thin lips as he looked after the zealous hymn-singer,
who was just disappearing among the bushes.
Two hours later I pursued the same path by Use's side,
upon our way to the other house. Use carried the tin
box, with my grandmother's papers, beneath her black
shawl. She had completed her travelling costume by the
addition of a pair of dark cotton gloves, and looked quite
imposing.
To-day the open gravel sweep was deserted, but the
garden was full of people. Wheelbarrows creaked along
the paths ; men in the dress of labourers wandered about
among the beds, plucking flowers, and arranging them in
bouquets, and from behind espaliers and hedges of roses,
many a glance of amazement followed us.
As we approached the large greenhouse, the old book-
keeper issued from it. He was without his hat ; his rev-
erend white hair actually gleamed in the sunlight. He
was talking with the young gentleman beside him, who
Was apparently attired for walking. They did not notice
H 10*
IH THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
us, although we walked directly behind them, on the broad .
path leading towards the door in the wall of the yard.
" You. are a couple of hot-heads, yourself and your
sister ; you would soar high," said the old bookkeeper.
11 Do you blame us for that?"
" And the nest in which you were fledged does not suit
you now. I have st?en that for some time," continued ho
of the silvery locks, without noticing the other's remark.
He had a deep, agreeable voice in speaking, but his
words were uttered with grave deliberation and emphasis,
as if he prized them himself exceedingly.
" I will not exactly grant that," the other replied, with
a shrug; "but there need not be so much here that is
humiliating for Charlotte and myself, and that, especially
in the career that I have chosen, drags upon me like lead.
Jf my uncle could only make up his mind to give up this
shop I"
With the slendqr cane that he held he struck at a mag-
nificent crimson carnation hanging over the gravel-walk, .
struck it such a blow that the gorgeous flower flew far
across the path. I uttered a low cry, and involuntarily
raisod both hands to my neck as if it had felt the shock.
The speakers turned around. My frightened face, and
still more, the gesture that I made, caused a contemptuous
smile upon the face of the young man.
" Aha! the little moorland Princess can be sentimental,
then ?" he cried, lifting his hat courteously from his
chestnut curls. " Of course, 1 am a Vandal, a barbarian,
and Heaven only knows what beside. My sentence has
gone forth," he continued, with a side-glance at me.
" There is now nothing left for me to do but to duly
honour the flower."
He picked up the carnation and stuck it in his button-
bole
THE LITTLE MOORLAND VRINCESS. 11$
" That will not make the poor thing fresh again," said
Use, dryly, as she passed him.
He laughed.
*' Is not your name Use ?" he asked, archly.
" At your service, yes. Use Wichel, if you please,"
she replied, turning towards him. Her words had a sharp
intonation, as if her tongue had been slightly tipped with
gall ; but what would have been her reply if she had
known that, upon the moor, the name of Use had been
suggestive to him of the image of a dragon I
It was utterly incomprehensible to me how she had the
courage to look just as fairly and indifferently into thoso
brown eyes, as if they had belonged to any ragged broom-
jnaking boy whom she was dismissing from the Dierkhof
with a scolding and a piece of bread. Tes, Use was as
brave as a lion ; no one was equal to her ; least of all I,
for my coward heart throbbed so violently that I thought
the old bookkeeper must hear it, and in consequence scru
tinize me from head to foot.
I think the young man wished to tell his companion
who I was, but Use would not stop ; she nodded, and
turned away, of course taking me with her.
The gentlemen came on slowly behind us. " There is
a carriage coming round the corner," the young man
said, suddenly. " Yes, yes, those are the horses ! Uncle
Erich has returned from Dorotheenthal !"
They quickened their pace and entered the courtyard
before us, just as the elegant carriage thundered through
the gate. The old gentleman in blue spectacles was sit-
ting inside. He looked just as he had done upon the
moor, only he sprang from the vehicle with far more
agile grace than I should have given him credit for, in
view of his sedate carriage and his age.
" Good-morning, my dear uncle," said the voung man*
116 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"Are you back again, Uncle Erich?" Charlotte called
down from an open window.
The old gentleman waved a greeting to the window
and shook hands with his nephew and the bookkeeper.
We passed them, but no one noticed us, for a tall, mus-
cular man, with a wallet upon his back, had entered th#
yard with the carriage, and now held out his hat to beg.
I saw the young gentleman take out his purse ; but.
just as he was about to throw a large piece of silver into
the hat, his uncle stayed his lavish hand.
44 What is your trade ?" he asked the beggar.
44 1 am a carpenter "
44 Have you looked for work here in the city f "
44 Yes, indeed, sir, everywhere ; but I can find none,
none at all. God knows I would gladly get some 1 I am
worn out with travelling about for it !"
44 Aha 1 then come here at once ; I have plenty of work
for you," he pointed to the piles of chests, 4, and I
will pay you well."
The man scratched his head stupidly.
44 Well, yes, yes, sir ; but I must first go to the tavern,"
he stammered.
44 Then go," the old gentleman briefly answered, and
turned away.
44 There's a man who understands matters 1" said Use,
admiringly, as we ascended the steps of the hall ; but I
was enraged. The beggar looked so ragged and forlorn,
and how roughly and shortly he had been dismissed 1
My heart ached to see the poor man bend his broad back
so humbly before the rich, haughty merchant. The young
gentleman had been far more generous and compassionate ;
he had taken out his purse without a single question. If
the carpenter never came back I could not blame him. Who
could bear to be glared at by those ugly blue spectacles t
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. H?
Charlotte had seen us go through the yard. She came
down-stairs and greeted us in the hall. I could not take
my eyes off her. A little cap of lace, fine and transparent
as a cobweb, was thrown negligently upon her glossy
dark hair, setting off to great advantage the oval of her
face, which was very beautiful, although, perhaps, rather
full for so young a person ; a light morning rebe hung
in loose folds about her tall figure, only confined at the
waist, which was finely turned, but by no means slim, by
a narrow belt.
" Has the little moorland Princess come to see me V*
she asked, kindly, taking my hand.
" She will come after awhile to you, Fraulein ; but we
must speak first to Fraulein Fliedner," said Use. She,
too, looked with pleasure at the beautiful girl. Yes, Use
was sure to admire what was tall and strong ; she always
accredited a fine head and broad shoulders with her
own strength of character. Between such stalwart figures
I seemed to myself as insignificant as a floating piece of
thistledown between two oaks.
Charlotte shook her head with a laugh at Use's straight-
forward reply, and opened a door. Thank Heaven, the
lady who arose upon our entrance from the windowed
recess where she was sitting was not nearly so tall as
my two conductors. In her silk gown and white cap,
with the gold watch-chain at her belt, Fraulein Fliedner
looked as attractive and refined as upon the previous day.
She came towards us with a kindly smile.
I sank down beside Use among the chintz-covered cush-
ions of an old-fashioned sofa, while Charlotte threw herself
into an arm-chair, picking up by the nape of his neck the
barking poodle, who tried to bite a piece out of my costly
gown, and scolding him into silence in her lap.
Without further preliminaries, Use, in the briefest man
118 THE UTTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
ner, described my life hitherto. My nonsense-filled head,
my brown hands that would not knit, and my un conquer*
able predilection for running barefooted, were the fearful
features of the picture which two years of culture it was
hoped would obliterate. I sat as quiet as a lamb, looking
across the room, through the glass doors of a cabinet, at
an ugly porcelain figure that seemed to nod a silent " Yes,
yes, we must alter all that I" to Use's earnest discourse.
Then I counted the endless bunches of keys upon the
wall. Heavens 1 could Fraulein Fliedner's little head
keep count of all those large and small keys and know
where each one fitted ? I felt a secret horror of the house
where so much lay behind lock and key. Oh, for my
dear old Dierkhof, with its single large key, that wan
often not even turned in the house-door at night 1
"It will give me pleasure, great pleasure, to take the
little Fraulein von Sassen under my wing," said the old
lady, as Use finished, and placed the tin box of papers
upon the table. " But there is much, particularly with
regard to these money matters, that must be taken into
grave consideration. In my humble opinion, you had
better ask Herr Claudius for his advice "
" Not to-day, for Heaven's sake, my dear Fliedner ! w
Charlotte interrupted her, hastily. " Uncle Erich has his
labour fever worse than ever ; he came very near pressing
a poor carpenter into the service just now, but the man
was cunning enough to escape. He is quite likely to
shut the poor thing up in his back office, and keep her
weaving funeral wreaths out of withered flowers for the
rest of her life !''
I looked in her face, transfixed with terror.
" Yes, yes, you may well look at me, little one 1" she
said, regarding her beautiful, long white fingers. "I
assure you I literally tremble for these ten poor things,
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. H
lest they should be appropriated some fine day and shut
up in that back office."
Use's face grew dolefully long. With all her apparent
-harshness, she loved me far too much to endure the
thought of leaving me in the city to be miserable. Yes,
she painted my ignorance and awkwardness in the
blackest colours, but she admitted that she herself
was greatly to blame. She had never had sufficient
resolution to force me to work or to restrain my way-
ward wanderings.
" Do not be afraid," Fraulein Fliedner said to her with
a smile. " Fraulein Claudius is sometimes fond of exag-
gerating. Herr Claudius is strict, but not unkind. You
had better talk with him."
"Well, if you think so," said Use, evidently relieved.
" I do not know why, but I feel confidence in the man.
I have not even seen his face, for he stood with his back
towards me in the yard ; but the child met him four
weeks ago on the moor, and she says he is old, as old as
the hills, so he must at least have experience of the
world."
Charlotte burst into a laugh.
" Uncle Erich will be vastly obliged to you, most illus-
trious moorland Princess 1" she cried. And even Fraulein
Fliedner looked at me with an amused air.
" Take your box and come with me," the latter said to
Use. Fraulein Fliedner put a mantilla over her shoul-
ders, settled the white cuffs at her wrists and passed her
hands over her faultlessly smooth hair.
"I must come, too 1" cried Charlotte, springing up and
tossing the poodle into his cushion-lined basket.
" In your morning dress ?" Fraulein Fliedner asked,
in surprise.
" What of it? is it not fresh and pretty ?" said Char-
120 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
lotte, lightly stepping to the mirror and drawing her little
cap farther over her forehead.
The old lady shrugged her shoulders and led us out
into the darkened hall, at the farther end of which she
noiselessly opened a door.
CHAPTER XIII.
I longed tc turn upon the threshold and run Into the
yard to convince myself that a July sun was actually
shining in the cloudless morning skies. Oh, how cold
and gloomy it was behind these grated windows! The
white front of a house on the other side of the street
could, it is true, be seen from them, but its light surface
threw out in stronger contrast the shadows upon the
arched stone ceiling and brown leather hangings. With
every breath we inhaled a dull, thick atmosphere, in
which all the flowers in the world seemed to have per*
ished and been dried.
At a long table stood the old bookkeeper. He had
drawn gray linen sleeves over his arms, and was busy
sorting a mass of little paper packages. Several other
men were engaged in like manner around him.
" Good-morning, Herr Eckhof," said Charlotte, extend-
ing her hand to him after a " Hail - fellow well met !"
fashion, as one student would greet another. He replied
kindly, but bowed as stiffly and coldly to Fraulein
Fliedner as to my father.
We passed through the large hall-like room and en*
tered the one adjoining. There was only one gentleman
here, although severel desks were ranged against the
wall.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 121
The gentleman was sitting so that he could oversee
the whole room as well as the door by which we en-
tered. As we presented ourselves, he looked up, and
then rising in some astonishment, as it seemed, left the
platform by the window, where his writing-table stood.
His face was oval, noble, and rather pale.
Charlotte hastened up to him in advance of us.
"In your breakfast-cap still, Charlotte?" he asked;
and a flashing pair of dark-blue eyes looked surprise*
The charming colour in her cheeks flushed her whole
forehead to the roots of her hair.
"Oh, uncle, you are entirely alone," she said, in
a tone of excuse, as she gave one swift glance around
the room. "Forget your rules for this once; I want
to be here while you make a most interesting acquaint-
ance."
I had retired behind Use. " That is not the gentleman
'Who gave me the thalers," I whispered, eagerly.
Charlotte's shaip ears overheard my words.
II Uncle," she said, with one of her elfish laughs, " four
\veeks ago a young lady saw you on the Liineberg moor,
^nd now she wishes to speak to the Herr Claudius, who
is old, as old as the hills "
" What difference can it make whether the gentleman
Xs the one whom the child saw or not?" Use struck in
In her resolute way: " I wish to speak to Herr Claudius.
-JVre you he ?"
He bowed with a very slight smile ; and then Use
fcgan her discourse afresh. She must have committed
it to memory, for it flowed on without let or hindranco,
exactly as it had a few moments before in Fraulein
Fliedner's room.
Meanwhile I stood behind the ladies and observed the
gentleman more attentively. He had the tall, manly
11
122 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
figure of the man in tbe brown hat, but the head could
not be the same. Above the smooth, broad brow lay a
mass of waving, curling hair of the lightest blonde, so
blonde that in the full light of the window it had an in-
tense silvery brightness. This colour was very striking in
contrast with the dark eyebrows that, arching boldly
above the blue eyes, gave the pale, refined face an ex-
pression of great force. I saw a slight scowl appear
between them. Use's application was evidently unwel-
come ; he had not the least desire to burden himself with
the matter. Now and then he glanced towards the open
folio upon his desk. It was easy to see that he disliked
the interruption, although he courteously endeavoured to
appear attentive.
" I can only advise you," he said, coldly, when Use
paused to take breath, " to send the young lady to board-
ing-school as soon as possible "
"No, uncle," Charlotte interrupted him; "it would be
cruel to shut up the young, shy, little thing, who has
hitherto enjoyed the most unbounded liberty, in one of
those machines, those model establishments. Life in a
boarding-school is detestable."
"Detestable, Charlotte!" he repeated, surprised. "And
you have spent almost all your life until lately at a board-
ing-school ! Why did you not complain?"
She shrugged her shoulders. " What should I have
gained by doing so ?" she replied, with a shade of bitter-
ness.
He looked at her keenly and sternly, but said nothing.
Just then the door opened and the old bookkeeper en-
tered, followed by a tall and extremely handsome young
man, who shrank back when he saw the ladies, and
would have withdrawn.
"Come in, come in!" cried Herr Claudius. He
T1B& LITTLE MOORLASD PRINCESS. 123
frowned slightly, and taking out his watch held it up
before the stranger.
" It is very late, Herr Helldorf," he said, coldly.
Charlotte had returned the young man's salutation hy
a courteous and indifferent inclination of her head ; but
at these words of her ancle's she grew crimson.
"Excuse me, Herr Claudius; one of my brother's
children was taken violently ill a few hours ago," said
the young man, with a slight tremor in his voice, as he
seated himself at his desk.
" I am very sorry to hear it. Is it dangerously ill ?"
" Not now ; thank God, the danger is past I"
Herr Claudius turned again to Use. "Indeed, I do
not see of what use I can be in this matter," he said.
" One can hardly expect Herr von Sassen, occupied as he
is, and in view of his whole manner of' life, to take
charge of the education of a young girl who, as you say
yourself, has been neglected "
"I would gladly undertake that charge," Fraulein
Fliedner interrupted him.
' And so would I," said Charlotte, hastily.
"The principal question is concerning the manage-
ment of the small property inherited by Fraulein von
Sassen from her grandmother," the elder lady added.
"That, I should imagine, could be deposited in her
father's hands."
41 He absolutely refused to take care of it," Use said,
Quickly ; " and I am very glad of it, because " She
fc topped for a moment in search of some fitting expres-
sion for her thoughts. " Well, because of the broken
images and crockery that he is always buying," she
added, with decision.
She put the tin box upon the table and unlocked it
Herr Claudius looked over the documents it contained.
124 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" There are a great many old coupons here," he said J
" but the papers are good. Shall I, then, take charge of
the money? Do you wish the interest added to the
principal?"
41 Oh, yes, pray save as much of it as you can," Use
replied. " Indeed, the Herr Doctor is very apt to forget,
and it will be well for the child to have a little something
of her own."
" Where is the young lady ?"
"Come forward, and let yourself bo seen," said Char*
lotte to me. Before I knew what she was about, she
had taken off my hat, smoothed my tumbled locks, and
pushed me forward by my shoulders, like a child forced
to repeat the birthday verse she has learned by rote. But
this time I was perfectly unembarrassed. I was not in
the least shy before this man with his dry, composed,
business-like air. I looked up at him as frankly as at
the old gentleman on the moor. I believe I should
have had quite enough courage to contradict him if
he had begun about his funeral wreaths and withered
flowers.
At the moment when our eyes met, I saw in his, recog-
nition ; he was the gentleman of the blue spectacles,
after all.
" Aha ! this is she, then ! the strange little girl who
had never seen money !" he said, in astonishment.
%: Yes, uncle, the little moorland Princess, as Dagobert
calls her the little, untamed moorland lark who threw
your money on the ground, and is not to be clapped into a
cage without a word of remonstrance 1" cried Charlotte,
laughing. " Come, little one, make your courtesy to the
old gentleman."
A faint crimson flushed Herr Claudius's cheeks.
"No jesting, Charlotte," he said, as seriously as he
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 125
had reproved Digobert in the matter of my unfortunate
shoes.
"Are you satisfied to have this money deposited in my
hands ?" he asked me, kindly.
It seemed so odd to be asked for the first time in my
life about the disposition of anything, that I laughed
" Does it really belong to me, then ?" I inquired.
" Why, of course ; to whom else should it belong ?"
Use said, sharply.
" Does it belong to me, like my hand or my eyes F
Can I do with it whatever I choose ?" I persisted, almost
breathless with eager expectation.
" No ; at present you have not such entire control of
it," said Herr Claudius. His voice was now as soft and
gentle as it had been upon the moor. "You are still
much too young. If I take charge of these papers as
your guardian, you will have to give me an account of
every sum that you receive of me."
" Oh, then, I don't care," I said, cast down and sad.
" Have you any special desire ?" He bent down and
looked at me inquiringly.
"Yes, Herr Claudiuf ; but I would rather not tell of it,
you would not gratify it."
" Indeed I hm, whence do you draw that conclu-
sion ?"
" Because a little while ago I saw you send away that
poor carpenter without giving him anything," I boldly
replied,
"Aha! then you wish to give it away?" He was
entirely unmoved. My indirect reproach had made not
the slightest impression upon him.
"But what is the child thinking of?" Use cried in
amazement. "Whom would you give it to, child ? Yoa
don't know anybody in the world 1"
11*
126 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"Use, you know," I said, imploringly; "you know
very well who it is that wants it, and is counting the
hours perhaps till money can reach her from Hanover."
" Now, Lenore, if you come to me with that, I have
done," she interrupted me. I had never seen her so
angry. "Once for all, she shall not have a single
?roschen 1"
"Then keep your money 1" I cried, vehemently, while
the tears rushed to my eyes. " I will never touch a
groschen of it either, never: you may rely upon that, Ilso.
I would rather make funeral wreaths and bouquets for
Elerr Claudius in the back office 1''
He looked at me. " Who told you anything of the
back office ?"
Involuntarily my glance sought Charlotte, who laughed
and blushed.
" Charlotte was joking, Herr Claudius I" said Fraulein
Fliedner, apologetically. My eyes filled with tears, and
the old lady put her arm around me, and drew me
towards her. Use was only the more irritated by my
" childish behaviour." She laid her large, hard hand
Upon the tin box as if to guard its contents from all un-
advised invasion.
" Pray, Herr Claudius, never permit Lenore to send
any money away I" she eagerly entreated. " Let me tell
you that if she should do it once, only once, her little
inheritance is as good as gone. I cannot explain this tu
you, it is a sad piece of family history that should not
be spoken of. Gracious heavens ! that such a child
should force me to allude to it! In fact, it is all about
a certain relative who has brought disgrace upon her
people, who has been disowned "
"Po you know this relative?" Herr Claudius asked,
turning to me
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS, 12T
"No, I never saw her, and only learned that there
was such a person four weeks ago "
" And she asked for a remittance ?"
11 Yes; in a letter to my dead grandmother. But no
one will give her anything. She joined the play-actors.
Use says, and is a singer. "
The man's face flushed crimson. He closed the folio
upon his desk.
"But she has lost her voice, her glorious voice!" 1
continued, trying eagerly to meet his eye again. He
turned away. " How terrible it must be to try to sing,
and not be able to utter a sound 1 Use, you used to bo
so kind, how can you find it in your heart to refuse aid
to any one in such distress?"
" How large a sum would you like to have ?" Herr
Claudius said, in his calm, gentle voice, cutting short my
passionate entreaties.
"A few hundred thalers," I boldly replied.
Use clasped her hands above her head.
" Evidently you have no idea how much money that
is," he said.
I shook my head. " I don't care how much it is if it
only gives her voice back to her."
" That's true enough," Use said, angrily. " What does
fetich a silly child care about the mischief she makes with
her whims?"
" I will give you the money," Herr Claudius said to me.
Use fairly screamed.
" Do not be alarmed ; I will see that it shall be no loss
to Fraulein von Sassen, that I answer for 1" He opened
a strong box beside his desk, and laid before me four
bank-notes. Then he wrote a few words upon a sheet
of paper. " Have the kindness to sign this receipt" He
handed me a pen.
128 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"Use must do that, I write too badly," I said,
candidly.
A smile hovered around his mouth for an instant.
" That would hardly be business-like," he said. " If
the money is given to you, Frau Use's signature will
not suffice. You certainly know how to write your
name ?"
11 Oh, yes ; but you will see what wretched work I
make of it."
I stepped upon the platform, seated myself in the
cushioned office-chair that he turned around for me, and
looked down in high glee at Fraulein Fliedner and Char-
lotte, who both laughed. It must have been a ridiculous
sight, the diminutive girlish figure, in the huge, clumsy
ruffle and tossed curls, sitting in the venerable office-chair
before the immense folio, over which she was scarcely
tall enough to peep ! I laughed, too, a laugh that came
directly from my heart 1 I was so pleased to have
obtained the money for my aunt.
Herr Claudius leaned his arm upon the writing-desk
so that his figure was interposed between me and the
rest. I seized the pen and began to make an L.
" But this will never do," I said, stopping as I saw
him watching me. " You must not look at my hands."
" Indeed I is that forbidden ? And may I ask why ?"
" Why, cannot you see yourself ? Because they are so
brown and ugly," I said, shortly, a little vexed at his
making me speak of them.
He smiled, and turned his head aside, while I began to
write again diligently, dear me 1 how many letters there
w;ere in my name 1
Suddenly the door opened, and the young gentleman
stily entered. The crimson carnation gleamed at me
Sle a fiery ball. I dropped the pen, and covered my
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 129
eyes with my hands ; the whole world seemed spinning
around with me;
" Uncle," he cried, hurriedly, " I have come to an un-
derstanding with Count Zell about the price, only five
louis d'ors more than you thought ! Will not that do ?
A nd will you not come and look at Darling ? I have had
him brought into the yard."
" Herr Helldorf bids you good-morning, Dagobert, "
said Herr Claudius, indicating the young clerk as he
spoke.
Dagobert nodded carelessly, and approached, evidently
surprised and amused by my situation at the writing-
desk.
" Heavens, Dagobert, a sentimental carnation in your
buttonhole 1" cried Charlotte, clasping her hands. " What
could have procured it that honour t n
Dagobert smiled significantly and mischievously at me.
Use noticed the glance, which must have been apparent
to all.
" Do not behave as if the child had given you the
flower 1" she said, dryly, adding, by way of explanation
a Dd to the great amusement of the bystanders, " He
"^headed the poor thing with his cane, before our eyes,
ax *d now he is letting it perish miserably in his button-
hole."
The young gentleman shrugged his shoulders, and
joined in the laughter.
*' But tell me, Uncle Erich, will you not come ? Pray
** 1" he said, changing the subject.
11 PatienceT^j. business transaction must first be con-
^uded," said Herr Claudius. " Well ?" he turned again
** me, resuming his former position.
The pen was lying across the receipt, my face was
Covered with my hands, for I knew it must be crimson.
I
130 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" I cannot," I whispered.
" Go out, Dagobert, and see that there is no mischief
done in the courtyard," he said. " I will come in a few
moments."
The young gentleman left the room.
" Now, then, write," said Herr Claudius, reassuringly,
while his blue eyes rested keenly but kindly upon my hot
cheeks.
I finished the last stroke, and pushed the paper towards
him. At the same moment I grasped his hand, it was
the first time in my life that I had taken the hand of a
stranger. " I thank you 1" I said, from my very heart.
" What for ?" he rejoined, kindly, rejecting my hand
and my thanks. " We have simply entered into business
relations with each other, it is not a matter for grati-
tude."
I left the platform, and put my arm around Use's neck;
her gloomy face was more than I could bear. " Use, don't
be angry," I begged ; " it had to be. Now, you see, I
can sleep soundly again."
"Oh, yes, Use must stand aside and say no more," she
answered ; but she did not repulse me. " So it had to
be ? Well, as you please, I wash my hands of it. On
the moor you could not count three before a stranger, and
now, all of a sudden, when you choose to have your own
way, and see that others are on your side, you can chat-
ter and talk like a magpie, with your cheeks as red as
apples. You'll never come to any good in this matter,
mark what I say, but you need never come complaining
to me !"
She put my arms from about her neck, took my' hand
in hers, and was about to leave the room.
" Stay I" cried Herr Claudius, who had meanwhile
seated himself at his desk, and was writing rapidly ; " are
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 131
you going to leave Fraulein von Sassen's property in mr
hands without any receipt?"
Now it was Use's turn to have cheeks like apples. She
was mortified to have so forgotten herself, she who
prided herself upon " always knowing what she was
about."
4 ' It is all the fault of your kind face, Herr Claudius. I
should not have forgotten to ask any one else for a re-
ceipt," she said, by way of apology, while I seized the
opportunity to slip the bank-notes which had been giver
me, and which lay forgotten on the table, into my pocket.
The strict man of business must have had a fine idea of
the habits of moorland folk.
" Heavens, what stupid martinetism 1" cried Charlotte,
outside in the hall. "As if every one did not know that
the house of Claudius would never sully its fingers by
appropriating a few paltry thousand thalers I But every
penny and every seed must be ticketed and sealed."
" Order must be preserved, perhaps you will learn
that one of these days," said Fraulein Fliedner, brushing
off with her handkerchief a speck of dust that had fallen
upon her mantilla.
The young lady tossed her head. " Now let us look
at Darling !" she said, as she ran down the steps to tLe
courtyard door.
112 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
CHAPTER XIV.
The yard was empty, but the folding-doors of the gat*
leading into the garden were wide open, and through
them came loud cries, and the noise of trampling and
running as of men and furious animals.
Herr Claudius followed us. He listened for one
moment in surprise, and then hurried on before us into
the garden.
My heart beat with alarm and pity at what I saw
through the open gate. A frightened horse was gal-
loping about the flower-garden. The slender, graceful
creature, his glossy back and flanks reflecting the sunlight
in every shade of gold, rushed hither and thither like
lightning over the variegated plain, setting at naught,
with defiant neighs, the hands and feet that pursued him.
As if in wanton exultation, he crushed beneath his hoofs
a large bed of blooming stocks, and then dashed against
the panes of a green-house.
Rearing and recoiling at the noise made by the splinter-
ing of glass, the beautiful creature stood for one instant
motionless on his hind feet like a statue of bronze, then
turned, and sped towards a trellis covered with roses,
overturning it upon the ground.
All the gardeners, with many of the house-servants,
and even the two gentlemen from the counting-room, who
had come out to see the cause of the disturbance, were
running hither and thither in aid of Dagobert and a
liveried footman ; and Charlotte, too, after standing for
one moment with flashing eyes beside me, hurried into
the garden.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 133
As if rooted to the ground, her tall, stately figure in
light, flowing robes, suddenly stood full in the path down
which the horse was madly careering. He started back
with a snort of dismay from so strange an apparition,
but dexterously and swiftly those two white, firm hands
seized his bridle, and held it in a grasp of iron, not re-
linquishing it, although the brave girl was dragged for-
ward a few steps by the horse's efforts to escape, until
the others hastened up from all sides, and the furious
animal was secured.
" Charlotte, you're a jewel of a girl 1" cried Dagobert,
still breathless, but proud and exultant, kissing his sister's
forehead as he spoke. Beside her stood the young man
from the counting-room, pale as a ghost, reproach in his
glance, he had been the first to come to her aid. I saw
Charlotte look towards him; her cheeks grew crimson,
but she turned lightly and indifferently away, as if half
ashamed rff what she had done.
All admired her strength and courage, for my part,
I could have kissed those white, shapely hands. Herr
Claudius alone said not one word.
"Who opened both folding-doors into the garden ?" he
inquired, sternly, going towards the crowd of servants,
who respectfully made way for him.
"I was selecting the flowers to be taken to banker
Tressel's, and I had two men with me to carry the large
frame for them ; of course, the folding-doors had to be
open, and the horse probably shied at the tall oleander-
trees upon the frame," said the gardener with the gentle
voice, who had pointed out the way for us the day before.
Herr Claudius said no more. He addressed no word
of reproof to Dagobert, who had brought the horse into
the courtyard, -neither did he blame the groom for not
being more careful. He did not even remark upon the
12
X J4 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
devastation in the garden. He turned and examined
attentively the foaming charger. It was a beautiful
animal, but there was something tricky and deceitful in
the way in which it would stand with drooping head,
and then suddenly toss it back without warning.
Meanwhile, Dagobert had lightly sprung upon its back,
and horse and rider came flying into the spacious court-
yard. It was a magnificent sight. After a short, pas-
sionate struggle, the steed acknowledged its master, and
apparently obeyed his lightest hint.
How completely all the men standing by, even the
handsome young Helldorf, vanished beside that Tancred
in chestnut curls ! There was no apparent effort made
by his elastic frame, no exercise of unusual force ; the
bright colour that flushed his cheeks was all that betrayed
that the horse still needed firm control.
41 Uncle," he cried, " forgive the mischief Darling has
done for the sake of his superb qualities. Is he not mag-
nificent? Just look at him, with his delicate, elastic
frame, the small head upon his slender neck, graceful as
a woman's ; he combines an heroic amount of courage
and fire 1 Uncle, I shall be too happy if I may have
him."
" I am sorry to hear it, Dagobert, for I shall not pur-
chase him. The Count must still ride him himself," said
Herr Claudius, regretfully but firmly, going towards the
garden as he spoke.
Dagobert sprang down from the saddle and handed the
bridle to the groom, who stood by smiling maliciously.
" My regards to the Count ; I will speak further with
him about the matter," he said, quickly.
The man rode away, and the by-standers scattered in
all directions to attend to their various avocations.
Charlotte locked her arm in her brother's and looked
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 135
up tenderly into his flashed face. She led him into the
garden, whither Fraulein Fliedner and Use had already
gone to inspect the damage done to the green-house.
They had entirely forgotten me. I followed the brother
and sister, who struck into the path leading to the bridge.
" Again I have been made to feel like a hectored school-
boy I" Dagobert exclaimed through his clinched teeth.
His voice sounded half stifled, as if it were choked with
anger and disappointment. "Nothing irritates me as
much in it all as his hypocritical composure. He re-
fuses to buy the horse for two reasons : first, because by
its misbehaviour he has lost a few groschen for bouquets
and papers of seeds ; and second, because in his bourgeois
arrogance he will have nothing to do with the animal's
aristocratic owner ; he would rather be cheated by the first
Jew he meets. But not a word of all this do you hear
from him; he preserves entire silence, pretends not to
notice the mischief that has been done, and revenges him-
self by refusing to buy the animal without giving any
reason for so doing. And this sudden access of the
manners and attainments of gentlemen ! Ridiculous !
He who has never in his life got upon anything but his
one-legged office-chair, suddenly apes all the behaviour of
a connoisseur and examines the horse "
" Not so fast, not so fast 1" Charlotte interrupted him.
" On the contrary, I have my suspicions that our uncle
formerly, especially while in Paris, led the life of a
thorough man of the world ; not from any love of it, .
there is no love for anything in his nature, except for
business, but perhaps because it was the fashion." She
shrugged her shoulders and looked towards the trellis,
which had just been replaced under Herr Claudius's
directions.
"We are both powerless against that brazen armour of
136 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
calculating frigidity," she continued, pointing to the group
around the trellis. " There is nothing to be done but to
clinch your teeth, press your hand tightly upon your
throbbing heart, and wait for the rising of some star of
deliverance."
As she turned, she noticed me and held her hand
out to me, not at all embarrassed by my presence.
Dagobert, however, started at sight of my small per-
son ; he evidently was annoyed to have been overheard.
Could he only have surmised my state of mind ! My
fingers crushed up the bank-notes in my pocket. I longed
to throw them back to the man standing there by the
rose-trellis, as I had once rejected his thalers on the
moor, icicle that he was, under the mask of gentleness
and kindness, how he tyrannized over these two glorious
young creatures I Was there no one in the world be-
longing to them, save this hard-hearted old uncle ? They
never dreamed what an enthusiastic ally they possessed
in me.
At the bridge, Dagobert took leave of us; he was
going into the city. How good and noble he must be !
In spite of his disappointment, he went and bade his
uncle farewell as if nothing had happened.
Charlotte walked on slowly with me; she said she
wanted a book from the library.
" Come here, little one," she said, putting her arm
across my shoulders and drawing me so close to her that
I could feel the strong, quick beating of her heart ; " I
like you. There is character and resolution in this lili-
putian body of yours. One must have a good share of
courage to look into Uncle Erich's eyes and ask for any
thing."
" Haven't you a father, or at least a grandmother ?" I
asked, nestling up to her and looking shyly into her beau
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. J 37
tiful face, that still showed traces of her late agitation.
It occurred to me at the moment that my lot, even with
my grandmother, ill in mind although she were, had been
a happy one.
She looked down at me with a smile. "No, little
Princess, not even a grandmother to leave me nine thou-
sand thalers. Oh, heavens, in that case how I would
shake the dust from my feet I We were orphaned when
we were very young. My father was killed in '44,
in Morocco; he was a French officer. When he left
France I was a tiny baby ; I do not even know how he
looked "
41 Perhaps like Herr Claudius ? Was he not his bro-
ther ?
She stood still, withdrew her arm, and clasped her
hands with a laugh.
" Oh, child, child, how delightfully naive you are ! A
Claudius in the French army 1 A son of the respectable
old German seedsman ! How be would have shaken his
stiff and venerable queue ! No, no, there is not a single
atom of this worthy shopkeeping stuff in us. Dagobert
and I are French through and through, body and soul !
Thank God, there is not a single drop of this cold blood
in our veins I We are adopted children. Uncle Erich
adopted us. Heaven only knows why, certainly not
because any compassion moved him. I suppose that
sounds odious from my lips, but I cannot help thinking it."
She put her arm around me again and we walked on
slowlv.
" His taking us into his house would be in itself noble
and commendable," she continued, " and I should be the
first to be grateful to him, if we had not been subjected
to such galling despotism in the matter. He has forced us
to take his name, our own is Me*ricourt, and we must
12*
n
/
* v
calculating
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cliuch yo'y
throbbing
deliveranr
As sho *'
out to IV
Dagobert, ]
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Could ho
fingers em-'
to throw T
rose-trellis.
moor, i
aud kind no -
vounir oiv:
longing u ;
never ur ^
in mo.
At th
going ; i '
In spiio
ouolo :".:
Ohav
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C
across \
I eon
n.tu'
1
_,- .- . ._. tirw
i. -.ji ior
_. :.c*tl OU'tilt
....;, .-'- gay-
-?. . . u aavo
... it auv*
A . nere
. , ,u oi Dago-
..... to a, ^oilier
4k vc ivr each
.j^d ^ seated
.. juvj ae was
_o. .--'si ^ tu
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.... 4 .UOTO"
*n*.
I .!*
rrttti ill
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 139
quarters!" laughed Charlotte. "It certainly costs me
nothing ; I never feed or caress these birds, and yet they
follow me the instant they hear my yoice. Is it not
strange ?"
I thought it not at all strange. Was I not myself
running by her side like a faithful dog ? I was entirely
too inexperienced and wanting in judgment to be able
to attribute the power that she possessed to any special
cause. Undoubtedly the charm that so impressed and
fascinated me lay principally in the resolution and force
that characterized her every action, and each word of
her full, harmonious voice. I believed everything that
she said to be gospel truth ; it never occurred to me that
she might be wrong or mistaken.
" Where are the people travelling who live in there V 7
t asked, pointing to the sealed doors, as we walked
through the corridors of the Karolinenlust.
Charlotte looked at me for one moment incredulous as
to whether I could mean what I said, and then laughed
aloud. " Do they seal up the doors in your country
when people go on a journey ? Did Frau Use seal up
the Dierkhof ? Where are they travelling ? They have
travelled to heaven, child I"
I started. " Are they dead ?"
"Not they, but he: a young unmarried man lived
here, Lothar, Uncle Erich's elder and only brother, a
splendid officer. You shall see his portrait finely painted
in oil ; it hangs in the drawing-room of the other house n
u And he is dead ?"
" Dead, little one, irrevocably dead. The official an-
nouncement said he died of apoplexy. The secret truth
is that he put a bullet through his brain. The world
believes that his death had some connection with a
princess of the ducal family "
140 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Is she named Sidonie ?" slipped oat before I knew
what I was saying.
"Aha! the little moorland gipsy is interested in genea-
logical matters 1 Was she named, you mnst say, for the
Princess Sidonie has long been dead ; she died a few days
before the handsome officer killed himself. It is an old
story ; no one knows much about it, I least of all. I
only know that there the seals are, and there, according
to the last dispositions of the former proprietor, they
are to remain until well, until the end of the world,
Heaven willing. I should like to have one peep inside
there, one stolen glance. But everything is bolted and
barricaded up, and Uncle Erich watches the seals like
Argus himself."
Heavens, if that implacable man with the piercing
eyes should ever learn that I had already been wandering
about behind those seals ! A shudder ran through me,
and I compressed my lips lest the horrible secret should
escape them. Scarcely entered upon my new exist-
ence, I already had something to conceal from those
around me, I whose thoughts and speech had hith-
erto been as free and unconstrained as my* floating hair
in the moorland breeze.
Use, meanwhile, had ascended the staircase after us,
reproaching me for leaving her behind when she had gone
to see the devastation in the garden.
" Mischief enough the horrid brute has done I" she
said, greatly incensed. " Two of those expensive glass
frames are entirely destroyed, and a beautiful flowering
tree is kicked over, the crimson flowers are lying all scat-
tered upon the ground ; and yet that man keeps perfectly
still and never says one word ! If it had happened to
me
" Uncle Erich has plenty of camellias," said Charlotte,
TIIE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. \i\
contemptuously. "What difference will the few that have
been broken off make ? Be assured, besides, that every
one will be paid for ; they will all be put on wires and
stuck into the bouquets that are ordered for a huge bour-
geois ball this evening. Nothing is wasted in this house,
rely upon that."
She opened the library-door, but I pushed past her
and ran to the alcove by the window where my father
was writing. No, she should not see him start and look
up from his paper with that dazed, bewildered air. She
should not laugh at him, I would not allow it.
" Father, here we are again," I said, and put my arm
around his neck, so that he could not rise, and he did not
try to, he only looked into my face with a smile. I
was overjoyed; he knew my voice already, and I had
some power over him.
"Aha, little one! is this the way you take possession
of me?" he said, jestingly, patting me on the cheek.
" But if you want to be like your dear mother, you will
only lay your hand very gently on my forehead, or drop
a flower upon my manuscript, and then slip away before
I know who has been beside me."
It always made my heart ache when he thus men-
tioned my mother, whom he must have loved devotedly.
She had lavished a thousand tender cares upon him, but
her lonely child had never known any affection from her.
And now my father noticed that Charlotte was present
He arose and bowed.
" I have brought you back your little daughter, Herr
Doctor," she said. " You must permit the unscientific
dwellers in the other house to have a hand in forming
and developing this wild moorland flower."
He thanked her cordially and accorded her his full
permission. Suddenly he rubbed his forehead thought-
142 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
fully. " It just occurs to me, yes, I am a little forget
ful sometimes, I had a short conversation yesterday
with the Princess Margarethe, in which I casually men-
tioned yoar arrival, my child, and she expressed a desire
to see you next week. She knew your mother when she
was lady-in-waiting at L ."
" Oh, you fortunate child 1" cried Charlotte. "An an-
cient name, a distinguished father, and a mother who
was once in attendance at court 1 verily the gods have
lavished their choicest gifts upon you, and you do not
seem to care for it all !"
"No, I am afraid of the Princess," I replied, shyly,
pressing close to Use.
" Don't be afraid, Lorchen ; you will love her as soon
as you see her," said my father, soothingly ; but Char-
lotte's finely-formed brow contracted with a frown.
" Moorland flower, don't be childish," she remonstrated.
" The Princess is very amiable ; she is the sister of the
Princess Sidonie, of whom we were speaking just now,
and the aunt of the young Duke. She does the honours
at court, for her nephew is still unmarried, and she is said
to be especially kind to young, shy, and, forgive me for
adding, rather silly girls, who are afraid upon the occasion
of their first presentation at court. So you need not be
alarmed, little one."
She turned me by my shoulders towards the light.
" Will you present your daughter to the Princess as she
is ?" she asked my father, showing her pearly teeth in a
smile that was truly elfish.
He looked at her vaguely and uncomprehendingly. " 1
mean," she added, " in this costume that surely antedates
the flood ?"
" Let me tell you, Fr&ulein," Use here sharply inter-
posed, " that my poor mistress wore that gown in mourn*
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 143
ing for her husband. She was great and grand then,
and the dress was good enough for her, so it cannot harm
the Princess to see the child in it."
Charlotte laughed in her face. " How many years ago
was that, my good Frau Use ?"
This seemed to enlighten my father. Again he passed
his hand across his brow. "Hint is that the ques-
tion? Yes, yes, you are right, Fraulein Charlotte,
Lorchen is really scarcely presentable. I remember,
my wife had exquisite taste, and used to go often to court
with me. My dear Use, in the lower story here, some-
where among my effects, there must be two trunks full
of dresses; the housekeeper packed them up at that
mournful time "
Use clasped her hands in dismay. " Gracious mercy !
that was fourteen years ago ; and have they never once
been unpacked and aired in all this time ?"
He shook his head.
41 Oh, you poor creature !" Charlotte exclaimed, exult-
ingly; "I must come to the rescue, or there will be a
scandal, indeed. I will take care that all is as it should
be, Herr Doctor."
" Indeed 1 and who will pay for it all?" Use asked,
dryly.
My father looked extremely puzzled and anxious, in-
terlacing his fingers until the knuckles cracked.
Charlotte noticed his perplexity. " I will speak to my
uncle about it," she said.
il He must not give the child any money but her own, 1 '
Use interposed ; " and a pretty business there will be of
it, the little property will be scattered to the four winds
for fripperies and nonsense before we can turn round."
" Keep your money for all I care I" cried Charlotte,
irritably ; " I will give her the now dress that was only
144 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
sent home to me yesterday. I will not have the child go
to court in that old dress, I care a great deal too much
for her."
I turned my head and kissed the plnmp white hand
that was laid caressingly upon my shoulder. Use saw me
do it. She shook her head, and a sad expression that I
had never seen there before stole across her features. I
think that, for the second time that day, she regretted
having brought me among these " sensible people."
But at present she had no cause for anxiety, not a
trace of gratified vanity alloyed the gratitude that
prompted me to kiss Charlotte's hand. I never dreamed
that I should look prettier without the thick muslin rufflo
which Charlotte boldly took from my neck, my face
would not be one whit less brown above such soft lace as
she herself was wearing, and the little ears that grew so
scarlet at every change of emotion would be no paler in
colour when not contrasted with the waves of white
muslin. But I never even bestowed a thought upon all
this; I was simply thankful for the affection proffered
me.
Charlotte took leave of my father without taking with
her the book she had come to seek, my presentation at
court seemed to have excited a whirl of projects and
plans behind her smooth white brow. Below in the hall
she assured me once more that she would see to every-
thing, admonished me seriously to conquer my nonsensi-
cal shyness and timidity, and then hurried back to the
other house.
" Of course, you will not wear borrowed finery," said
Use to me, when Charlotte had disappeared in the grove
on the opposite side of the pond. " Your blessed grand-
mother would turn in her grave. Oh, heavens I I must
0 myself to Heir Claudius and ask him for the money
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS, 145
for the silly trash ! They'll make a pretty puppet of you
in the other house !"
When we entered the sitting-room, where the maid-
servant was laying the table, the kind old gardener came
to tell me that by Herr Claudius's orders he had placed
a stand of flowers in my room.
With much pains I uttered a few formal words of
acknowledgment. I did not want any flowers from Herr
Claudius ; he had better sell them, mean and illiberal
uncle that he was I I would not even go to my room to
look at them. But in the afternoon I spent one of the
most tedious and wretched hours of all my life until then
beside them, for they overshadowed my writing-table.
My writing-table I What irony it seemed to provide me
with a table to be used solely for writing upon I And
there I sat and agonized over it, for I was writing a letter;
it had to be done ; it was the first I had ever written.
Use had proved inexorable. "Get through with what
you have begun as best you can. I will not touch a
finger to it I" had been her inflexible declaration, and she
had left me alone with my Titan undertaking.
"Dear Aunt, I read your letter. I am so very
corry that you have lost your beautiful voice, and as my
dear grandmother is dead, I send you tne money," could
at last be deciphered in black, sprawling letters upon the
paper before me. A beginning had happily been found,
and I raised my eyes in search of further inspiration
from without.
A delicious fragrance encompassed me. Yes, there
stood the stand of flowers; beautiful pale tea-roses hung
their lovely heads heavily, and oh, heavens I encircling
all those tall, blossoming rose-bushes, azaleas and camel-
lias, was a wreath of heather in full bloom! What
K 13
1 46 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
thoughtful kindness it showed in the good old gardener 1
1 threw aside my peu, and plunged my hands deep among
the blossoms. And before me rose the dear old roof, with
the bees humming around it; and the magpies chattered
shrilly down into the courtyard from the oak boughs.
The glowing afternoon sunlight lay broad upon the bris-
tling boughs of the old fir, and the yellow blossoms of tho
broom gleamed like golden stars embroidered upon the
piuk-and-purple carpet of heather. Blue butterflies ! I
ran after them beneath the birch-tree, into the tangled
network of willows and alders, and, with a bound, my
warm, naked feet were in the cool, refreshing moorland
stream ! Starting suddenly, I drew back my hands, and
angrily dipped my pen afresh into the black fluid that
had been invented for my confusion.
I wrote on: "I am living with ray father at Herr
Claudius's, in K , where you will, perhaps, let me
hear from you, if the money reaches you correctly through
the post." Full stopl Yes, that was all right; but
would she be able to read it? Use always said there
was no sense to be made of my writing, because the
letters were so sprawled about. Ah, the crane on the
banks of the pond began to dance, and a flock of guinea-
fowls timidly concealed themselves in the bushes. Dago-
bert emerged from the grove; as he walked swiftly
forward, he made rapid passes in the air with his slender
cane, and came straight towards the Karolinenlust. I
bent down out of sight, for he was looking steadily at
the window by which I was sitting. No, no, he was
not coming in, it would have been too silly to obey
my first impulse to bolt the door 1 He was going up to
the library ; I could hear his footsteps die away at the
head of the marble staircase. Heavens ! how much there
was going on in the world to be seen and understood,
WE LITTLE MOORLAND miNCESS. 147
and yet there were men who passed their days writing,
amid musty books and papers, like Herr Claudius, for
example, in his counting-room with his big folio !
Then came the signature, " Your niece, Lenore von
Sassen," and finally the address, which I copied labo-
riously letter by letter from the torn fragment of my
aunt's note. Heaven be thanked ! It was my first, and
most certainly it should be my last, letter. I would never
do it again. There lay the pen on the rococo inkstand,
where I had found it. I devoutly desired for it in future
the repose of the tomb.
Use was, after all, obliged to put the five stamps upon
the envelope, and then she carried the letter angrily, and
with the tips of her fingers, as if it could burn her, to
the post. She would not for the world have trusted so
much money to strange hands.
This miserable production of mine and its consequences
always remind me of a little innocent bird who, all un-
consciously, carries the seed of some ugly, luxuriant weed
into the midst of a beautiful bed of flowers.
CHAPTER XT.
The firm of Claudius & Co. was very old. It had
flourished and enjoyed * wide-spread reputation when
the tulip mania raged in Holland and thence through
Europe, in the seventeenth century, when the incredible
sum of thirty thousand gulden was paid for three bulbs
of the Semper Augustus. The enormous wealth of the
firm dated from that time, when it produced the rarest
and most costly specimens of tulips. It is said that
148 THE LITTLE MOORLAND rRWCESS.
some of the most famous species were originally sent
from this skilful German firm to Holland, where they
were bought at fabulous prices, and found their way
into the market as exclusively Dutch. But as the wealth
of the firm accumulated, its chiefs became more and more
simple, honest, and retiring. They preserved the strictest
bourgeois simplicity and integrity ; through a succession
of last wills and testaments and final earthly dispositions
might be found the same admonitions to the successor, to
frugality and uprightness, threatening with disinheritance
any leaning towards luxury or dissipation.
Thus it happened that the exterior of the dark, granite
house in the retired street had never been beautified or
renewed. Each successive head of the firm took up his
abode there, and the packing-room, the large, vaulted
apartment, with brown leather hangings, looked about
the same at present as when there issued thence those
costly bulbs that were to ravish the imagination of the
tulip fancier with a vision of the gorgeous queen of
flowers about to emerge from them.
The old flower-merchants, who tended their delicate
plants with one hand, while with the other they tried to
forge iron chains and armour around their successors,
ought to have known well that degeneration and variety
will sometimes burst the bonds of all law, and, if they
had been wise, would have remembered this fact in
flower culture in their treatment of human beings.
Eberhard Claudius, a liberal-minded, influential muu,
had suffered severely from the narrow traditions of the
house ; but he had found a means of relief. The story
ran that his beautiful and passionately-adored young wife
had been a prey to melancholy in the gloomy rooms of
the old house fronting on the street. And one day, when
no one dreamed of his intentions, foreign workmen had
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 149
Arrived, and, under the direction of a French architect,
had cleared a space in the midst of the wide forest do
main that was encircled by the wall bounding the Clau-
dius estate, and gradually, in the very centre of the pro-
tecting woodland, there arose an exquisite villa, full of \
sunlight and luxurious silken hangings, full of fluttering
Cupids and lofty mirrors, to reflect the beauty of his idol-
ized wife. And upon the day when his pale darling
walked for the first time around the enchanting little
lake that seemed like the work of magic, and in the spa-
cious sunny hall clasped her husband in her arms in
grateful delight, the villa was named by him in her
honour " Karolinenlust."
Eberhard Claudius had also founded the antique cab-
inet and the noble library, with its collection of manu-
scripts. He had travelled through France and Italy,
where he had collected treasures of art and science, se-
lected with rare taste and knowledge ; these were all
lavished to enrich the retirement of his wife, whose
youth bloomed afresh in the Karolinenlust.
After him, Conrad, his son, became the head of the
firm and returned to the old traces. With Puritanic se-
verity, he re-established the old strict domestic rules, and
the Karolinenlust, with its adornments, was bolted and
barred up as a direct protest of refined luxury against
the spirit of his ancestors. The first of his successors
to display variety afresh was Lothar, his grandson.
Lothar resolutely refused to enter the firm when he
and his younger brother Erich were left orphans at an
early age. His fiery temperament decided in favour of a
military career. His advancement was rapid, a patent
of nobility was awarded him, and he became the especial
favourite of the Prince. Then the Karolinenlust was re-
opened. It was well adapted for the abode of the
13*
150 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
aspiring branch of the ancient merchant race, and, as if
in protest against any further community with the other
house, a barred and bolted gate was erected at the en-
trance upon the bridge from the Karolinenlust side.
There, in genuine woodland seclusion, the handsome
young officer resided, while the bookkeeper Eckhof ad-
ministered affairs in the other house until Erich Claudius
returned from his travels, and, faithful to the old tradi-
tions, entered upon his inheritance with iron resolution
and devotion to business.
The petted, wayward officer, however, had known no
better than his immediate predecessors how to appreciate
the cabinet of antiquities. The chests and boxes in the
vaults had not been disturbed for many years when, sud-
denly, the young Duke succeeded to the helm of state and
manifested a perfect passion for archaeology. My father,
one of the greatest authorities in such matters, was sum-
moned to K , and antiquarians sprang up everywhere
like mushrooms; his Highness might have paved his
palace with them. Conversation at the court balls teemed
with Greek, Roman, and Etruscan antiquities, and such
words as "numismatic," "glyptic," and "epigraphic"
dropped like pearls from the rosy lips of lovely partners
in the dance.
The news of the sudden mania at court had been
brought by Dagobert to the lonely old house fronting on
the street. Fraulein Fliedner, who had been companion
to the late Frau Claudius, Lothar's and Erich's mother,
and had, by the last will of that lady, remained in the house
as castellane and housekeeper, could tell many a half-for-
gotten tale of former times, and she recollected and told of
the antique treasures of the Karolinenlust. Dagobert had
communicated the intelligence to my father, and the latter
often related how he had paused, with an incredulous
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 151
smile, in front of the respectable business-like house,
fronting on the street, before he could decide to enter
and request permission to make a search ; which permis-
sion was accorded him by Herr Claudius, apparently not
quite ungrudgingly.
Early on that morning my father descended into the
vaults of the Karolinenlust, whence he did not reappear
during the entire day ; he neither ate nor drank ; he was
almost wild with excitement ; such an immense mine of
scientific treasures was here revealed to him. Herr
Claudius permitted the unpacking and arrangement of
the objects of art, and placed apartments in the lower
story at my father's disposal, granting him, also, entire
command of the library.
I did not learn all this during my first days in K ,
I was little inclined to make any inquiries upon such
subjects ; for, after the first flood of novelty had subsided,
I was possessed by homesickness for the moor. To be
sure, Use was still with me, she had added a few days
to her self-granted leave of absence from home that she
might establish some degree of order in my father's
bachelor establishment, and perhaps that she might see
me at least begin to take root in the new soil. But her
presence did not soothe my troubled heart ; I knew that
she must leave me finally, and the thought agitated me
beyond description.
In the other house every one was exceedingly kind to
me; but I hated its cold, gloomy walls, and never entered
them except in company with Fraulein Fliedner or Char-
lotte. It never occurred to me to go thither of my own
accord. But I was more and more attracted towards my
father. I did not, indeed, after his gentle reproof, annoy
him by suddenly throwing my arms around his neck, nor
did I even dare imitate my mother by dropping a flower
152 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
upon his manuscript ; bat I had tho courage to place a
vase of fresh wild flowers upon his writing-table every
morning, and, as I slipped by him, sometimes I would
pass my hands shyly and gently over his gray hair. I
liked to be in the library, and still more to wander about
the room, full of what Use called " the broken rubbish."
All those mute figures gradually acquired a power over
me, and sometimes made me forget the wide moorland in
the north after which my very soul thirsted.
But I was often frightened away from this room.
Dagobert, who really developed a passion for antiquarian
lore, would spend whole half-days in the library and
antique cabinet. As soon as I heard him enter the
library, I fled through the opposite door, rushed down
the stairs, and sometimes was so pursued by childish
timidity that I could not stay in the house, but ran
breathless until I was hidden in the woods.
This bit of woodlands was most beautiful, to all ap-
pearance a genuine little primeval forest. Some old Herr
Claudius had bought it and inclosed it, not for any busi-
ness purposes, but simply and solely that he and his suc-
cessors might enjoy their Sunday promenades, the only
luxury that they allowed themselves, in seclusion, upon
their own soil, undisturbed by stranger eyes. The in-
tense longing for my boundless moor that at first pos-
sessed me made me cold and indifferent to the beauty of
the forest. I would not look up, that sky of greenery
was odious ! All the more did I delight in every wild
plant and flower in the moss at my feet ; they seemed
shy and timid like myself.
Although I had wandered fearlessly upon the spacious
moor, I could not bring myself to explore these woodland
depths. I confined my rambles to the vicinity of the
house, and I should have greatly preferred the thicket on
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 153
the banks of the water, for it reminded me of my home,
but that I was driven thence on the second day after my
arrival in K. When Use took my letter to the post I
accompanied her as far as the bridge. Beneath its grace-
ful arches the clear, bright water flowed with as soft and
musical a murmur as that of the dear moorland stream
behind the Dierkhof. I slipped into the bushes. They
were alders and willows, with here and there a silvery
gleaming birch. There were no pearl mussels to be found,
but watercresses and white ranunculi were growing
upon the moist banks. Upon the rippling waves was
mirrored a tiny fleck of blue sky that peeped in among
the overhanging boughs, everything looked as it did in
the little lake at home ; I took off my shoes and stock-
ings, and in an instant the bubbling water was curling
around my feet, that had, to my disgust, already grown
whiter from their few days of close confinement. It was
as if all the new-forged fetters fell from my body and
soul at the touch of the water. I laughed with de-
light and stamped repeatedly, so that the drops splashed
high in the air. Suddenly there was a crackling in
the bushes; it was just the sound tbat Spitz used to
make at the Dierkhof when he came to look for me, and
would dash through the underbrush into the water,
and everything around me now was so like home that at
that sound of breaking twigs I called my dear old com-
rade loudly by name. What was I about ? No Spitz,
of course, appeared, but, just where I had heard the
sound, the willow branches were gently stirred, and a
man's arm in a light cloth sleeve was hurriedly withdrawn.
With a bound I was on the bank; I could have
cried with vexation. In the very first hours of the two
years that were to form me to such elegance, what a
terrible. relapse was this ! Dagobcrt had seen the lizard
154 TI1E LITTLE MOORLAND rRINCESS
barefooted again. How they would laugh at me in the"
other house ! But he had been in a dark dress when I
had seen him an hour before with my father, and then,
too, a brilliant gleam had flashed upon me from the
thicket. That gleam I had seen once before that day
in the counting-room upon Herr Claudius's hand. 1
breathed more freely ; yes, it had been only Herr Clau-
dius ! He must have heard my nonsensical splashing in
the water, and had come to see who was breaking the
willow twigs upon his estate, or disturbing the pebbles
in his stream. He might rest assured that I would never
do it again.
Sunday came after we had been five days in K . At
the Dierkhof, the distant bells had sounded like a faint,
broken tinkle; how I started when a deep, sonorous
peal rang out upon the air of the town 1
Use got ready for church ; and, as she walked solemnly
to the music of those bells around the little lake, I stood
in the hall and looked after her. The old bookkeeper
came out of his room ; he had his hymn-book under his
arm, and was putting on a pair of small, Bew, lavender-
coloured gloves, the old gentleman fairly shone with
neatness and elegance. As he came near where I was
standing, he stood still. He did not bid me good-morn-
ing ; his new, shiny hat was not lifted from his head ;
but he measured me from head to foot with a look con-
veying stern reproof. I began to tremble with fear, and,
as he opened his mouth to speak to me, I turned and fled
out of the house towards the woods.
Would the terrible man follow me ? I stopped breath-
less, and looked timidly behind me. The path that I had
pursued traversed the thicket. Without knowing it, I
had partly ascended a wooded hill. All was silent below
me the pious man had doubtless continued upon hii
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 155
wny to church. Before me the narrow road opened upou
a meadow, where the dew still clung to the feathery
grasses, while all along the edge of the forest the wild
strawberries grew undisturbed, no one came hither to
pluck them ; they perfumed the air, which had a golden
glimmer: I imagined I could see it tremble with the
Bound of the bells. Dark pines were everywhere around,
their giant trunks dripping with moisture, while there
was a low murmur in their topmost boughs.
A mysterious influence, unknown in the busy world,
reigned around ; it was as quiet as in those sealed apart-
ments. I heard a slight rustle in the forest, and saw
something white and reddish-brown wandering there;
then a majestic pair of horns appeared, the graceful
creatures were tame and gentle ; they crossed the meadow
towards me, gazing at me with fearless eyes.
On I went ; how far I pursued my voyage of discovery
I did not know. I must have passed hours wandering
over hill and dale. I had not the least idea where I
was ; but I felt no fear : the pure, fresh air had blown
it all away. I stood in a hollow, a hill behind me ; but
where could I be ? Several paths crossed each other, and
I was uncertain which to pursue, when suddenly I heard
a voice in the wood upon my left. I instantly recognized
it ; it belonged to the kind old gardener, who was trying
his best to soothe a screaming child. I went towards
the spot whence the sound proceeded, and came to a
wall, the boundary of the forest ; the space behind it
was clear of trees. I longed to see the screaming child,
but I could not climb the wall, which was high and
smooth ; nevertheless I could climb trees like a squirrel.
I liked it almost as well as paddling my feet in the
moorland brook, and in a moment I was sitting high
up in the boughs of an elm-tree.
156 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
I looked abroad upon a fair prospect and a considerable
extent of sky. At my right lay the steepled city, flanked
by ornamental roads, then the stream, the same that
traversed the Claudius estate. I was close by the Karo-
linenlust without knowing it, for the water was scarcely
two hundred paces from me, spanned by a broad stone
bridge. On the hither side, between the stream and the
edge of the forest, lay a succession of pleasant villas,
surrounded by gardens charmingly laid out ; on my left,
so near that I could easily see every object in the second
Btory, was a pretty Swiss cottage. The spot of ground
belonging to it was small, consisting of a little flower-
garden in front and a diminutive lawn in the rear, over-
shadowed by the impenetrable boughs of a magnificent
horse-chestnut, the only tree within the bounds of the
small domain, which was separated only by a broad
highway from the wall inclosing the Claudius estate.
Schafer, the old gardener, was walking to and fro
beneath the overhanging balcony of the cottage. He
had a pink muslin cloak thrown across his shoulder, and
was holding the little shrieking rogue in his arms as
artistically as an experienced nurse, while singing to it
in evident perplexity all manner of nursery songs. Upon
the bit of lawn, behind the house, a little girl, about
four years old, was playing. She had on a white gown,
and her long flaxen hair fell almost down upon her sash.
Her entire soul was absorbed in her play. She wan
tearing up handfuls of grass, and filling a toy wagon with
it For awhile she played on, evidently not hearing the
child's screaming, but at last she came into the garden,
plucked a half-faded stock, and held it up towards her
naughty baby brother.
" You must not pluck the flowers, Gretchen. Papa haa
forbidden it !" a man's voice cried to her from the balcony.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS 157
The southern end of the balcony was so completely
hidden behind a trellis, covered with a wild grape-vine,
that not a ray of sunlight fell upon the table spread there
for dinner.
Young Helldorf, whom I had seen at work in Herr
Claudius's counting-room, now leaned over the rail. He
bad been hidden by the vines hitherto. He had a book
in his hand ; and although he spoke rather in a tone of
reproof, a tender smile played about his mouth at sight
of the pretty little creature standing below upon tiptoe.
Across the bridge came a gentleman with a lady upon
his arm. They stood still, listening for a moment, and
then the lady slipped away, and ran on before to the
impatient child. She must have been to church, for she
hurriedly laid aside her hymn-book upon the nearest
garden-table and held out her arms for the boy, who, at
the sound of her voice, ceased crying and crowed with
delight, dancing with eagerness. In an overflow of
maternal tenderness, she devoured the chubby little
fellow with kisses, then put her left arm around her
daughter, and drew her towards her. She was very
delicate in appearance. The healthy boy looked almost
heavy enough to break her slender arm. She took off
her straw bonnet, at the blue ribbons of which the boy
was tugging, and revealed a lovely face, fair as a lily, and
a head crowned with masses of hair as light as little
Gretchen's.
In the mean while the husband, whom she had left
behind, also entered the garden. He looked very like
young Helldorf. The two men were evidently brothers.
He took up his little daughter and tossed her into the air ;
her white dress waved like a summer cloud, her golden
curls fluttered as she gleefully called out towards the bal-
cony, " Uncle Max, can you see me ?"
14
158 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
I was enchanted. It was my first glimpse of the real
pleasures of home ; cordial delight in what I witnessed,
and a profound yearning, for which I knew no name,
mingled with melancholy, possessed me. No mother
had ever caught me lovingly to her breast. I had never
known, like that happy child, that one word from the
tender voice of a mother suffices to soothe all childish
Borrow. And I could almost have envied the mother,
too, as she kissed and caressed her little ones. How
sweet to have the arms of children stretched out to you,
to have them look to you, and you alone, their mother,
for love and consolation !
Gretchen returned to her hay-wagon, and went on
with her play, while the others entered the house. I
softly descended from my post of observation, and walked
ulong the wall until I discovered a gate upon the road.
There was a key in the lock, which was so rusty that it
was evidently seldom used. . But my desire to speak to
the little girl gave me strength and skill. After much
patient exertion the key turned, and the gate opened with
a loud creak.
CHAPTER XYI.
I ran across the road to the low fence. Gretcbon
looked up with wondering eyes, and, leaving her toy
wagon, came towards me.
" Did you open it ?" she asked me, pointing to the gate
whence I had emerged. "Are you allowed to do that,
little girl ?"
I assented with a laugh.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 159
a
But your garden is not pretty at all/' she said, turn-
ing up her little nose disdainfully, and nodding towards
the depths of green that the open gate disclosed. " You
haven't one single flower in it 1 Just look at ours, Herr
Sehafer has so many, so many, oh, a hundred thousand
flowers !"
Yes ; but you must not pluck them."
No, not pluck them," she repeated, quite cast down,
patting her taper forefinger in her mouth.
41 But I know where there are lovely blue harebells
and white ones, too that you may pluck as many of
as you want, and you can fill your cart with straw-
berries. "
She immediately came out of the garden, dragging
her hay-wagon after her, and confidingly put her hand
in mine. I was delighted with my new acquaintance,
and I never thought of closing the gate behind us, but
left it wide open while we wandered about the woods,
where the strawberries and harebells were growing
in profusion. The child clapped her hands and began to
dig and pull as if she meant to carry home in her wagon
half the soil of Herr Claudius's forest.
" Oh, dear me, what loads of strawberries 1" and she
sighed, in excess of delight, running to and fro, and
plucking so busily that her face was crimson ; and then
she hummed to herself a little song.
" I can sing, too, Gretchen," said I.
" As pretty songs as mine ? I can't believe it. . Uncle
Max taught me mine. Well, sing me something, then I"
My ear for music must have been developed at an
early age, for all the bits of song that I knew had been
taught me in my dark nursery in town by Fraulein Streit.
I delighted in " Taubert's Nursery Songs," and so I now
began to sing, " The farmer has a dovecote fine." I had
160 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
seated myself upon a fragment of rock ; and, at the first
notes, Gretchen left her hay-wagon, leaned her elbows in
my lap, and looked up into my face in breathless atten-
tion.
It was strange, I was absolutely startled by my own
voice. On the moor it had sounded comparatively weak ;
the winds had dispersed it abroad ; but here the close-
drawn curtains of woodland greenery gave back its tones,
and it welled forth so full and clear that I could hardly
believe it the same.
The song of the farmer and his doves that fly away
from him is a merry one. Gretchen laughed aloud and
clapped her hands with delight after the first verse.
" Did he catch the doves again ? Isn't there some more
of it ?" she asked.
I began another verse, but suddenly the notes died on
my lips. From my rocky seat I could see a tolerable
distance along the winding path leading to the Karol in en-
lust. Along this path came the old bookkeeper. I was
reminded of a white-topped storm-cloud, as I looked at
him, so stern and menacing was his countenance beneath
the silvery gleam of his uncovered hair, as he rapidly
advanced towards us.
Gretchen turned to see what I was looking at ; her face
grew crimson, and, with a scream of delight, she ran to
him and clasped her little arms around bis knees.
" Grandpapa!" she cried, lovingly looking up at him.
He stood as if turned to stone, regarding her fixedly,
his hands stretched out as if suddenly, while walking
heedlessly, an abyss from which he recoiled had opened
before him. In this attitude he stood for a minute, as if
fearing that his hands, if dropped, might touch a golden
hair of that little head.
44 Yes, yes, you are my grandpapa ? Louise said so *
u
it
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 161
" Who is Louise ?" he asked, in a monotonous tone of
voice, as if to ward off other explanations with the ques-
tion.
" Why, grandpapa, our Louise I She took care of my
little brother when he was a tiny baby. But she has
gone now. Mamma says we cannot have a nurse ; it
costs a great deal too much "
The stony face twitched slightly and the hands slowly
dropped.
And what is your name ?" he asked.
Don't you know that, grandpapa ? Why, Herr Scha-
fer's Carlo knows that, and so does our puss ! Gretchen
is my name. But I have some more names, beautiful
ones, I'll tell you every one now,- Anna Marie Helene
Margarethe Helldorf."
With childish gravity she told off the names one by
one upon her little fingers. There was an indescribable
charm in the child's voice, in her whole innocent manner,
a charm which the old man evidently could not quite
resist. Suddenly I saw his jewelled hand rest lightly
upon the child's fair head ; he stooped, was he about
to kiss the lovely little face ? Perhaps, if time had been
allowed him to take the child in his arms, to feel her heart
throb against his own, knowing that between them there
was the strong tie of blood, the moment might have been
one upon which angels would have smiled. But it some-
times happens that, just as the tangled threads of fate
seem about to adjust themselves in a fair-spun web, some
mysterious hand interferes to prevent and confuse the
order and beauty of reconciliation and peace.
I did not know why I was so startled to see a light
dress fluttering among the trees in the direction of the
gate in the wall. It hurriedly approached, and in an in-
stant the young mother from the Swiss cottage c&mfc \n
L 14*
162 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
full sight of the group. She gave a low cry, and covered
her face with her hands.
The old gentleman started. I never shall forget the
expression of icy scorn that instantly took possession of
his aged, handsome features.
" Aha, the farce is an admirable success ! The child has
been well trained to her part !" He pushed the little one
from him so that it almost fell.
The mother ran to it and took it in her arms. " Father,"
she said, raising a warning forefinger, " you may do to
me what you please ; tread me beneath your feet, if you
will ; but you shall not touch my child with your hard
hand ! Never dare to do it again !"
She pressed the little girl, who, now pale with terror,
said not one word, still closer to her breast
" I do not know who brought the child here," she con-
tinued.
"I did," I said, in trembling tones, as I came forward.
u Forgive me I"
Agitated as she was, her face, as she turned to me,
showed a fleeting expression of gentle kindness.
" I wished to call the child into the house," she went on
to the old man, while every line in her lovely face grew
hard as steel, " and I found her gone, and the gate here
open. I flew hither to forestall the moment when she
might meet your eye. I was too late. Father, after
many a hard conflict with myself, I am resigned to be
called by you a heartless, ungrateful, lost daughter. I
am powerless to ward off your denunciations, to which
the pious world says ' yes' and ' amen V But you shall
not touch me as a mother. I, train my jewel, this sacred
trust of mine, this innocent darling, to play a part, that
my selfish desires might be promoted ? It is an insult
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 1&3
that I will not endure : I repel it, and you will one day
answer to me for it before God 1"
She turned and went away.
I thought he would certainly follow her, and take her
to his heart ; but he was evidently too unassailable in
his own conceit, one of those who think it impossible
that they can be wrong, and who, at the bare suspicion
of such a thing, intrench themselves in scorn and
severity.
He cast a bitter glance after his child, and then, with
anger in every flushed feature, advanced so clo^te to me
that I retreated a step before him.
" And you, how dare you presume to open a locked
and bolted gate in these grounds without permission ?"
he began, and there was an accumulation of hitherto
repressed malice in his angry voice.
I stood overwhelmed with confusion. I could neither
move hand nor foot. And, oh, heavens ! a reinforcement
suddenly appeared upon his side. Here, close to me,
stood Herr Claudius, as if suddenly risen ou+ of* the
ground. He must have come from the thicket behind
me. I looked up at him. He wore the hideous blue
spectacles, and was still paler than he had been in
the counting-room. Of course, he never would forgive
me for opening his gate and bringing strangers in with
out permission. Now these two stern, hard-hearted
tradesmen would pronounce judgment upon me, and there
was no escape. I was utterly defenceless. Would there
be any use in screaming for Use or my father to help me ?
" Herr Claudius," said the bookkeeper, strangely dis-
comfited by the unexpected appearance of the lord of the
domain himself, and speaking in a much less arrogant
tone, "you find me greatly agitated. I came hither
while taking my usual Sunday walk, and "
164 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"I have been an unseen spectator of all that has
passed," Herr Claudius interrupted him, quietly.
" So much the better, then you will grant that I have
cause for displeasure. In the first place, without our
knowledge, a remote door, which we have not secured,
has been opened "
"That is certainly unfortunate, Herr Eckhof; but,
iu your zeal, you seem to have forgotten that Fraulein
von Sassen is the daughter of my guest, and is not to be
taken to task in the terms which you have just allowed
yourself to make use of."
I looked up in amazement and tried to see the eyes
behind the spectacles. Matters were turning out quite
contrary to my expectations. The bookkeeper recoiled
as if he had heard such words from those lips for the
first time in his life. He contracted his white brows
sullenly, and repeated, with a look of scornful malice,
" Fraulein von Sassen ! Where is the nobility that I
am to respect? Scarcely in the person of this oddly-
apparelled child ! "
" I had no intention of emphasizing the ' von,' " Herr
Claudius replied, with a slight blush ; " I simply in-
tended to remind you of the respect due, without distinc-
tion, to every guest of mine."
" Well, well, you will one day see what a blessing
your hospitality will call down upon your honest roof in
this case. I have besought and prayed, but in vain 1
The heathen pictures have all been brought out again
into the light of day, and there, in the Karolinenlust, sits
a man who knows no God, but would set up the ancient
idols. And he who wields the sceptre, the godless
youth upon the throne, who should be an ensample unto
his people of holiness aud virtue, making the whole land
to be full of praise and prayer, he helps to exalt the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 165
golden calf. There is a great cry in Sodom and Go-
morrah, their cup is almost full. The Lord is long-
suffering ; but the hour will come when the heavens will
rain down fire and brimstone 1"
Herr Claudius, in silence but in evident perplexity,
listened to the fanatical zealot. The old man apparently
spoke from profound conviction, but perhaps had never
declaimed so violently before his employer as in this mo-
ment of excitement.
" The Lord has permitted me to see and hear when
He has smitten the unbelieving with blindness and deaf-
ness," he continued. Raising his arm, he pointed, like
a prophet, to the Karolinenlust. " The house there was
builded in sin ; it has always been a sink of iniquity, and
those who there transgressed the commandments of the
Lord cannot rest ; they wander there still, and lament,
and prophesy ruin to the house that shelters Sabbath-
breakers "
Herr Claudius raised his hand as if to interrupt.
" Did I not hear a piercing shriek come from the
rooms so long locked and sealed?" the old man con*
tinued, in a louder tone. " Did I not see the light hang-
ing from the ceiling of my room shake beneath the tread
of the unquiet spirit wandering above it ? Yes, they
have arisen from their graves, condemned in expiation
of their sins to return to the world and warn those who
walk here in blindness. Herr Claudius, on the very day
when that young creature first entered the Karolinenlust,
there was stir and noise in the locked and sealed apart-
ments."
Good heavens, the man had heard me 1 While I had
thoughtlessly been exploring the guarded precincts of
the dead possessor of the villa, those sharp blue eyes
bad watched the hanging-lamp in his apartment; the
166 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
old man had heard my scream at sight of my own figure
in the mirror, and, in his glowing fanaticism, made use of
it all to prejudice his superior against my father and
myself.
Involuntarily I looked up again at Herr Claudius's
face ; it was turned upon me ; but the shining blue glasses
so concealed his eyes that it was impossible to tell from
them what impression the words of the bookkeeper had
produced. He made one step towards me, perhaps fright
had made me pale, and he feared some attack of nervous
weakness upon my part; but when he saw such fear was
groundless, he again addressed my stern persecutor:
"You are pertinaciously insisting that orthodoxy
must lead in the end to the grossest superstition 1" he
said, irritation and compassion mingling in his usually
calm voice. " I cannot tell you how sorry I am, Herr
Eckhof, to see you the victim of this wretched mysti-
cism. I have already been warned of this, but I did not
wish to believe it possible. Of course, I have no right
to control your opinions in the remotest degree; but
1 must request you to suppress the expression of them
in all matters of business as well as in my domestic
affairs."
" I shall obey you, Herr Claudius," the bookkeeper re-
plied, and there was a depth of faintly disguised malice in
the ostentatious submission of his manner. " But you will
permit me to make one request of you. I have been an
inmate of the Karolinenlust now for many years, and I
have held it a great privilege to be enabled to pass my
Sabbaths here in that quiet and retirement which accord
with the Lord's command that the day should be kept
holy. I therefore beg that you will give orders that this
sacred seclusion should never again be outraged by such
shouting, such frivolous screaming, as echoed through
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 167
the forest a short time since. This much, I think, as an
old man, I am entitled to ask "
Again the blue glasses were turned upon me ; I ex-
pected a stern reproof and a strict injunction as to the
future ; but again I was wrong.
" I heard no shouting," Herr Claudius replied, very
composedly ; " but I witnessed a scene that shocked me.
This young girl" he inclined his head towards me
" has not transgressed the command of the Lord by her
innocent song ; but you, Herr Eckhof, have just returned
from church. You are, as you have distinctly intimated,
one of those blameless Christians who refer all their
actions to some command of God. How could you
desecrate His day by showing harshness and implacability
to your child ?"
An evil look was shot at the speaker from beneath
those white eyebrows.
"I have no children now, Herr Claudius, as you at
least ought to know," he said, emphasizing the " you" as
if it were meant to cut deep.
He bowed and hurriedly retraced his steps in the path
by which he had made his approach. I felt instinctively
that Herr Claudius must be deeply wounded by a word
so emphasized, and I looked at him. The blow had
struck home.
1G8 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
CHAPTER XVII.
The bookkeeper's thrust had been successful. Ilerr
Claudius started and stood looking in blank dismay
after the old man's retreating figure until it vanished in
the thicket.
I took advantage of this moment to try to slip away;
but at the first rustle that I made, Herr Claudius turned
towards me.
" Stay one moment," he said, extending a detaining
arm. " The old man is greatly agitated ; I should not
like to have you encounter him again just yet."
He spoke with as much composure and as kindly as
ever. Why not confess to him now now that we were
alone the truth about the ghost in the sealed apart-
ments ? No, I could not ; I had no confidence in him :
his presence always chilled me. My whole soul went
forth to meet Charlotte's generous nature, but I could not
sympathize in the least with this cold, calculating man ;
his reserved, sedate bearing, his disapproval of any pos-
sible exaggeration, either in himself or others, was odious
to me. What he had just said, to be sure, sounded like
genuine Christian charity warm from the heart, and as
such I should have regarded it in another ; but from his
lips, those words were to me only the utterances of cold,
passionless intellect. He had come to my rescue, but,
childish as I was, I could see perfectly that he had done
so only to shield me from the insolence of his subordinate.
I was altogether too enthusiastic a pupil of Charlotte's not
to coincide with her entirely in her estimate of this man.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND rRINCESS. 169
Now, however, I obeyed him, and waited patiently
intil the heavy tread of the bookkeeper was no longer to
e heard. Mechanically I brushed up a little heap of
jand at my feet with the toe of my boot, which was thus
iisplayed in all its clumsy proportions ; but I was not
ranoyed, it was only Herr Claudius who saw it
" I will go and close the gate." I interrupted the
nomentary silence, remembering that it was still wide
pen. I wanted to ask pardon for my presumption, but
[ could not bring myself to do so.
" Come, then," he said. " I cannot see how you man-
aged to stir that rusty lock with those little hands."
" The child," I said, with a smile at the remembrance
of the lovely little creature, " I wanted so much to see
the child and the people who seem so happy together. I
aever knew what it was to have parents love their little
children so much."
" But how could you see what was going on in the
family ?"
Quite at my ease, I pointed up into the boughs of the
elm-tree by which we were passing. " I sat up there
and looked."
He smiled slightly, and, in spite of the spectacles, I saw
him look down at my skirt. My glance followed his,
and, oh, dear I what a rent the sharp boughs of the elm-
tree had made in my new black dress ! I felt myself flush
crimson ; I was ashamed that even Herr Claudius should
see it.
" Oh, heavens, Use !" was all i could stammer.
" Never mind ; Frau Use shall not scold ; we will not
have it 1" he said, kindly, but in the tone he would have
used towards little Gretchen. It vexed me ; I was not
as little and helpless as all that. I could not avoid think-
ing how different Dagobert was ; he treated me like a
15
HO TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
grown-up person, especially since he had heard that I
was to be presented at court. " Frau Use has already
taken measures to replace it," Herr Claudius continued.
41 She procured the money for your court toilet from me
yesterday, which reminds me to call your attention to a
slight matter. As long as Frau Use is with you she can
manage your affairs, but when she leaves you, I must
request you to apply directly to myself."
" Must I ?" I asked, at no pains to conceal my annoy-
ance.
" It must be so, Fraulein von Sassen, for the sake of
regularity."
" My dear grandmother was right, then, in detesting
money. What a terrible fuss there is in transferring a
few thalers from one hand to another !"
He looked at me with a smiling, sidelong glance. " 1
will make it as easy as possible for you," he said, kindly.
"But I must come to your gloomy room for every
groschen that I want ?"
" True I Is that room so odious to you ?"
" All the other house is cold and gloomy. How can
Charlotte and Fraulein Fliedner endure it ? I should die
of fright and despair." I involuntarily clasped my hands
upon my breast.
" Terrible old house that it is, it has already imperilled
one woman's life," he murmured, with a faint smile ; " and
l t is the cause of your dislike to stay among us ?"
" Oh, I love the flower-garden dearly I" I exclaimed,
without answering his interrogatory directly. " It is like
a book of fairy-tales. Sometimes I have to shut my
eyes tig^ht, and restrain my hands and feet, or I should
throw myself down in the midst of one of those gorgeous
flower-beds."
" Why not do it ?" he said, with gentle composure.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 171
I looked at him in surprise. " Why, think how you
would scold 1" escaped my lips. " The price of so many
bouquets lost ! and, heavens, such millions of seeds !"
He turned away, closed the gate by which we were
standing, and took the key out of the lock.
" This wisdom, as to the price of bouquets, comes from
the same source, I suppose, whence you learned about
the back office ?" he remarked, putting the key in his
pocket.
I did not reply. I could not mention Dagobert's name.
He had taught me "this wisdom," as Herr Claudius called
it, with a slightly bitter intonation. He did not press for
an answer.
" But the Karolinenlust, and the forest here, you do
not like at all?" he asked.
" It is all very lovely, but "
" But not half so lovely as upon the moor, eh ?"
" I can't say that, but I long so for the Dierkhof 1
Sometimes I suffer so with longing that I could dash my
head against all these trees !" The complaint came
from me involuntarily. No one else had ever asked
me the question. They all seemed to think I must be
delighted with the exchange.
" Poor child I" he said ; but no, no, it was not sym-
pathy, nature had gifted him with a very gentle voice.
We entered the parterre on one side. of the Karolinen-
lust There stood old Erdmann, who had wished to re-
fuse Use and myself admittance to the other house upon
the first day of our arrival. He held a basket, from which
he was scattering upon the gravel- walk food for the birds.
Herr Claudius walked hastily towards him and restrained
his right hand, that was just about to fling abroad a huge
quantity of grain.
" You scatter it much too prodigally, Erdmann/' he
172 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
said. " The birds cannot possibly devour all the grain
you give them, and it annoys me greatly to see it spring*
ing up everywhere among the shrubbery." He took the
basket and let the grains run through his slender fingers.
" This is nothing but wheat. I cannot have this reckless
waste, Erdmann ; you know how I detest it. Think how
many poor children are starving for the food that you
thus fling away."
I was disgusted to hear him justify his avarice thus.
He did not remonstrate because he wanted the price that
the grain would have brought him, oh, no I but at the
thought of the bread that might have been made of it for
hungry children !
Old Erdmann gave as his excuse that there was not a
grain of barley in the house, and withdrew into the
shrubbery with the air of a scolded school-boy. Oh !
how those odious blue glasses glared after him! I
would not look at them, but turned my face away, and
mechanically plucked at the bush nearest me, scattering
its leaves upon the gravel at my feet.
" What has that poor chocolate plant done to you V 9
asked Herr Claudius's voice at my side. It was as gentle
again as if it could not scold. " Suppose that one of those
leaves that you are so wantonly plucking off should be
capable of a throb of the home-sickness that you feel"
I stooped and hurriedly picked up all the leaves, laying
them in a little heap on the cool sod at the root of their
parent stem, in the shade of a leafy twig. " At least they
shall die in their home," I said, constrained against my
will to look up at the spectacles again.
" Shall you be able to endure it here ?" he asked.
"I must I must be educated, and that will take two
years," and I clasped my hands with a sigh, "two
long years ! But there is no help for it, I know myself
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 1T3
that I ought to learn something, I was so terribly
ignorant on the moor I Little Gretchen knows more
than I !
He laughed gently. " There is, I acknowledge, some
necessity for this period of learning and longing, when
I remember how hard it comes to your little hand to
write your own name. Much may be learned in two
years; but your father, and perhaps others, would be sorry
to have you acquire the worldly knowledge that is too
apt to come with life in a large capital. Frau Use re-
quested mo yesterday to oversee your pursuits and
progress."
I was terrified. This I would oppose with every nerve
of my body. I certainly would not, if I could possibly
help it. subject myself to the intolerable yoke beneath
which Dagobert and Charlotte languished. Strangely
enough, however, I could not summon the courage on
the moment to say this to him.
" I do not know what Use means. Fraulein Fliedner
undertook to do that long ago, and Charlotte, too," I
added, with hesitation. " And I love Charlotte so dearly,
it will be easy to obey her."
"That is just what must be avoided," he rejoined,
gravely. " You will do well in Fraulein Fliedner's hands,
but Charlotte has far too much in herself that needs
training to be a safe guide for you. If she is to exert
unbounded influence over another, she should be a
model of all that is excellent, and that she certainly
is not. Hers is a noble nature, but there is alloy in it.
I see I shall often have to come between you with a
warning."
If there had ever existed in me a particle of liking for
this man, these words would have destroyed it. He
was taking his revenge for Charlotte's gossip about the
15*
174 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
back office. Yes, I knew it well; here was just the sly,
deceitful manner that so irritated Dagobert. And Use
could resign me without a word to the guidance of this
stiff, formal reckoning-machine ! He would imprison me
within four walls, set me tasks, in writing especially, and
those odious glasses would pry into everything that I
did.
Meanwhile we had entered the hall, and were standing
at the opening of the corridor that led to my room. Herr
Claudius took off his glasses and put them in his pocket.
Although he was Herr Glaudius, whom I detested, he
certainly had remarkably fine eyes ; they affected me like
the cloudless sky at noonday, that stretches above us
soft and mild, and yet if we attempt to gaze into it
steadily, our eyelids droop beneath its glowing fire.
I was silenced ; those glasses had been my bulwark ;
with their departure my courage fled. Just then the
gravel outside crunched beneath approaching footsteps.
" I don't mean to offend, Fraulein," I heard Use say in
the distance ; " but I think it a disgusting habit. Such
a charming young lady smoking like a chimney 1"
" Oh, you are afraid lest tobacco-smoke should spoil
the brilliant pansies on your bonnet, Frau Use," laughed
Charlotte.
" Nonsense ; that is not it at all ! But I tell you
truly, that if I thought the child would ever put such a
thing as that between her lips, I would pack up this
moment "
She stopped, for she had reached the hall-door and saw
us. Charlotte, who was at her side, had a cigarette be-
tween her cherry lips, and her smiling face was ob-
scured by a cloud of smoke that she had just puffed out
in defiance of Use. At sight of Herr Claudius she started,
and, with a deep blush, hastily took the cigarette from her
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. Hft
mouth. I laughed ; the ease and grace with which she
managed the cigarette made her all the more interesting
to me.
fierr Claudius did not seem to observe her.
" You are right ; do not permit it, Frau Use," he said,
composedly. "The tobacco-smoke will not harm your
bonnet, but it is destruction to the delicate bloom of femi-
nine grace."
Charlotte hurled the cigarette into the little lake.
"Have you attended to those invitations, Charlotte ?"
he asked, as quietly as if he did not see the passion that
flamed in her eyes.
" Not yet. Erdmann will take them this evening "
" Do not forget to send one to Helldorf."
" Helldorf, uncle ?" she asked, with a stammer, as if
she could not trust her ears, and again she blushed
deeply.
" Yes, I want him to dine with us to-morrow. Have
you any objection to the arrangement ?"
" Not the least, only it is new to me," she replied,
hesitating.
He lightly shrugged his shoulders, courteously lifted
his hat, and ascended the stairs. He did not enter the
library ; I heard him open a door above.
" Is the world suddenly turned upside-down ?" asked
Charlotte, who stood motionless, her arms dropped at her
sides, until the last sound of the opening and closing door
died away. " Good heavens, what a row there will be ! I
am greatly mistaken if Eckhof does not salt our soup well
for us to-morrow."
" Why, what business has the old bookkeeper in the
kitchen ?" Use cried, irritably. She was thoroughly tired
of the indefatigable psalm-singer.
"My dear Frau Use," laughed Charlotte, "let me tell
176 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
you something. In the business firmament of the firm
of Claudius there circles a mock sun Herr Eckhof
Uncle Erich, to be sure, does as he pleases, but he pays
such respect to the sagacious counsel of the worthy book-
keeper, that the modest mock sun is all-powerful. Now,
Eckhof is Helldorf s mortal foe, justly or unjustly I do
not know, and do not in the least care, for I am not ac-
quainted with the man, no, not at all. I only know
that up to this moment Helldorf has never set foot in
the drawing-room of the Claudius house, and this simply
because Herr Eckhof did not desire it. Suddenly he is to
be invited to a dinner that Uncle Erich gives to-morrow
to a couple of business friends from America. Eckhof
will be raging, and invoke the judgment of the Lord upon
the entertainment, for Uncle Erich confers upon Helldorf
an honour that is usually accorded only to bald-headed
respectabilities, or business celebrities. 1 tell you the
world is turned upside-down, and it would not at all sur-
prise me if those marble individuals,' 7 she pointed to the
group in the centre of the pond, " were to arise, and with
profound bows assure us that we are very pretty girls."
I laughed, of course, and even Use smiled grimly.
" What is Herr Claudius doing in the upper story ?" I
asked, vexed that " the tradesman," as my father called
him, should intrude upon the realm of science.
"He is rummaging among his spy-glasses, I suppose.
Did you not observe the two excrescences on the roof of
the Karolinenlust ? One is the dome of the cabinet of
antiquities, and the other Uncle Erich has fitted up as an
observatory. Now, does not that really look as if he had
some refined tastes ? Don't be misled, though, for pity's
sake : he is always himself; he numbers over the golden
orbs in the skies just as he counts the shining thalera
on the huge office-table."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 177
She drew out of her pocket a little package. " And
now for why I came. Here are the stockings, a dozen,
that I ordered for you from R ; they came last night,
and to-morrow the dressmaker will bring your dress."
" Don't let them cheat you, Fraulein ; there's never a
dozen there I" cried Use, weighing in her large hand the
package, that was about the size of a single pair of those
she used to Knit She tore off the paper, and a delicate
fabric appeared.
" Oh, vastly fine, indeed 1" she said, angrily. " The
child is then to go half barefoot in K , too ! Such
elegant articles will never even get as far as the wash-
tub ; the first walk taken in them will fit them for the rag-
bag. Oh, my poor mistress's money I" She walked
quickly away to our sitting-room.
" Never mind what she says, child," said Charlotte, in
her most resolute tone. " I never wear any others year
out, year in, let Fraulein Fliedner wrinkle her little nose
at what she calls my extravagance as much as she pleases.
I have a peculiarly sensitive Parisian skin, and you
must dress according to your station, and there's an end
of it!"
She left me, and I followed Use in some trepidation.
She had laid aside her bonnet and hymn-book, and was
standing with a flushed face in front of the flower-stand
in my room. It looked wretchedly neglected. I had
never cared much for the flowers, and did not water
them regularly, although Use strictly enjoined it upon
me to do so. The splendid plants were drooping their
thirsty blossoms.
Use did not speak, but pointed to the evidences of my
neglect. A spirit of antagonism and defiance took pos-
session of me.
" What do I care for the stand ?" I cried, with a pout
M
178 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"1 can't see why I should trouble myself about the
flowers. I didn't ask Herr Claudius for them: why did
he have them put here ? Let him see that they are at-
tended to !"
" Oh, go on, better and better I" she said, dryly. " Lace
on your feet and a thankless heart. Lenore, you will
never come back to the Dierkhof, and I will not have
you !
With a loud cry I threw myself upon her breast: her
words pierced me like a dagger.
"A little dove your grandmother called you," she
went on, inexorably, " a charming little dove ! If she
had known you, she would have called you "
" A fiend," 1 angrily completed the sentence, disgusted
with myself. " Yes, Use, that is what I am, I have a
bad black heart, but I did not know it, and now it is
always tormenting me."
CHAPTER XVIII.
The next morning my father told me that the Princess
Margarethe desired my attendance at six that evening.
In the course of the day a footman also appeared with a
message for myself to the same effect; the Princess evi-
dently put no faith in my father's memory. During the
last twenty -four hours he had been more absent-minded
than ever. A very elegantly-dressed gentleman with a
small box under his arm had paid him a visit in the
library on the previous day, a visit of considerable length,
and when my father afterwards went to the Duke as
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 179
usual, he forgot to bid me good-by. I heard him going,
and ran oat into the hall, when I noticed that his cheeks
were flushed feverishly, his eyes shone strangely, and hi
hair was in disorder.
At our noonday meal he ate but little ; I was anxiona
and agitated, for I had a dread of the Princess, whom I
could not but picture to myself in a gold brocade dress
with a glittering crown upon her head, and I was puzzled
by my father's strange conduct. He did not eat, but
played mechanically with his bread-crumbs, and gazed
fixedly at nothing. He was apparently making up his
mind to speak about something; now and then he looked
with a keen, searching glance at Use, whose appetite
appeared to be excellent, while she declared that there
were no potatoes in the world as mealy as those at the
Dierkhof, where the soil was so sandy.
" My dear Use, I want to ask you something," my
father suddenly began, and his words sounded hurried
and forced, as if they were the result of a resolution
formed on the instant and with difficulty.
She looked up from her plate.
"Did not you bring here with you some papers of value
left by my mother ?"
"Yes, Herr Doctor," she replied, laying down her
fork and evidently surprised.
He drew from his breast-pocket an object carefully
wrapped in paper; his hands trembled and his eyes
sparkled as he opened it, and showed us a very large and
beautiful medal.
" Look here, Use, what do you think of this ?"
"Yery pretty," she replied, nodding her head ap-
provingly.
" It is to be had ridiculously cheap. For three thousand
thalers I can buy this exquisite medal, that is worth
180 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
at least twelve thousand." There was a kind of ecstasy
in his usually placid face. " It is the greatest piece of
luck that has ever befallen me; I have had so many
sacrifices to make in what I have purchased hitherto, and
just now I have very little capital at my disposal. Dear
Use, you would greatly oblige me if you would let me
have three thousand thalers of the money in your hands.
Lenore cannot possibly suffer, for I give you my word
that the medal is worth at least three times as much as
I shall pay for it."
" Oh, yes, that may be all very true ; but would it bring
as much ?" she asked, tapping the medal with her finger
in a way that caused my father a nervous shudder.
" What do you mean ?" he asked slowly.
" Why, I mean, would it be taken in payment for as
much as you mention ?"
My father started as if she had stabbed him.
"No, Use," he said, after a pause. "You are not
looking at the matter in a right light. Such an object
as this cannot be paid away ; it can only be sold again."
" Oh 1 then the three thousand thalers are to be tucked
away for show in a box, exactly like all that broken trash
in the room up-stairs ! Not a morsel of food or a shoe
for the child's foot will it buy. I told you, Herr Doctor,
that the money should not be touched ! In Hanover,
when I used to carry packet after packet stamped with five
stamps to the post, until I could scarcely bear to see the
money vanish so, my poor mistress used to say, ' Use,
yoc cannot understand ; my son is a distinguished man,
he must have it.' And I was so stupid as never to see,
Herr Doctor, why my mistress ought to impoverish her-
self, selling all the old Jacobsohn silver, and her rings
and chains and bracelets, because you are a distinguished
man ; and I am just as stupid row: I cannot understand
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 181
why the child should give up her little inheritance. I
mean no offence, Herr Doctor, but it is just as if you
poured all your money into a bottomless pit, for it
is never seen again after it comes into your hands. It
may be that one day when all your things are sold "
My father started to his feet. He could bear anything
save the thought that his collection could ever fall into the
hands of strangers. He stretched out both hands depreca-
tingly to Use, who paused for a moment, and then con-
tinued, with great composure : " Besides, I have nothing
further to do with the money, you would not take charge
of. it, you know, Herr Doctor, and bo I carried it to the
other house the other day, and consigned it to Herr
Claudius for safe-keeping."
Without wasting a word more upon the subject, my
father wrapped the gold piece in paper again and put it
in his pocket. His disappointment and depression went
to my heart, but there was nothing to be done. Use's
whole manner testified to her great satisfaction at having
placed the money beyond her reach. I shrank before her
cold light eyes, and never ventured a word upon the
subject after my father returned to the library.
At four o'clock that afternoon the pretty housemaid,
who was partly in Charlotte's service, entered my room
with a basket, from which she took a heap of transparent
cloudy gauze, sprinkled with tiny black leaves.
" Fraulein Claudius sent me to try it on," she said,
while taking it from the basket ; and she went on to
assure Use that it was such a day as she had never seen
before in the other house.
"Only think," said she, "with all those gentlemen
coming to dinner, when we all had our hands full this
morning, what do you suppose Herr Claudius suddenly
took into his head ? Why, that his counting-room upou
16
182 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
the courtyard is too gloomy and mast be changed ! All
our people could hardly believe their ears. Just imagine
the counting-room where all the Claudiuses have worked
for more than a hundred years ! No one ever dared to
move a chair out of its place there, and now, all on a
sudden, everything, the old crazy, worm-eaten pieces of
furniture are carefully removed from the dark room to
one that is bright and sunny, they'll hardly know them-
selves ! And the upholsterer has hung the windows
with green curtains to save Herr Claudius's eyes. No
one in the house can tell what it all means, but old Erd-
mann looks very grave and quite pale about it ; he thinks
the end of the world is at hand."
I listened with only half an ear. What did I care
about Herr Claudius's counting-room ? My eyes were
devouring the exquisite articles that the speaker was lay-
ing out upon the couch. Use, too, examined everything
closely ; her fingers felt and twitched at the delicate ma-
terial, much to my dismay, while she wondered " how
long it would wear." But when at last the maid drew
forth, from the bottom of the basket, an exquisitely small
pair of black satin boots, and held them up before my eyes
with a smile, Use left the room without a word.
I must have grown very hard and cold, for I scarcely
noticed her departure, except that a weight fell from my
heart as the door closed after her. The moorland cobbler's
honest work flew to right and left immediately. Use
was right; in the "lace" and satin I felt barefooted again,
as if the moorland breeze were playing about my feet.
Then the maid immersed me in the clouds of gauze, and
put a black velvet bow here and there ; the cloudy fabric
was everywhere around my arms and shoulders, flowing
from my waist to the tips of my satin boots, and I in the
midst of it all ! J ? 1 could not stay ; I must run off
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 133
instantly ! " Stop, stop !" called the maid ; " you are for-
getting the bow for your left shoulder !"
But I paid no heed to her ; I ran through the hall,
across the bridge, and then through the flower-garden,
while my light draperies floated about me as if I were en-
veloped in a fleecy summer cloud.
I was not the least afraid of the other house, that day.
I ran up the winding staircase to Charlotte's room. Old
Erdmann was standing in the dim corridor as stiff and
straight as a figure of wood, with a napkin in his hand.
He opened bis eyes wide in astonishment, and it seemed
to me that he made a grasp at my dress, as if to detain
me, as I fluttered past him ; but what did I care for the
old bear ? I rushed into the room without stop or stay.
The windows here looked out over the courtyard and
garden, and although the room was hung with gloomy
brown damask, it was the most cheerful in the house. A
magnificent grand piano stood against the wall, opposite
the door, and Charlotte was sitting at it with her hands
resting on the keys, as if about to play. Near her sat
Fraulein Fliedner in pearl-gray silk, and a blonde cap, and
I saw no one else.
" Oh, Fraulein Charlotte !" I cried, " only look at me !
What do you think of this ?" And I raised one of my
banging sleeves. " Are they not like wings, real wings ?
Oh, and the shoes, you really must see the shoes !" I
raised my skirt and let the light play upon my satin boot.
"No more of that horrid 'clump, clump,' that my old
hob-nailed shoes made. Listen ! there is not a sound
when I walk." And I marched up to her like a soldier.
" Herr Bckhof could not call me an oddly-attired child
now, could he ?"
"No, little moorland Princess, no !" she cried. " Who
would have dreamed that the dark chrysalis contained
184 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
such a butterfly?" And she laughed, laughed immod-
erately, while even Fraulein Fliedner held her handker-
chief before her month and gazed smiling past me, at
the wall, I thought.
" Have you looked in the glass yet?" asked Charlotte.
" Of course not; I have had no time, and where is the
use ? I can see the dress and the shoes perfectly well
without looking in the glass."
" Oh, but you must just look at yourself once." She
laughed, and pointed towards the long mirror that
stretched from floor to ceiling, between the windows. I
ran up to it and stood, unsuspicious, before it ; then
uttered a cry, and buried my face in my hands. Good
heavens ! I had entirely forgotten the dinner-party that
I had heard of, and here I was in the midst of it. Be-
hind me, opposite the mirror, there was a door, which I
had always seen closed, leading into large reception-rooms.
Now this door was open, and upon the threshold stood
Dagobert, his laughing brown eyes encountered mine.
Bed gleamed from beneath his chin, and there was a
glitter of gold on his breast and shoulders ; he was in
uniform. Behind him were a number of gentlemen smil-
ing with amusement, and, beside an elderly man upon
a corner divan, sat Herr Claudius. All this I took in at a
single glance. Tears of mortification and shame rushed
to my eyes. Two cool, soft hands gently drew mine
away from my face. Herr Claudius was standing beside
me.
" You are startled, Fraulein von Sassen," he said. " It
was but a sorry jest of Charlotte's, which she must beg
you to forgive." He led me to an arm-chair, and I sank
down among the cushions.
" I am sure you will apologize," he said, turning to
Charlotte
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 185
" On the instant, my dear uncle 1" She sank upon her
knees before me and seized my hand. " Let your High-
ness look in mercy upon a miserable sinner," she entreated,
with comic pathos. " I sue for forgiveness, but only from
you, little moorland Princess. I claim gratitude from
every one else for prolonging such enjoyment for a mo-
ment. n
I had to laugh, although my eyelashes were wet with
tears. How could she dare to fall upon her knees so
charmingly before every one ? I wanted to creep into
some mouse-hole. She passed her hands caressingly
through my curls, arose, and reseated herself at the piano.
She played with great execution ; the instrument fairly
groaned beneath her touch. I wished the tones could
have sounded abroad over my wide moorland ; these walls
re-echoed them too piercingly. But I thanked the music
from my very soul, it diverted the attention of all present
from myself; and after I had been buried motionless in
the arm-chair for awhile, I ventured to raise my eyes
once more.
The first person whom I saw was the old bookkeeper,
who was sitting in a recessed window, half hidden by
the curtain. Charlotte had said truly, " he was raging."
On the previous day his anger had been quite majestic,
sublime. He had stood forth like a prophet, and the de-
nunciatory pathos in his look and tone had really awed
me. But at present he was nothing more than a very
angry man, at pains to suppress the manifestation of his
irritation. His left hand, with its costly rings, was
clinched as it rested on the window-sill, the handsome
outline of his severe classic profile was marred by the
depression of the corners of the mouth, and every one
present seemed to have incurred his displeasure, for he
sat with his back turned to the rest of the company. The
16*
186 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
object of his special dislike, young Helldorf, stood leaning
against the door by which I had entered, a most grate-
ful and attentive listener, surely, for his eyes were
riveted, as in fascination, upon the performer. He evi-
dently did not concur, in the opinion of Herr Claudius,
who, whenever a deafening crescendo thundered forth
beneath those strong, shapely hands, gloomily contracted
his brows and slightly shook his head, as if in disapproval ;
he was playing the connoisseur here too, then, the
tradesman 1
I suddenly felt a slight impulse given to my chair, and,
turning, saw Dagobert at my side, his elbows propped
familiarly upon the arms of my refuge. As I turned, he
looked full and earnestly into my eyes, leaned forward,
and, under shelter of the crashing chords, whispered in
my ear, "Are you going to the Princess this afternoon ?"
I nodded assent.
" Then spare one thought for me in the paradise that
you are to enter, I entreat you I"
I fairly grew dizzy. Those whispered tones, so soft
and fervent, moved me strangely. Could I grant a favour
to this young Tancred, who had seemed so unapproach-
able by me upon my moor, who now stood like a king,
in his beauty and military rank, among all these trades*
folk? The blood throbbed up to my temples, but I
bowed my head upon my breast. I was proud and happy,
but I would not let others see that I was so.
When the music ceased and the customary thanks had
been uttered, the assemblage broke up. Helldorf came
to take leave, but Herr Claudius gave him a sign, and I
heard him say, in an undertone, to the young man, " Do
not go yet ; I want to hear you sing ; they tell me you
have a charming baritone."
In the slight confusion attendant upon the departure of
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 18?
the guests, I slipped into the adjoining room, hoping to
find there some door of egress upon the passage. My
whole behaviour, in bursting so unexpectedly upon the
company, had been too ridiculous. I could not bear the
thought of Charlotte's raillery, and felt that I would
rather avoid her for the rest of the day.
Next the room into which I slipped was the large
dining-room, and here an open door led into the corridor,
where old Erdmann was pacing to and fro like a sentry on
guard, The table, in the middle of the room, and the
sideboards were ablaze with silver ; but I hardly saw it
I paused, spell-bound, before a picture upon the wall.
This, then, was the "gorgeous officer," as Charlotte
had called him, looking down upon me from out the
heavily-carved gilt frame, a proud, handsome man, the
full lips smiling with love of life's joys and the conscious-
ness of certain success And had that white hand, rest-
ing with such unstudied grace upon the table by his side,
really shattered the smooth brow by a single pressure
upon the deadly trigger? Had the terrible deed been
done in the Karolinenlust ? Had my foot, perhaps,
crossed the very threshold where the crushed head of
that man had lain ? Heinz had often assured me, with a
shudder, that suicides " could find no peace in their graves,
but walked o' nightn I" Suppose he were really to glide
through the sealed apartments at midnight, down the
dim, narrow staircase, and noiselessly push aside the ward-
robe beside my bed I almost shrieked with horror,
and turned away from the brilliant eyes, whose gaze
seemed to follow me, just as Herr Claudius entered
the room, apparently in search of some one. Forgetting
all shyness, I pointed towards the picture and asked,
earnestly,
" Was the terrible deed done in the Karolinenlust 1 n
188 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
He recoiled ; his cheeks flushed, and his eyes shot fire.
" Hush, child, hush I" he said, gloomily. " I must re-
strain all these wayward tongues." He stood silent for
a moment, gasing up at his brother's face. "No," he
said then, gently, " not in the Karolinenlust. Has that
thought troubled you ?"
" I I am so afraid of ghosts, and so is Heinz, and Use
too, only she will not confess it."
He smiled sadly. " I, too," he said, " sometimes see
ghosts that I dread, now more than ever." I could not
tell whether he spoke in jest or earnest. " You go to
court this evening ?"
I laughed to myself. Dagobert had asked me the same
question.
"Yes," I replied, " and I must hurry; we ought to be
at the castle at six o'clock."
But as I was hastily leaving the room he gently de
tained me.
" Do not forget yourself, and let the air of the court
bewilder you," be said, with strange emphasis, lifting a
warning forefinger. It was odd, but for the first time his
voice went to my very heart. Pshaw I fine advice this
from a man who thought only of himself 1 How different
from Dagobert's entreaty 1
I shook my bead and ran down-stairs. What a sermon
I should have had from Use if she had seen that way-
ward shake of the head I
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. \%$
CHAPTER XIX
I found the maid still in my room. She took posses-
sion of me, fastened on the missing bow, and placed a
little white straw hat upon my curls.
I cast a glance towards the mirror, and suddenly dis-
covered that my hair, that had always been to me an
abomination, curled in really charming short black curls,
and contrasted wonderfully well with the white ribbons
of my hat. Use's sharp eyes detected me at this com-
placent self-survey. I saw her hard face, with its ruddy
cheek bones, appear beside my head in the mirror.
" Have you done admiring yourself?" she asked. " No
honest girl spends her time before the looking-glass to
see if her nose is set straight in her face. Do you know
it's a sin ? If my poor mistress had taken away every
looking-glass from Christine, all would have been different.
I will turn round the glass before I go away, so that you
may remember it."
There was no need. I could not see the sin of looking
in the mirror, for God had given me my face and figure ;
but it was certainly ridiculous to ogle my own reflection.
I blushed as if I had said something very silly.
The maid withdrew with a glance of compassion at
hearing me so sharply taken to task, and I went up to the
library for my father.
As I stood outside the door, I heard him walking
quickly to and fro, and talking. I supposed that there
was somebody with him, and opened the door very softly.
He was quite alone, but evidently much agitated. He
was restlessly pacing the room, now and then running
190 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
his fingers through his hair. Sometimes he would pause,
and taking from the table the gold coin that he had
shown to Use at dinner, examine it as if his gaze would
penetrate the glimmering metal, and then lay it down
with a profound sigh, strike the table with his clinched,
bony fist, and begin again his pacing to and fro. He did
not notice me, although 1 waited some minutes in the
room.
" Father, what is the matter ?" I timidly asked at
last.
He started and turned towards me. At the first glance
he did not recognize me in my changed dress ; I laughed
and ran up to him. His flushed, gloomy face grew
brighter, and a pleased smile flitted across it like a sun-
beam.
" Why, it is Lorchen 1 What a pretty little maid you
are !" he cried. He took both my hands and looked me
all over from head to foot. What gratitude I felt towards
him for sparing, amidst his scientific studies, some
thought for my small self!
" Shall we go now, father ?" I asked, summoning all
my courage, as I smoothed his ruffled locks, and tied bis
satin cravat beneath his chin. " Perhaps the Princess is
waiting I Oh, how my heart beats !"
" I am expecting a gentleman whom I am to present
to the Duke," he said, briefly, without noticing my
last exclamation, and every ray of cheerfulness vanished
from his face. He began to walk to and fro again,
and in a few moments his hair was once more all in
disorder.
" Will you not tell me what is troubling you ?" I asked,
beseechingly.
He was just passing me with his hands clasped behind
him. " Oh, my child, I cannot tell you 1 I could not
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 191
make you understand. It was too hard to-day with
Use," he said, almost impatiently, as he walked on.
I would not be so repulsed. " It is quite true," I said,
frankly, " that I have grown up on the moors terribly
stupid. But who knows ? I may be able to understand
more easily than you think. Just try me I"
He smiled, but there was no mirth in his smile, and in
Borne confusion he picked up the coin and held it out to me.
" Well, then, see here 1 This is immensely rare ; it is
called a medal. I have none like it in my collection, be-
cause until now I have never been able to find one."
With sparkling eyes he held it towards the light
" Superb ! the impression is almost perfect ! The gentle
man whom I am now expecting, has these coins for sale,
genuine, priceless specimens. Do you understand, my
child ?"
" Not all your words, father, but I see perfectly what
you desire, to retain possession of this gold coin at any
sacrifice "
" Child, I would give twenty years of my life to be
able to buy it!" he interrupted me, with enthusiasm.
" But unfortunately it is out of my power, in the course
of an hour the Duke will have selected all the most valu-
able coins for his collection, and I "
He paused, for the gentleman with the box under
his arm, whom I had seen enter the library on the
previous day, now appeared. I saw my father turn
pale. .
II Well, how is it, Herr von Sassen ?" he asked, upon
entering.
" I must deny mysel f "
11 Father," I said, quickly, " I can get you what you
want !"
" You, my child ? How can you do that J n
192 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Leave it to me. I must have the coin, I must invest
in it." Ob, that Use could have seen how resolute and
practical I could be !
My father smiled incredulously, but he clung even
to this straw. He looked inquiringly at the gentleman,
who bowed assentingly, wrapped the coin in paper
and handed it to me. I put it in my pocket, where
I held it tight in my hand, for I knew that it was price-
less, and ran to the other house.
I would implore Herr Claudius to give me three thou-
sand thalers of my money ; I would paint my father's
grief in such moving words that if he were not all marble
he must be touched by the prayers of a daughter,
whose only desire was to see her father happy. In
fact, however, I never had had such a dread of him
as at this moment, when, with an inward shiver, I
entered as a suppliant the house that I had left with
that wayward shake of the head a short time before.
But it had to be done. I loved my father far too well
not to be ready to make any sacrifice for him, even
to the extent of confronting Herr Claudius in his
strictest business mood. He had given me four hun-
dred thalers for my aunt, why should he refuse me three
thousand ? I would sign a receipt, and the affair would
be concluded.
Erdmann and a maid-servant were bringing down a
tray of dishes as I went up the stairs. The door of the
dining-room was wide open. If Herr Claudius were
still in Charlotte's room, I could perhaps attract his atten-
tion without being seen by the others, I wanted no
witnesses at my interview with him.
1 was on the point of entering the next room, when
the melody of two voices held me rooted to the spot in
spite of the feverish haste I was in.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 198
"Oh, wert thou in the oauld blast
On yonder lea.
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee,"
sang Charlotte and Helldorf. Through the doorway 1
could see the two handsome figures standing side by side,
while Dagobert sat at the piano playing the accompani-
ment.
Oh, the lea, my moor in a storm in spring ! When the
blast came rushing over the Dierkhof threatening to
shake its stout old rafters and crash in the window-panes ;
when it tore off from the oaks and flung abroad in atoms
every trace of the venerable foliage of the previous year ;
when Use carefully closed all the doors, and the chickens
sought shelter on the high rafters of the barn, I used to
run outside of the inclosure, upon the moor, and call
aloud to the shadowy host that swept by on the wings
of the blast. It was not like a storm in winter ; there
were thousands of jubilant voices echoing abroad: the
rushing of the water, exulting to be freed from icy chains ;
the murmur of the forest instinct with reawakening life,
where every maybell was ringing itself free from its
brown blossom-covering. And I used to resign myself
to the wind ; it would blow me across the moor like a
floating oak-leaf, until half in glee, half in terror, I
stood upon my favourite mound, and clasped my arms
around my dear old fir-tree, that would tremble and
totter, but yet stood firmly planted, and rustled its needles
merrily, whilst I shouted aloud as the baffled clouds
hurried on. My skirts fluttered around me, my hair was
tossed about my brow and face, but I needed no plaidie
to shelter me from this " angry airt ;" my limbs grew
like steel, and I would fight my way home again to
N 17
194 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
upbraid Spitz for lying lazily in the warm corner by the
" And should misfortune's bitter storms
Around thee blaw,"
the pair sang on, and the tones swelled like the crescendo
of the wind. I was intoxicated by them ; but I could
yield to the spell not an instant longer, down with all the
sweet pain of dreams of home ! My father was pacing
the library in agitation, and I hastily entered the next
room.
In the recess of a side window sat Herr Claudius
entirely alone. His elbow rested on the arm of his chair,
and his eyes and brow were covered by his hand. The
thick, fair curls fell across the white fingers, I shrank
back. Even the pale lustre of his hair repelled me ; 1
suddenly forgot every word of my heroic appeal ; in his
presence I only felt that he would refuse me, politely and
gently, but so firmly that further entreaty would be im-
portunity. Even now, when he sat there as if abstracted
from the world and absorbed by the entrancing music,
his head was full of accounts, and as soon as I mentioned
three thousand thalers, he would smile slightly and say
again, "You have evidently no idea how much money
that is !"
In spite of all this, I instantly stood beside him; how
I got there I hardly knew myself. I leaned towards him
and softly uttered his name. Heavens ! I did not mean
to startle him ; my voice was weak and timid ; yet he
started as if the last trump had sounded in his ears. He
sprang up and smiled at his folly, of course in allow-
ing himself to be startled by the noiseless approach of
such a tiny sprite as I.
He was not angry, that I could plainly perceive ; and
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 19&
yet I could not utter a word. If the ugly glasses had
only covered his eyes, and the broad hat-brim shaded his
face I but all at once he looked so young out of those
intense blue eyes. I felt utterly ashamed, and he did
nothing to help me out of my embarrassment, he stood
silent, while they sang on,
" Thy shield should be my bosom
To share it a'."
" Do you wish to speak to me ?" he said, in a low tone,
when the song was concluded.
" Yes, Herr Claudius ; but not here."
He immediately led me into the adjoining reception-
room, and closed both doors.
With my eyes riveted upon a highly-polished diamond
in the pattern of the floor, I began to speak, and the
words and sentences that I had composed before, came
back to me ; I described my father's anxiety to possess
the coin, I told how it had deprived him of appetite,
and how impossible it was for me to see him suffer,
impossible ! and that, therefore, I must have the three
thousand thalers at any sacrifice. And then I looked up
at him.
He stood exactly as he had done before his huge
ledger in the counting-room, an image of calm attention
and cool deliberation.
11 Is this your own idea, or has Herr von Sassen ex-
pressed a wish to withdraw this portion of your capital V 7
he asked. How cold and icy was his voice in contrast
with my burning tones, and how it irritated me I But
beneath the gaze of those clear eyes I could neither lie
nor prevaricate, which last I am afraid that for one mo
ment I should have been very glad to do.
" My father expressed such a wish to Use to-day."
196 TIIE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" And she rejected such a proposal ?"
I assented, dejectedly ; I knew my cause was lost.
" And has it not occurred to you, Fraulein von Sassen,
that I have even less right or desire to give you this
sum ?"
All my resolutions to rely upon humble entreaty, and
not to lose patience when confronted with this shop-
keeping calculation and composure, were forgotten 1 My
cheeks flushed, my " evil heart got the better of me."
" Of course it has," I replied, hastily, pointing to the
door. " I stood there, and trembled with dread of you.
But I love my father dearly, and am willing to undergo
even this for his sake."
I stopped for a moment, but he answered not a word,
he was marble through and through then : all my fire
was ineffectual. Could I help being angry ? I longed to
stamp my foot. I turned my back upon him, and cried
over my shoulder, "I do not want the money now I
Preposterous ! that I should have to sue at a stranger's
hands for what my dear grandmother left me. But I shall
most certainly never do so again. Never again will I
ask you for anything, even although it is my very own,
and I have a perfect right to use it "
II At present you shall not use one penny of it !" he
interrupted me, gravely, and with emphasis, but without
a particle of anger. " And let me tell you that the way-
ward, violent child of the moor will never have any influ-
ence with me. She may continue to climb trees and wade
through brooks, there her wings shall not be clipped,
but the untutored instincts of her soul must be trained."
Then his iron grasp was actually closing upon me, and
I should never be released until these two years of suf-
fering were over! Heavens, what a wreck he would
make of me I
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 197
11 That is as I please," I said, with a toss of my head.
" Heinz once told me of a raven that he had snared ; he
tried to clip its wings, but the bird turned and bit his
finger till it bled."
"And would you defend yourself as bravely, little
moorland lark ?" he asked, looking down with a smile at
his slender fingers. " The peevish raven could not see
that Heinz wished to make a pet of him. But let us dis-
cuss that other matter further. I have as little right as
you have to cast your property to the winds, but I am
perfectly ready to advance the money to Herr von Sassen
from my own funds. Did you not say that the possessor
of the. coin was with your father at this moment ?"
Much mortified, I put my hand in my pocket and handed
him the coin.
"Ah, an imperial medal of the time of Antoninus,
a beautiful specimen I" he cried. He took it to the
window and examined both sides of it very carefully
several times, as if he really understood something of
such curiosities.
" Come," he said, opening a door into a room to the
right. The walls were hung with heavy silk damask
curtains, and it was as dark here as in all the rooms in
that huge wing. Near a window there stood a carved
cabinet, black with age, and with hinges of delicately en-
graved silver.
Herr Claudius opened this odd piece of antique furni-
ture and drew out a shallow tray, whereon lay rows of
such medals as my father had told me were so rare, neatly
arranged on dark velvet. He took up one of them, laid
it upon his open palm beside the one I had just brought,
and held them towards me. They were precisely alike,
except that the one from the tray looked as if it had beea
much longer in use.
17*
198 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" This one is the prettier," I said, pointing to the* one
tli at my father wished to possess.
" It certainly is," he replied; "but I do not like it."
J ust then the door by which we had entered was opened,
and Dagobert appeared upon the threshold. Herr Clau-
dius knitted his brows, but the young man, nothing in-
timidated, approached, and his brown eyes opened wide
with surprise at the sight of the rows of coins.
"Heavens, how fine!" he cried. "Why, uncle, are
you a collector?"
' To some extent, as you see."
" No one has the least idea of it"
" Why should I publish my whim? to the world ?"
" Oh, I don't mean that," Dagobert replied ; " but just
now, when the country is full of enthusiasm for antiqua-
rian research, I cannot understand your silence on the
subject."
" Can you not ? Let me tell you, then, that I rarely
find any pleasure in what is everywhere admired and pur-
sued simply because it is the fashion, a fashion made to
subserve ends of which science never could approve.
Besides, I am always on my guard* with these tastes o*
mine ; such tendencies are apt to grow too strong for us,
and when once we are in their power,, nothing that they
require seems unattainable, nothing is safe from our
greed for means to procure it."
" Fortunately the frugality of your ancestors saves you
from any danger in that direction, uncle," laughed Dago-
bert. He shook his head, " Incredible ! Tou profess an
interest in the antique, and yet you have left that splen-
did collection boxed up in cellars for so many years with-
out touching it."
Herr Claudius lightly shrugged his shoulders. " Per-
haps you would think otherwise if you could see my
TJ1E LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 199
grandfather's will, wherein he expressed the wish that
the collection should remain in concealment forever."
" Indeed I then Herr von Sassen may congratulate him-
self that his request has prevailed against the time-hon-
oured traditions of the house."
" Not so much his request as my own conviction that
neither my grandfather nor myself had the right to lock
Dp such treasures of art from the world," was the calm
reply.
I was upon thorns during this conversation ; the pre-
cious time was slipping away. To my relief, Dagobert
went to the window to look after a carriage that was roll-
ing past, and Herr Claudius, returning his coin to its place
and closing the cabinet, gave me back the medal I had
brought.
" I am very sorry to be obliged to retract my offer," he
said ; " but, indeed, I cannot be accessory to the sale of
this kind of coin, the medal in your hand is not gen-
uine."
Dagobert started, and turned round.
" Who wants to buy the coin ?" he asked.
II Herr von Sassen."
" What, uncle I you declare a coin spurious that he
considers genuine ? Pardon me ; I spoke involuntarily ;
it was not courteous," he added, instantly.
Herr Claudius smiled faintly. " You only confirm my
opinion that we outsiders ought, by all means, to consign
our wisdom to the deepest retirement. To oppose our
judgment to such an authority would be arrogant indeed."
He locked the cabinet and left the room.
Dagobert went back to the reception-room with ma.
' Impertinent I" he muttered between his teeth, just loud
enough for me to hear, and then returned to his sister,
while I ran back to my father.
200 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Yes, it was an impertinence to differ from my learned
father. I rushed up the stairs of the Karolinenlust in the
wildest agitation.
"Well?" asked my father, eagerly, as I entered the
library.
" Herr Claudius maintains that the coin is not genuine,"
I said, in stifled accents.
The strange gentleman burst into uncontrollable laugh-
ter; he really seemed scarcely able to recover himself.
My father shrugged his shoulders contemptuously. " A
tradesman's wisdom I" he ejaculated; "the less one has
to do with such people the better."
He seized his hat, and offered me his arm. " Let us
go," he said, in a resigned tone.
CHAPTER XX.
We walked hurriedly through the gardens ; my father
forgot in a few moments that a timid girl was hang-
ing upon his arm, trying to keep pace with him, and
whirled along like a snow flake by his side. He talked
uninterruptedly with the strange gentleman, and their
conversation was unintelligible to me, full of long words
that reminded me of the old Professor at the Hun's grave.
As we crossed the courtyard, Helldorfs magnificent
voice rang out upon the air ; he was singing alone. For
a moment my father stayed his hasty steps in surprise.
Until then, I had never cared to explore the precincts of
the courtyard, it was too sterile of interest ; but as we
walked directly towards the door of egress in the wall, I
glanced over at the long line of back buildings opposite
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 201
me. Pour windows upon the ground-floor were half open,
the sills were very low, and I could see a crowd of young
girls at work there with busy fingers, while at the window
nearest me, one of them was trying on her own head a
half-finished wreath of myrtle.
That, then, was the back office with which Charlotte
had threatened me, to my immense terror, on the first
day after my arrival. It did not appear so forbidding,
after all; it certainly was light enough, and the girls
looked neat and well dressed. Their blonde and brown
heads were motionless, listening to the music, not a lip
moved, when suddenly a dread took possesion of the
assemblage ; the foreheads bent over the tables before
them, and the girl with the myrtle wreatl gently closed
the window nearest her, and turned towards the inte-
rior of the room with a blush. A door within slammed
to, and immediately afterwards the old bookkeeper's
scolding voice was heard.
" What a draught I" he said, his sonorous voice sound-
ing clearly out in the courtyard in a pause of the music.
" Oh 1 and so you have opened the windows that you
may listen to the wily voice of the tempter, while your
hands are folded in your laps I Foolish virgins that you
are, in your ears will one day sound the terrible, * I know
you not.' It is better to listen to the reproof of the wise
than to the songs of fools."
As he spoke, he shut one window after another, until
not the smallest crack remained through which the worldly
sounds could penetrate. He saw us passing, but haughtily
overlooked us, and made no acknowledgment of his con-
sciousness of our presence.
How I pitied the poor young things in tnat back room!
How cruelly their wings had been clipped! Oh, yes,
their "untutored instincts" had been "trained." They
202 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
were close prisoners witnout a will of their own. They
bowed their heads without a word when they were even
deprived of the sweet fresh air, lest the forbidden tones
might reach their ears, and to that singer of morning
hymns was assigned the office of their overseer. Ah,
Herr Claudius, you would have more trouble with me I
I could run like a hare, and if I found no shelter for me
here, some fine day I would return whence I came, not
exactly to the Dierkhof, perhaps, where Use would receive
me with harsh words, but to the little clay hut upon the
moor with green window-panes, where I could share
Heinz's porridge and fly laughing over the moor with
undipped wings.
We had left the house upon the street, and were walk-
ing through the dusty, ugly city, that I had hoped never
to see again. It did not seem as terrible to me now as
when it had been basking beneath the midday sun ; but
this was a different walk from that first entrance of mine ;
now I never encountered one scornful glance. Ladies
passed us with a kindly look, as if the sight of me
gave them pleasure. But what made me hold my head
higher than all else, made me carry myself with genuine
pride, was the consideration that my father received from
all who knew him. As he hurried on with his careless
bearing, his appearance certainly was not awe-inspiring,
and yet stately officers bowed to him respectfully, and
elegantly-dressed ladies, rolling by in gorgeous equipages,
waved their hands to him as if he were their most valuod
friend. All this was accorded to the distinguished scholar
whose learning was so profound. Every one did him
homage except the tradesman in the " other house," he
knew far more than my father, of course !
I reflected discontentedly upon the scene with the
eoin, and what provoked me beyond all else was the im-
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 203
pression that had been made upon myself. The man had
actually stood there as if armed with conscious authority,
as if his assertions rested upon foundations as solid as
those of his old house of businsss, and how irritating I
even the brilliant officer, in all his beauty and elegance,
had been entirely cast into the shade by the man in a
plain black coat. What a metamorphosis ! He was the
" silent old gentleman" whom I had thought so insignifi-
cant at the Hun's grave upon the moor I
After a long walk, we reached the ducal castle. A
lackey hurried on to announce our arrival, and while the
coin-seller remained in a small anteroom my father con-
ducted me through halls and corridors. Once more he
ran his fingers through his hair before he pushed me
gently over the threshold of the door which the footman
held wide open.
The momentous instant from which the unschooled
child of the moor had shrunk in vain had now arrived
My dbut was disgraceful; Charlotte had shown me
how I must courtesy, but, good heavens! even Spitz
performed the little tricks that Heinz taught him better
than I my obeisance. My feet seemed glued to the
spot where I stood. From beneath my drooping eye-
lids I only saw a small piece of polished parquetted
floor at my feet ; the soft rustle of a silk dress fell on
my ear; and, just as I was picturing to myself amid
hardly-repressed tears of angry shame how like a clumsy,
stupid, wooden image I was, I heard the lovely tones
of a woman's gentle voice ; the Princess welcomed my
father, and with a delicate finger touched my chin and
lifted my face towards her. I looked up ; no jewelled
crown was there to dazzle my eyes. I saw thick brown
curls surrounding a fair and kindly face, and a pair of
brilliant eyes, blue as my dear moorland butterflies, smiled
204 TIIE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
down upon me. I knew that the Princess could not be
young, she was the aunt of the reigning Duke, and a
contemporary of my mother; so I supposed this tall,
slender lady, with the delicate complexion and the finely
cut, youthful profile, could not be the Princess Margarethe
My father undeceived me.
" Your Highness sees how much need there was to en-
treat your utmost indulgence," he said, and there was
a shadow of laughter in his voice ; " my shy little daisy
hangs her head."
" We will soon alter all that," replied the Princess,
smiling. " I know how to get on excellently well with
such timid little girls. Go, now, my dear doctor, the
Duke expects you. I shall see you again at tea."
My father left the room, and I was thrown entirely
upon my own resources within the dangerous atmosphere
of a court. I now saw that the Princess was not alone :
a few steps behind her stood a pretty young girl. The
Princess presented us to each other, and I learned that
she was a maid of honour, and her name was Constanze
von Wildenspring. Before I had time to think, her
graceful hands had relieved me of my hat, and I was
seated opposite to the Princess, while the maid of honour
busied herself with some embroidery, in a recess, partly
hidden by the window curtain.
How well the august lady understood how to deliver
the " timid little girl" from the spell of shyness under
which she suffered ! She told me how she had often seen
my mother at the neighbouring court of L ; what
happy, merry days those had been ; how much talent and
wit my mother had possessed, and what charming verses
she used to make. Then she showed me a large book,
bound in red morocco, containing the verses, and a
drama that had been published shortly before her death
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 205
Many a young girl in my place would have been elated
to recall such memories upon her first appearance at
court, but I was nothing of the kind ; I looked at the
book with something like distress; it was the reason
why the sunlight of a mother's love had never illumined
the first years of my life. Whilst the poetess had cher-
ished and fostered the fanciful offspring of her brain in
bright, airy rooms, the soul of her child had pined and
languished within gloomy walls.
Perhaps the Princess had some perception of this, for
I told her that with all my trying I could not recall my
mother's face. She led me unconsciously to speak of my
life upon the moor, and the last trace of my shyness
vanished. I began to narrate, and Heinz and Use, Molly
and the chattering magpies in the oa"k bough3, all made
their appearance in the elegant apartment ; the lonely old
fir, too, rustled there in all its needles, and the water-
spirits arose from the peat-swamp, and trailed their drip-
ping garments across the moor, sunk in the silence of
night. I pictured the snow-storms raging around the
lonely Dierkhof, as I sat beside Heinz on the bench by
the stove, while the apples roasting for our supper hissed
and sputtered.
Now and then the pretty face of the maid of honour
peeped around the curtain at me with a half-frightened ex-
pression of contemptuous amazement, but I was nothing
daunted ; the lovely large eyes of the Princess beamed
brighter and brighter upon me ; she listened as attentively,
I might almost say as breathlessly, as Heinz and Use
when I read my fairy-tales aloud to them in the Fleet.
Then I told of the lizards, the bees, and ants, how
they had been my playmates, and all their ways were
known to me as perfectly as the domestic arrangements
*f the Dierkhof. I confessed that I had loved all living
18
206 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
things, even the smallest and ugliest, just because they
lived and breathed their life abroad into the deep soli-
tude of the moor. I do not know how it happened, but
suddenly the great Hun's mound was woven into my
story. I told how I used to sit there among the yellow
broom, my hands clasped around my knees, and sing
aloud into immeasurable space.
All at once the Princess took both my hands, drew me
towards her, and kissed my brow.
" I should like to know how that lonely, girlish voice
sounded on the moor," she said.
For a moment the thought of how my voice would re-
echo from these walls frightened me ; but there was a
kind of glamour upon me, had I not just been revelling
in the life of my childhood ? I took courage, and sang a
little song.
Once in the midst of my singing I started, the maid
of honour's gray eyes gleamed and sparkled so from be-
hind the silken curtain ; involuntarily I thought of the
Dierkhof cat, watching with green, glimmering eyes, a
poor twittering bird on the southernwood-tree, but what
did I care for the little lady's watching ? I was not singing
for her, and so my voice did not tremble, but I sang on
bravely to the end.
While I had been talking, two footmen had noiselessly
arranged a tea-table in the apartment, and the last notes
of my song had scarcely died away, when a gentleman
in a black dress-coat entered. He made a profound bow;,
then stood erect and clapped his gloved hands with un-
deniable grace.
" Wonderful, your Highness ! Mon Dieu, magnifique !"
ho cried, with ecstasy, coming eagerly, but with a noise-
less tread, towards the Princess. "But how cruel to all
of us, your Highness !" he added, in a reproachful tone,
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 20t
and bis graceful arms fell by bis sides. Elderly as be
was, he adopted for tbe moment tbe cbildisb maimer of a
pouting girl. " For years we have implored upon our
knees for one note of that nightingale voice in vain I
Only by lurking like a thief on the other side of your
threshold is it possible to taste tbe enjoyment of which
we have so long been deprived. What ! do you call that
a weak, ruined voice ? Those melting tones, that bell-like
clearness, your Highness I"
He raised his eyes to heaven, and airily kissed the
forefinger and thumb of his right hand. I was greatly
astonished. Here was a species of human being as en-
tirely unknown to me as if he had come from the Sand-
wich Islands. Had it not been for his deep voice and
his carefully waxed moustache, I should have declared
him to be a woman in disguise.
" My good Herr von Wismar," said the Princess, sup-
pressing her laughter, " many years ago, it is true, I was
sometimes guilty of the sin of boring a small audience
with the, sound of a weak voice faultily trained. You
ought not to remind me of it, I did all that I could to
atone for it by soon giving up the practice. However, I
am glad to see that my musical errors are forgotten,
since our excellent chamberlain confounds my deep con-
tralto with a clear soprano, you have compared a spar-
row to a nightingale Sidonie used to sing charmingly ; I
never sang 1"
The old chamberlain was entirely confused. The long
face that he made was very comical I thought, and I
chuckled to myself, as when I used to puzzle Heinz.
Fraulein von Wildenspring arose hastily at the last
words of the Princess. She gave one malicious glance
at my amused face, and then glided towards the tea-table.
"But, your Highness, your comparison is scarcely
208 THE LITTLE MOORLAND FRINCES8.
just," she pouted, while she busied herself with the tea-
service. "Although Herr von Wismar may have mis-
taken the register of your voice, your Highness must
have sung wonderfully. Countess Fernau is still wildly
enthusiastic when she speaks of it."
"Alas, for me, Constanze," laughed the Princess, "if
she is your only witness. My good Fernau has been
stone deaf for the last twenty-five years I"
" But papa and mamma rave about it, too," persisted
the maid of honour ; but her eyelids drooped before the
sarcastic expression with which this remark was receivod
by the Princess.
" I pray you, Herr von Wismar, direct your eyes and
your compliments to your right," said the Princess,
pointing to me. " There sits the nightingale."
The gentleman turned round. Until then he had not
seen me, for my small person was entirely hidden by a
stand of flowers upon his right. The Princess mentioned
my name, I arose and returned his low bow by a laugh-
ing courtesy so profound and sweeping that Charlotte
would have been infinitely amused to have seen it. The
elf of waywardness that had slumbered within me since
my grandmother's death began to stir, and gave me back
all my ease of motion.
Herr von Wismar instantly paid me various compli-
ments, exalting my father's simple " daisy" into a rose-
bud, an actual fairy, while he upbraided the " dear
doctor" for depriving the court of my enchanting pres-
ence by keeping me so long "en pension."
" In what establishment were you educated, charming
Fraulein von Sassen ?" he asked.
" In a moorland village, Herr von Wismar 1" cried
Fraulein von Wildenspring, with a smile of childlike
innocence.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 209
The chamberlain started ; but a glimpse of the smile
with which the Princess regarded me, restored his
equilibrium. " That is what gives such vernal freshness
to her voice. Country air, yes, the country air 1 Ah,
your Highness, what an acquisition for our court con-
certs ! So modest, so unbreathed upon-"
" What an idea, Herr von Wismar I" the maid of honour
interrupted. " It would be impossible for Fraulein von
Sassen to compete with our charming prima donna. J
should pity the poor child, indeed."
" Attend to your tea, Constanze ; I am afraid it will be
bitter!" said the Princess. "And be under no alarm:
we cherish such rare guests as the apple of our eye,
and I shall, if I can, reserve for myself the refreshing
moorland breeze that has penetrated our sultry atmos-
phere from the distant moorland village."
Fraulein von Wilden spring was silent. She turned to
her tea-urn and poured out the first cup of tea so heed-
lessly that the brown drops were sprinkled over the white
damask cloth.
" And you are living with your father in the Claudius
house?" the chamberlain asked me, hastily, as he ob-
served the haughty glance that the Princess bestowed
upon her awkward lady in waiting. Horr von Wismar'a
r61e at court seemed to be that of a lightning-rod.
" We are living in the Karolinenlust," I replied.
"Ah, in poor Lothar's apartments!" he cried, in a
compassionate tone, to the Princess.
"Oh, no indeed," I eagerly corrected him, "not in
them. They are sealed up."
I saw a crimson flush suffuse the brow of the Princess.
She had taken in both her hands a drooping cluster of
clematis from the flower-stand at her side, and had buried
the lower part of her face in it as if to inhale its perfume,
18*
210 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Still sealed up ? And why ?" she asked the chamber-
lain after a moment's silence. " Is not his brother sole
heir ?"
Herr von Wismar shrugged his shoulders. He assured
her that he knew nothing of the matter ; the affair was
quite forgotten ; the name of Claudius had lately been
mentioned now and then at court since Herr yon Sassen
had discovered the antique curiosities in the merchant's
house.
" The seals are to remain upon the doors forever," I
said, timidly, remembering with shame my intrusion be-
hind them, although I could not but give the Princess an
answer to her question. " The dead man desired that it
should be so, and therefore Herr Claudius will not have
a single seal touched, he is so strict, so terribly strict"
" Why, that sounds as if you were afraid of him, my
little lady," laughed the chamberlain.
" I afraid ? no, oh, no I" I protested, with irritation.
" I am not in the least afraid of him, not in the least ;
but I cannot endure him," I added; " no one loves him;
no one in the whole world. Of course not ; for he cares only
for two things, hard work and his great thick ledger,
Charlotte says. And he has flowers, such quantities
of flowers that he could bury himself and his ugly old
house upon the street in them, but in the room where he sits
at work late and early there is not a single green leaf. He
takes out his watch, and scolds his people if they are a
moment late in that detestable cage, and at night he ob-
serves the stars only that he may count them as he does
the thalers on his table. He is miserly, and never gives
a poor man a penny "
"Hold, my child I" the Princess interrupted me, "I
must contradict you there. " The poor of our city have no
better friend than Herr Claudius, though his manner of
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 211
giving is somewhat eccentric, and his name never appears
in connection with public charities."
I was amazed. " But he is as hard and cold as an
icicle to to Charlotte," I said, quickly, " and he thinks
he knows more than anybody else."
" A terrible list of crimes 1" laughed the chamberlain.
4( Besides, the man has just shown that he really does
know more than most people upon some points," and he
turned to the Princess. " Our wise Count Zell was lately,
to our great satisfaction, fairly duped. His Darling, which
he purchased when last from home, is a miracle of beauty
and grace, but a thoroughly vicious brute. Some people
declare he must have been a circus horse, he has such
strange tricks. Zell was anxious enough to be rid of him
again ; of course none of us would buy him, but out of
regard for Zell we held our tongues. Young Lieutenant
Claudius was in an ecstasy with him ; several good friends
of Zell's advised the young man to buy him, but his
uncle, after seeing Darling, utterly refused to allow his
purchase, much to the young man's advantage, for an
hour ago the brute threw the son of Tressel, the banker,
an excellent rider, who purchased him, and I hear the
fellow is badly trampled."
" Your silence upon the subject out of regard for Count
Zell, Herr von Wismar, seems to me most reprehensible.
Let the Count look to himself when he next appears at
court 1" exclaimed the Princess, her large eyes fairly
flashing with displeasure. "Is the young man's hurt
likely to prove dangerous ?"
" Scarcely, I think," stammered the chamberlain ; " your
Highness must remember who the rider was, rough
constitution, rude temperament. A few scars and bruises
are all there is to apprehend, I imagine."
"You spoke just now of a Charlotte in thfc Ctan&wat
212 TUE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
house," said Herr von Wismar to me, probably feeling
that he had gone too far. "Is she the striking, hand-
some girl "
" Charlotte is beautiful, is she not ?" I interrupted him,
delighted. I instantly forgave him his childish manner
and bearing.
"A little too colossal for my taste, rather strong-
minded and prononcge. I have seen her now and then
at the assemblies," said the Princess, more to the cham-
berlain than to me. I did not understand the significance
of the term " strong-minded," but I appreciated the
reproach in the lady's tone, and it pained and offended
me. " A strange household !" she continued. " How
did Claudius happen to adopt the children of a French-
man ?"
Herr von Wismar shrugged his shoulders to convey
his ignorance of the subject.
" And his adopted children are anything but grateful
to him," exclaimed Fraulein von Wildenspring. " This
Charlotte used to detest the very name of Claudius ; she
had Me*ricourt written in all her school-books, and the
girls used to like dearly to call her as often as possible
by the odious name, just to see her eyes flash."
" Ah, then, you know the girl, Constanze ?" asked the
Princess.
" As one girl in a pensionnat knows another of an en-
tirely different social standing, your Highness," the maid
of honour replied, with an indifferent shrug of her shoulders
that made my blood boil. " We were together for two
years in the same establishment in Dresden. When she
came here she made an attempt to renew our intercourse
and paid me a visit "
" Well ?" pursued the Princess, as the young lady hesfc
tated.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS, 213
" Papa did not approve of the association for me, so I
imply drove to the bouse and left a card "
She suddenly paused, turned, and made a profound and
graceful courtesy. A handsome young man, with a very
grave face, accompanied by my father and two othei
gentlemen, entered from a side door, it was the Duke.
The Princess welcomed him as affectionately as a
mother, and then presented me to him. It no longer
needed any special summoning of courage to, look up at
his Highness, and calmly answer his kindly inquiries ; I
had quickly grown more at my ease, and the " daisy"
must have held her head perceptibly higher, for my father
looked at me in surprise, and passed his hand caressingly
over my hair.
He seemed annoyed again, and I regarded with actual
detestation the gold coins which the Duke displayed to
his aunt. He told her that they had cost him a consid-
erable sum, but that they made his collection, already
famous, almost perfect, for the existence of some of the
specimens that he had just procured had been considered
as fabulous as a Niebelungen lay.
I saw my father tremble, and I pitied him from tha
bottom of my heart. I could easily imagine the torture
that he must endure in seeing the coveted treasures
admired on all sides as the lawful property of another.
Irritation against the man whose " tradesman's sagacity*
had caused this self-denial, took possession of me, and all
reserve was forgotten.
" Yes," I said, in a low tone, to the Princess, who was
just examining with delight the imperial coin, "here,
too, Herr Claudius imagines himself wiser than any one ;
he says that coin is not genuine."
The Duke turned suddenly, and to mj terror looked at
me half in surprise, half in anger.
214 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
But ray father laughed and stroked back my hair from
my brow. "Well done, little diplomatist!" he cried.
" It is well for your father that his position is secure,
or that chattering mouth might make mischief! Ridi-
culous 1" he said, with a shrug, to Herr von Wismar,
the only one in the room whose face grew slightly in-
credulous, although the man evidently had not the
smallest knowledge of such matters, "the man under*
stands about as much of numismatics as I do of the
culture of flowers. For your satisfaction, let me tell you,
however, that the person who has these coins for sale
leaves K this afternoon, furnished by me with letters
of recommendation, he goes to courts and universities,
protected by the aegis of my name ; does not that reassure
you as to the genuineness, attested by me, of his High-
ness^ purchase ?"
Herr von Wismar smiled in an embarrassed way, and
declared that no suspicion as to the coins had ever
crossed his mind.
A perfect storm was instantly aroused against all
dilettanteism, and no one was more bitter against it than
Fraulein von Wildenspring, who had hitherto confined
her part in the conversation to a few learned words
thrown in here and there.
" The dilettante always has been and always will be
the pest of the scientific man," said my father. "Hitherto
I have had nothing to complain of with regard to the
elder Claudius ; he is extremely reserved, avoids all inter*
corrse with me in his own house, and lets me work and
rummage among his treasures of art as I please, but
my famulus, as you call him, makes my life a burden to
me."
"Aha! the gallant lieutenant ?" laughed one of the geir
tlemen.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 215
" He sips at science like a butterfly at a flower," my
father continued, with a nod of assent. " Appeal in
ever so faint a degree to his reasoning faculty, and he is
up and away ! The interest in antiquities that at present
emanates from the court is adopted by him just as if
it were a varying fashion, like that by which he hangs a
golden saddle to-day, and a gay beetle to-morrow, as
charms to his watch-chain. A short time ago he accom-
panied his uncle upon a business trip to the north. In
compliance with his urgent request, I gave him a letter
of introduction to Professor Hart, in Hanover, who was
so kind as to accompany the gentleman upon a visit to
a group of Huns' graves on the moors, and to have one
opened for them. Heavens ! how the precious articles,
that young Claudius brought thence, looked when he
gave them to me ! Bent and broken, ' because,' as ho
said, ( he had packed them with some minerals that Pro-
fessor Hart had sent by him to a friend.' It gave me a
cold shiver !"
Little did my father dream that I, too, had a cold shiver
at this moment, that I suddenly detested the people
around me 1 They laughed and sneered, and no one had
a word to say in defense of the absent. The Princess
had defended Herr Claudius when I abused him, even
Herr von Wismar had spoken in his favour ; but no one
had a good word to say for Charlotte and Dagobert,
poor things !
The Princess suddenly interrupted the general con-
versation by asking at what time the arrangement of the
curiosities in the Karolinenlust would be completed ; she
proposed to accompany the Duke thither upon his first
visit.
" I have a little plan of my own," she said. " I should
very much like to see the Claudius establishment, the
216 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
palms in the hot-houses there are so famous. I hesitate
about going specially to see them, -the man's bourgeois
pride is so immense : it would scarcely be pleasant "
"And the pietistic colouring which has lately so char-
acterized the establishment, and which is so obnoxious
to your Highness ?" asked Fraulein yon Wildenspring,
slyly, it was easy to see that she by no means favoured
the Princess's project of visiting the place.
" For that very reason my apparent motive in going
shall be to v^sit the collection of curiosities. By the way
I can go through the gardens, and not come in contact
either with the arrogance or the pietism of their possessor."
The maid of honour silently handed her mistress a cup
of tea, and then, seemingly convinced, went back to her
embroidery. The remainder of the evening was occupied
by an animated debate concerning ancient art, and the
gentlemen who had so flouted dilettanteism pronounced
their opinions with as much decision as if they were all
as distinguished scholars as my father, and had devoted
their lives and minds simply and solely to the study of
archaeology. I should have placed implicit faith in them
if I had not observed the sarcastic glances exchanged
from time to time by the Duke with my father.
When we took our leave, the Princess sent for a
silken scarf, which she put around my neck. It had
grown cool, she said, and her dear little moorland lark
must not be hoarse. She declared to my father that she
must often have me with her, and that she would take
me under her especial protection; then she kissed my
forehead and we departed.
Meanwhile a thunder-storm had passed over the city.
The air blew cool around my temples, and the moist
gravel before the ducal castle shone and sparkled in the
light of the lamps. A covxtt ecpvv^e was in waiting for
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS, 217
as ; it drove thunderingly into the Claudius courtyard,
and my heart swelled with childish vanity as I stepped
out, beside the footman who opened the carriage-door,
upon the pavement across which I had, a few days before,
hardly been permitted to pass. My eyes sought Char-
lotte's windows. I hoped she might have seen me, but
all that part of the house was dark except the window
of the hall, where a superb old-fashioned lamp hung from
the centre and illumined the lofty marble arches that
spanned it.
In one of the huge conservatories of which the Prin-
cess had that evening spoken, a light was burning, two
large globe lamps flung a crimson light abroad upon the
night. As we passed along the principal path I heard
hasty steps emerge from the structure, there was a flutter
of light robes through the rose-bushes, and Charlotte
stood before us.
" I heard you come," she said, in a low voice, breathing
quickly. " Pray let me have the little Princess for half
an hour, Herr von Sassen, it is such an exquisite night.
I will take her safe home to the Karolinenlust."
My father bade me good-night and promised to tell
Use where I was. He left us, and Charlotte put her arm
around my shoulder and clasped me to her.
" You can't help it, little one, you must play the part
of a lightning-conductor," she said, hurriedly, in a whisper.
" In there," and she pointed to the conservatory, " two
hard heads are in dispute. Uncle Erich so seldom spends
the evening with us that our worthy Eckhof has gradu-
ally become accustomed to play first fiddle at our tea-
table. But to-night, to our great astonishment, Uncle
Erich chose to preside there himself, and scarcely had
*re taken refuge from the first drops of rain in the
conservatory, when Eckhof, with an inconce\v&\A& ^**ai\
19
213 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
of tact, began to reproach "Uncle Erich bitterly with
Helldorfs presence at the dinner to-day, and suddenly
found himself in a terrible wasp's nest!"
She paused, and stood listening for a moment to the
threatening sound of Eckhof's voice as it rang out on the
night.
"It can do the old fellow no harm to have his sulky
reign in the house and business a little interfered with,"
she said, in tones of evident vexation ; " he has grown
too secure, and goes too far, that is certain. But the
matter ought not to be given over to Uncle Erich, he
kills the old man with his implacable eyes, his coolness,
and composure, that give each word he speaks such
power to wound." She hurried on more quickly.
" Heaven only knows what gave occasion to this sudden
outburst. For years Uncle Erich has endured EckhoPs
gloomy presence in the house as if he was not aware
of it, and Eckhof took good care never to make use of
his biblical phraseology before him ; but now, in his
wrath, it is flowing involuntarily and with such unc-
tion from his lips, one can scarcely listen. I hate to
hear such silly nonsense from the mouth of any man,
although I am really grateful to the old man : he takes
part with Dagobert and myself, and therefore it is in-
cumbent upon me to make his punishment as short as
possible. Come, the sight of you will put an end to the
scene I"
The nearer I came to the green-house it was not the
one injured by Darling the more vague and dreamlike
everything seemed. I scarcely heard what Charlotte was
whispering, and accompanied her mechanically until wo
stood looking through the clear glass into the interior.
The conservatory lay at some distance from the principal
path. I had hitherto only seen the gleams of its glass
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 219
panes. I had never been near it before; of course I
knew nothing then of geography or botany. I did not
know that here was a piece of the tropics imprisoned in
the midst of German vegetation ; for me there then existed
but two climes, miracle and reality.
Within there were no flower-pots or tubs as in the
other hot-houses. Directly from the soil grew palms,
strong and tall, as if they could break through the pro-
tecting dome of glass above them. Water leaped into
the air from the midst of a pile of brown rock, and the
spray, dashing into diamonds as it fell, made the delicate
leaves of the giant ferns, growing in every crevice, trem-
ble unceasingly ; cacti sprawled their clumsy proportions
hither and thither at the base of the rock, while from
their green flesh sprang forth crimson bells a span long,
and where others twisted and turned their awkward arms
in the darkest shadow there was a faint glimmer of gold
and white, like a dim reflection of a sunbeam.
I looked up to Charlotte, thinking that she too must be
wrapped in the same intoxication that possessed me, the
inexperienced moorland child by her side ; I forgot that
it all belonged to this " shop" that she and Dagobert so
hated and despised. Her brilliant eyes were riveted
upon a single object the face of Herr Claudius. He
stood beneath a palm in the full light of the lamps, as
slender and erect as its graceful stem. It was not true
that there was any coldness in his "implacable eyes."
His face was flushed with inward emotion, although his
attitude, with his arms folded across his breast, gave him
an appearance of composure and impassibility.
The tea-table, that had beea hastily transported hither
from an arbour in the garden, looked oddly in the midst
of such surroundings. Dagobert was sitting at it. The
glimmer and brilliancy of his uniform harmonized with
220 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
the gay colouring of the tropical plants, to which hi
ancle's quiet dress formed a strange contrast. His back
turned to Herr Claudius, he sat, balancing a teaspoon
upon his forefinger in evident embarrassment, looking as
if he longed to escape the tempest rolling over him.
Apparently he had taken as little part in the unpleasant
discussion going on as had Fraulein Fliedner, who was
knitting with a feverish rapidity nothing except a con-
tract to furnish an entire orphan asylum with stockings
within a very limited period, could justify.
"All this has no effect upon me, Herr Eckbof," said
Herr Claudius to the bookkeeper, who, with his hands
resting upon the back of a chair, stood at some distance
from his employer, his head arrogantly erect. He had
just finished speaking in that broad, emphatic tone that
was meant to strike home. " Blasphemy, infidelity, scoffer,
the influence of these favourite denunciatory words of
your party is not to be underrated," Herr Claudius con-
tinued. " Principally by their means a large number of
intelligent human beings, incredible as the statement is
in this nineteenth century, are in apparent subjection to
a minority of narrow-minded fanatics. Many men of
intellect have a certain faith in the influence of these
worn-out anathemas upon the masses, and are silent in
spite of their more enlightened convictions, and this
gives the throne upon which your party is seated feet of
clay for a certain period."
The chair upon which Eckhof was leaning trembled
and creaked, but Herr Claudius paid no heed to the slight
interruption.
"I revere Christianity, understand me aright, but
not the church," he continued. " In accordance with my
own conviction as well as with the custom of my ancestors,
I have endeavoured to preserve a high moral tone among
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 221
the people in the employ of the firm ; bat I will never
consent that my house should be made a hot-bed of re-
ligious fanaticism ! What can be more entirely irrecon-
cilable than the gloomiest orthodoxy, the narrowest the-
ology that ever crept into its secure snail shell, with a
firm that has connections established all over the world,
in Turkey, China, and the farthest East? What terrible
hypocrisy our young travelling agents, whom yon would
educate in such strict orthodoxy, must be guilty of in
their business intercourse with men belonging to sects
that you have taught them to consider accursed of God 1
I can hardly forgive myself for neglecting this so long,
for leaving my people to suffer "
" I have used force with no one !" the bookkeeper in-
terrupted him.
" Of course you have not used the lash, Herr Eckhof,
but you have taken advantage of your position. I know,
for example, that our youngest clerk, a man who sup*
ports a widowed mother, gives far more than he can
afford to your missionary box, of the existence of which
I have not hitherto been aware. All our work people,
men and women, submit to your weekly deduction from
their wages for the same purpose, because they cannot
help it, for they believe you to be all-powerful with mc,
and they fear lest you should do them an injury. Do you
never reflect that these people pay dearly enough for
their belief ? The church appeals to them with an open
palm at every important epoch of their lives at baptism,
confirmation, solemnization of marriage ; even at their
iast farewell to the world they must add their contribu-
tion from the labour of their bands towards the support
of the church. Therefore away with all missionary
boxes in this house ! Away with the bigoted tracts that
I found in quantities yesterday in the desks in tha ^y&
19*
222 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
rooms, and which degrade our honest German tonga*
with their childish babbie, appealing as they do to the
rude religious conceptions of the Middle Ages I"
This crushing condemnation was uttered in anything
but an excited tone. The colour scarcely deepened on
the cheeks of the speaker, and now and then he calmly
extended a restraining hand towards the bookkeeper.
Charlotte stood as if rooted to the spot. She had
apparently forgotten that she had brought me hither to
put an end to the matter. " He speaks well/' she mut-
tered. " I would not have given him credit for it, he is
usually so indolent and sparing of words. Actually
Eckhof is fool enough to pick up the glove again, and
bring down another blow upon his head 1" she added,
angrily ; her flashing eyes were riveted upon the book-
keeper as if their gaze would break through the glass
pane. He left his place and advanced a step or two
towards Herr Claudius.
" Despise the ' childish babble' if you will, Herr Clau-
dius," he said, his sonorous voice was sharp as a
knife, " it refreshes and strengthens me, and thousands
of other true Christian souls. It is the will of the Lord
that we should cherish the simple spirit of children, and
we are thus more acceptable in his sight than when read-
ing the works of the immortal Schiller and Goethe, who
do not, of course, degrade our honest tongue. If you
will not permit my well-meant exertions in the service
of my Lord and Master in your house, I must meekly
submit. I only thought it could not harm the other
house to have many prayers offered there daily, since so
much has happened in it that cries aloud to the Lord for
atonement."
11 This is the second time within a few days that yon
bare levelled at me this indirect reproof," said Herr Clau*
THJ5 LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 223
dius, calmly. " I respect your years, and your services
to the firm, aud therefore I will say nothing of a course
of action on your part that does not disdain to tear open
old wounds, and appeal to them in a struggle for vanish-
ing dominion ; I leave you to decide whether the means
be a noble one. The deeds of my youthful passion and
folly must rest upon my own head. Unfortunately I have
added to their number by permitting you, in hopes of
thereby atoning somewhat for the loss of your son, to exert
too unrestrained a rule in this establishment. It would
be a crying wrong to allow all those dependent upon me to
suffer one day longer for my fault. I do not want their
forced, ineffectual prayers I"
"What did he do?" I whispered to Charlotte.
" He shot Eckhof 's only son."
I started away from her, hardly suppressing a shriek.
" Heavens, don't be so childish !" Charlotte exclaimed
impatiently, drawing me towards her again. " Eckhof 's
son fell in an honourable duel, which was certainly one of
the most interesting occurrences in Uncle Erich's highly
respectable existence. But let us go in ; matters have
reached the boiling-point. "
And she walked to the door and thrust me across
the threshold. I trod upon gravel; winding paths led
through the dark shrubbery, between masses of rock,
here and there traversing soft, velvety turf. As we
passed through the interlacing boughs that separated ut
from the group and the light of the lamps, my courage
failed me. I was by no means upon such terms with
the people of the other house as to justify me in thrusting
myself forward, late at night, as a witness of a scene
not intended for stranger ears or eyes. Suppose it
should make the master of the house angry? All at
once, I could not tell why, it became impossible to \xii\*
224 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
think " Oh, it is only Herr Claudius !" I trembled be^
fore him.
Charlotte had put her arm around me, and when, fol-
lowing my first impulse to flee, I tried to slip away, my
waist was clasped mercilessly tight ; I was hurried on-
wards, and we stood, as if dropped from the skies, in
the midst of them all.
" I have picked up the little Princess in the garden,"
Charlotte said hastily, cutting short the phrase upon the
lips of the bookkeeper. "Dearest Fliedner, just look
at the child, is she not transformed ? She has been
drinking court-tea, and coming home in a court-carriage
quite k la Cinderella ; let us see, child, whether you have
not left one of your satin boots behind you on the castle
stairs."
In spite of my confusion I laughed and sat down in
the chair that Dagobert placed for me. Charlotte was
right: the contest ceased entirely; and when I raised
my eyes I saw the bookkeeper vanishing in the direction
whence we had just come.
Herr Claudius was still standing beside the palm. I
glanced at him timidly. Was there not a brand upon his
brow ? He had killed a fellow-mortal I I only saw the
serious blue eyes gazing at me, and I shrank in terror.
Fr&ulein Fliedner gave a sigh of relief; she was evi-
dently glad I had come, and kindly pressed my hand.
" Tell us about it, my child," she said, as she took off
my hat and readjusted my dress. " How did you like it
at court?"
I settled myself comfortably in my huge basket-chair ;
some feathery fronds of giant fern, glimmering emerald-
green in the lamplight, waved just above my forehead, and
others from either side brushed my shoulders with a cool,
caressing touch. There I sat, as under a shielding canopy,
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 225
and felt entirely hidden. Herr Claudius retired, but he
did not leave the conservatory : we heard him softly and
uninterruptedly pacing to and fro behind the rocks and
groups of plants.
My courage returned, and I told, at first with hesita-
tion, and then with growing eagerness, of my distin-
guished d^but, how my limbs refused to perform the
courtesy that had been so carefully prepared, how I sang
the nursery song, and how frankly I had narrated the
story of my childhood to the Princess.
Charlotte repeatedly interrupted mo with bursts of
laughter, and even Fraulein Fliedner smiled ; but Dago-
bert did not join in their merriment ; he looked at me
with the same half-terrified expression that I had seen in
the gray eyes of the maid of honour, and wh*n in conclu-
sion, as I felt too warm, I threw the scarf from my neck
upon the table, remarking that it belonged to the Princess,
he took it up with evident veneration, ana carefully hung
it over the back of his chair, which annoyed and provoked
me beyond measure.
" Stay 1" Charlotte suddenly cried, and stretched out
her hand towards me, as I was about to begin afresh.
11 Now say yourself, Fraulein Fliedner, does not the little
Princess, in spite of her dark-blue eyes, look far more like
one of those interesting daughters of Israel spoken of in
the Bible than an offshoot of our genuine German no-
bility? There, as the thick curls peep out beneath the
fern leaf, pray shade your brow one moment with your
hand, little Princess, she reminds me of Paul Dela
roche's young Hebrew mother keeping her stolen watch
over the infant Moses upon the river-bank."
" My grandmother really was a Jewess," I said, quite
at my ease.
The regular footsteps in the background ot V\te y&f
p
226 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
servatory paused for a moment, and there was silence
around the tea-table. I sat so that I could overlook
a part of the garden through the glass panes. The
moon had risen, but it was behind a mountain of cloud,
to whose jagged edges it gave a silver lining. A vague,
uncortain light reigned over the spacious garden, the
field of white lilies, although it lay far in the background,
partly beneath the trees upon the bank of the river,
seemed to have gathered into its breast all the moonlight;
it glimmered over at me and again reminded me, as it
had before, with a pang of homesickness, of my poor
grandmother when she had lain lifeless beneath the oaks.
It roused afresh in me the memory of all that I had
endured and suffered through that miserable night. The
rare, and always dread-inspiring intercourse that there
had been for long years between the brain-sick invalid
and myself, then the sudden revival of natural affection
for me in her dying hour, my grief on learning that death
had laid his grasp upon the heart just opened to me, all
this flood of remembrances came rushing over me, and
I told of it all. I told, too, of the fearful scene between
my grandmother and the old pastor; how she rejected
his spiritual aid and died a Jewess, and of his gentle
behaviour on the occasion. Suddenly, while all were
listening quietly, the gravel creaked beneath a heavy
tread, and the bookkeeper, whom I had supposed at the
Karolinenlust, stood before me.
41 The man was a weakling I" he thundered. " He ought
not to have left the bedside until he had regained the
wayward soul. He should have forced her to recant
Priests have means enough to arouse and recall apostates
when they would wilfully rush to hell "
I sprang up. The thought that such a voice as that
might recklessly break in upon the dying hour of a human
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 2*7
being, and with its harsh dissonance prolong the agony
of the parting soul, agitated me greatly.
" Oh, he would not have dared to do so I We would
not have allowed it, Use and I, most certainly not 1
I will not allow you now, either, to say one word about
n.y poor grandmother!" I cried.
Fraulein Fliedner rose quickly, she soothingly put
her arm around me with a terrified glance towards tho
rocky mound. The footsteps behind it were again audi
ble ; they approached the tea-table.
" Did you tell the Princess all that, Fraulein von Sas-
sen ?" asked Dagobert. His question put a stop to the
agitating discussion, and consequently the footsteps re*
treated.
I silently shook my head.
" Well, then, if you will permit me to advise you, never
mention it in the future."
" Why not ?" asked Fraulein Fliedner.
"I should think you could see yourself why not,
my dearest Fliedner," he said, with an almost petulant
shrug of his shoulders. "Every one knows that the
Duke has no love for the Jews, since his former agent,
Hirschfeld, swindled him so terribly and escaped. Be-
sides, and this is the special consideration, the name Yon
Sassen has been held stainless at court for centuries. The
Duke, it is true, values Herr von Sassen principally for
bis great learning, but it is quite otherwise with those
around him, who think chiefly of the antiquity and purity
of his family. Such disclosures upon the part of Frau-
lein von Sassen might easily affect both the Herr Doc-
tor's reception at court and her own, and that is certainly
undesirable."
I said nothing, because I could not understand all this
speech ; I could not see how it could possibly b&tVL tkj
228 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
father to have had a Jewess for a mother ; my ignorance
of the ways of the world was too profound. This, how-
ever, was not the time to reflect upon it. I was still
trembling with the fright the dreaded old man's sudden
appearance had caused me, and he was standing oppo-
site to me with folded arms, his eyes glowering down
upon me from beneath their white eyebrows as if they
would wither me. For the first time in my life I felt
that I was hated, a sore experience for a youthful soul.
The air that I breathed near my enemy seemed stifling.
I could not stay in the hot-house a moment longer.
" I must go home, Use is waiting for me," I said. By
an energetic movement I freed myself from Fraulein
Fliedner's arm, and seized my hat, while my eyes sought
the cool, spacious garden with feverish longing.
" Well, come, then," said Charlotte, rising. " Yes, yes,
I see by your eyes that we cannot keep you any longer 1
You are ready to dash these panes to atoms like Dar-
ing "
" Darling threw his rider this afternoon and trampled
him beneath his hoofs," said I.
Dagobert started up. " What I Arthur Tressel ? That
capital rider ? Impossible I" he exclaimed.
" Ah, bah 1 a fine rider I The man would have done
more wisely to stick to his counting-room," said Char-
lotte, with a show of indifference, but an angry glance
gleamed from under her half-closed eyelids towards
the background of the hot-house. "Is he hurt, poor
fellow ?"
" Herr von Wismar told the Princess that he had a rude
temperament, a most robust constitution, and it would not
be easy really to injure it."
From behind the rocks sounded a low laugh. I think
the shock of an earthquake could scarcely have pro*
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 229
duced more effect upon the brother and sister than fol-
lowed my unconscious reply and that low laugh. What
had I done that Dagobert's eyes should flame at me
so angrily 1 Charlotte looked half ready at first to
reply to that laughter with an angry outbreak, but she
restrained herself, held her head erect, and turned to me :
" Come, little one, give Fraulein Fliedner a kiss and bid
her good-night ; it is time you were put to bed!"
At any other time this speech would have wounded
the dignity of my seventeen years, but I forgave Char-
lotte on the instant, for the lips that uttered the light
words were colourless, the haughty girl had been deeply
wounded, I saw that, although I could not understand
how.
She walked calmly and quietly by my side through the
green-house and the front part of the garden, but scarcely
was the bridge behind us when she drew a long, deep
breath, and, pausing, pressed both hands to her heart.
" Did you hear him laugh ?" she asked, giving way tc
her anger.
" Was it Herr Claudius ?"
"Yes, child; when you have been with us a little
longer, you will learn that that lofty intelligence never
laughs aloud, except, as just now, at some weakness of
mankind. You must for the future, little one, be more
careful in Uncle Erich's presence as to repeating what
you see and hear at court. ,,
I was provoked. They had insisted upon my talking,
and I had been wonderfully reserved and cautious for my
frank, unschooled nature; not a word had passed my
lips of what had been said at court about Dagobert.
41 What do you complain of?" I asked, stoutly. " Was
it wrong to say that at court they considered young
Tressel strong and healthy ?"
20
230 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" sancta simplicitas !" cried Charlotte, with a sneer-
ing laugh. "Arthur Tressel is delicate and slender, a
frail creature. Herr von Wismar's speech had reference
to his bourgeois blood. An aristocrat would undoubtedly
have broken all his refined, peculiarly constructed ribs in
sucr an accident, and breathed forth his noble soul ; but
thi? rude bourgeois blood, having such an admixture of
coarse earth in it, is not so easy to spill."
She laughed again, walked quickly forward, and we
emerged upon the parterre of the Karolinenlust.
The moon hung clear and full above the villa. The
white light, bathing all the little oasis that had here been
recovered from the dim woodland, intoxicated my nerves
like the heavy fragrance of the front garden. In it the
marble Diana, beneath the group of copper beeches,
awaked to such life that it seemed as if the arrow from
her bent bow must instantly cleave the air ; the light
flooded the festoons of fruit and flowers on the front of
the villa, the steady eyes and closed lips of the caryatides,
and swam upon the mirror of the lake and the large win-
dows. I could see every fold in the faded curtains hanging
behind the glass doors of the balcony. The moon was
stealing through those mysterious apartments upon
silvery feet ; but the hanging-lamp in the room of the
grim old fanatic below would not tremble.
* l He would have understood my brother and me," said
Charlotte, pointing up to tho windows I was gazing at.
" He freed himself with a strong hand from the dust and
soil of trade, and boldly climbed to that sphere where
alone he could breathe freely." She gazed steadily at
the glistening panes and shrugged her shoulders. " He
dashed himself from it, it is true, with a bullet through
his brain ; but what matter ? He had forced that
baughty caste to acknowledge him, he was their equal,
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 231
and pursued his brilliant career upon the soil that they
guarded so jealously and exclusively. What matter
whether that career lasted ten or fifty years ? I would
willingly die young could I thereby purchase twelve
months of life upon those heights. I know what it is to
pass half one's youth with a proud, ambitious heart and
a sordid plebeian name, among sneering aristocratic com
panions. I will not always stand at the foot of the
ladder, I will not I"
She clinched her fist and walked hurriedly to and fro.
"Dagobert feels and suffers as I do," she went on,
standing still again, " and Uncle Erich sees this flamo
in our hearts, and tries to stifle it with all the bour-
geois arrogance of his station. Our minds ought to be
our kingdoms ; we should find happiness there, philoso-
phers tell us, not in outward circumstances. Ridiculous I
I am in torture. I struggle against the bit and curse the
malice of fate that has left an eaglet in a crow's nest !
Whence come these aspirations ?" she continued, more
slowly. " I have had them all my life, they must be
in the blood that flows in my veins. This idea of an
innate aristocracy can be no chimera, there must be
some chain woven through successive generations to link
us with past greatness, even although we are not aware
of it, as in the case of Dagobert and myself, whose origin
is enveloped in impenetrable darkness."
Her passionate complainings ceased in a kind of
stammer. Just at the opening of one of the woodland
paths that we were traversing stood Herr Claudius,
gazing calmly and seriously at the agitated girl.
" I promise you this darkness shall be withdrawn one
day, Charlotte," he said, as composedly as if the violent
outburst had been addressed to him and he were answer*
ing it directly. " But you must not learn the truth until
232 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
you can bear it, until life and I" and he touched his
breast lightly "have made you more reasonable. Now
go quietly home, and let Ddrte prepare you a soothing
draught. One thing more : I strictly forbid any moon-
light walks with Fraulein von Sassen for the future;
your insanity is infectious. You understand me ?"
The high-spirited girl had not a word to say in reply ;
for a moment surprise deprived her of all power of resist-
ance. Holding her head more erect than ever, she wrung
my hand so that I almost screamed ; then tossed it from
her and disappeared in the shrubbery.
I was left alone with him. My heart sank within me,
but I would not let him see that I was afraid, not for the
world I If Goliath the mighty had lost his head for a
moment and taken to ignominious flight, little David
would maintain the field all the more bravely. I walked
very slowly towards the Karolinenlust, and he accom-
panied me. The hall was brilliantly lighted, and by Herr
Claudius's orders two lights were always burning in the
evening in the corridor behind my room. As I reached the
entrance of this corridor, he stopped.
" You left me in anger this afternoon," he said. " Give
me your hand ; I should not like to repeat Heinz's expe-
rience with the cross raven."
He held out his hand. Through the ruby glass of the
door of the corridor the light threw a crimson stain upon
his white palm, and a red gleam shot from the brilliant
upon his finger.
"It is covered with blood!" I cried, in horror, and
thrust it away.
He started and looked at me, to my dying day I shall
never forget the look that met mine. No human eye had
ever so rested upon me before I Then he turned without
a word and left the house.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 233
Involuntarily I put my hand upon my heart, as if the
blow had recoiled upon myself. What pain it was I yes,
it was remorse, profound remorse. I rushed down-
stairs and out into the open air ; I wanted to give him
the hand he had asked for, to beg him not to be angry.
But the space before the house was empty. I heard the
sound of distant footsteps. Herr Claudius had entered
one of the woodland paths.
Much dejected, I went at last to Use, whose clear, keen
eyes instantly detected the tears upon my eyelashes. I
assured her they had been brought there by the dazzling
ruby glass in the corridor door, which I wished Darling
had shattered instead of the panes in the green-house.
CHAPTER XXI.
That evening was followed by several days of anxiety
-an anxiety that I experienced for the first time in my
life. My father was ill, he suffered so fearfully from
headache that for three days he could not go into his be-
loved library. The restless girl, who could not spend an
hour of sunshine in-doors at the Dierkhof, sat from morn-
ing until night in a darkened room at the sufferer's feet,
anxiously listening to every sound from his lips. I never
thought of the brilliant August skies out-of-doors ; there
was sunshine for me in the dim apartment when I could
8it on the edge of the bed and place my cool hands upon
the sick man's burning forehead, when he whispered
to Use with a faint smile that he had never dreamed of
the blessing it was to have a child ; that since my
mother's death he had suffered doubly at each tstorei &
20*
334 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
his old complaint, he suffered periodically from head*
acl es, for he had had no one to care for him ; he re-
gretted every year that had separated father and daughter
as a bitter loss to himself.
The Duke's own physician attended my father, and a
footman came from the court twice every day to inquire
after him and bring him some refreshing dainty. Use's
time was fully employed in answering the inquiries from
all parts of the city that were made about the invalid.
Great sympathy for us was also manifested by the in-
mates of the other houe. Fraulein Fliedner came her-
self to see how affairs were going on every morning, and
placed any number of servants at our disposal. Charlotte
spent half an hour with me one evening, to comfort the
" child, " as she said, " in her trouble." It seemed to me,
though, that she needed comfort far more than I. There
was a profound melancholy in her brilliant eyes, and the
proud indifference of her bearing had given place to a
nervous restlessness. She never alluded to the meeting
with her uncle in the shrubbery, but she informed me
that the sultry calm that precedes a storm pervaded the
atmosphere of the other house. Herr Claudius was
energetically carrying out his determination to rid his
house and business of the cant and hypocrisy that had
gained footing there. He had magnanimously left in the
bookkeeper's hands the sum already subscribed by the
workmen to the missionary box, but had replaced it from
his own pocket, and converted it into the foundation of a
fund that should defray the expenses of an advanced
scientific educatiou for mechanics' sons, and provide dow-
ries for the daughters of the poorer class of laborers.
The tracts had been cleared out by the basketful, and the
young clerk who had tried to curry favour by giving far
beyond his means to the missionary box, and by canting
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 235
ehaviour generally, had received a severe admonition,
and had been informed that any return to such hypo-
critical paths would cost him his situation. Of course
the bookkeeper was raging, I knew that, for I had seen
him several times through a crack in the shutters walking
around the pond with the brother and sister. The bond
between these three seemed to have been drawn closer
than ever of late, as their long walks together in the
forest testified.
Whenever Charlotte mentioned Herr Claudius, I felt a
pang of conscience ; but the torture of remorse and self-
reproach had greatly abated since I had angrily insisted
to myself that my father's illness had been chiefly caused
by his agitation and disappointment with regard to the
valuable coin. The girlish logic of seventeen ascribed
the whole blame in the matter to Herr Claudius's hard-
hearted refusal to advance the money for the purchase
of the medal, and so we were quits !
These evil days gradually passed by. The windows
of the sick-room once more admitted air and sunshine,
and Use swept and dusted as if the sand of the desert
had beeu blown thither in heaps. I accompanied my
father upon his first visit to the library, prepared his
afternoon cup of coffee for him, drew the green curtains
half close, as he liked them, and threw a warm covering
over his feet. I knew he was comfortable and able
to write, and then I flew like an arrow down-stairs
and out-of-doors. I was learning to prize the wood-
land, the refreshing twilight beneath green overarching
boughs. The sun shone with a burning glare upon
the garden, as if greedy to absorb all the blue water of
the little lake, that lay colourless and dull in its marble
frame.
I turned into the path that I had taken on Sunday,
236 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and wandered on, yes, there was Gretchen's little basket
wagon still full of half-dried, half-decayed strawberries.
No one had carried it away ; perhaps old Schafer had
searched for it in vain. I pitied the poor child, who had
doubtless mourned the loss of her toy. Her parents were
poor, so poor that the mother's hands were hard with
labour, they might not be able to replace the trifle.
Although Herr Claudius without a word, it is true-
had shown me, by locking the gate and putting the key
in his pocket, that I was emphatically forbidden to open
it, I ran towards it instantly, and, sure enough, it was
provided with a strong new lock, in which there was no
key, and huge iron bolts beside. Heavens ! they must
have had a great dread of my mighty strength, to have
so cased the gate in iron.
I climbed up into the elm, by no means an insignificant
labour, for I had slipped my feet, clothed in " lace," as
Use called my new stockings, into my moorland shoes,
that were of course a world too wide for me, and threat-
ened every minute to faithlessly forsake me and tumble
down into the bushes.
At last, however, I sat securely among the topmost
boughs. Upon the balcony of the Swiss cottage, in the
cool shade of the sheltering vines, was a cradle, in which
lay the baby upon a white pillow, evidently very lazy
and content. Beside it stood Gretchen, eating a huge
piece of bread, bending over her little brother, and
prattling to him between the mouthfuls. Through the
open door I could see the mother ironing busily ; every
now and then she came out upon the balcony to see after
the children.
Who would suspect that that lovely, gentle face could
show such a tempest of emotion as I had witnessed on
the previous Sunday? At present there was not the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 237
faintest trace of it in her smiling eyes ; she had forgotten
it, as Gretchen had forgotten her hay-wagon. But the child
should not lose her plaything; I would get it immediately,
fill it with fresh strawberries, and beg old Schafer, the gar-
dener, to carry it to her. I left my seat and began to
glide down from bough to bough, when suddenly I heard
voices approaching from the Karolinenlust : they must be
very near. I shrank in dread at the sound of the book-
keeper's voice that seemed to reach me from the very
foot of the elm. I could not regain the topmost boughs
without making a terrible noise, so, in hopes that the
danger would pass by quickly, 1 clasped my arms around
the trunk of the tree, for I was sitting on a very thin,
insecure bough, and listened with a beating heart.
The first thing that I saw was the crimson bow in
Charlotte's hair; then Dagobert appeared, they had fled
from the sullen atmosphere of the other house to the
forest ; they were unhappy and wanted comfort ; but it
pained me that in their need they should go to that dis-
agreeable old man.
They turned into a path that passed very near my
hiding-place. Eckhof lowered his voice, but, neverthe-
less, I could hear distinctly every word that he uttered.
His hat was off, the light gleamed upon his snowy hair,
but the rest of his handsome old head looked dark and
gloomy enough.
41 For Heaven's sake cease attempting to console me !"
he cried, rudely, standing still as he spoke. "The con-
sequences cannot be calculated. Neither of you can
appreciate, for you do not know, the immense influence
that it gave the church to have the eminent house of Clau-
dius, with all its dependents, within our ranks. And
now to have all that has been so carefully arranged and
effected, destroyed so openly, so ruthlessly ! What a mis
238 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
erable delusion to set op intellectual culture, as I hi*
modern idol is called, where the Lord had been re-estab-
lished in all his ancient power!"
" Uncle Erich works mischief to himself by his present
onduct," said Dagobert, coldly. "The wealthy and
powerful have no better ally against the inroads of level-
ling reformers than the church. If I possessed power
and wealth, your party would boast one more zealous
convert, but I must sail with the stream, and so I belong
to those who lend a hand to the whirligig that they call
progress."
" Fraulein Charlotte thinks differently with regard to
the church," said Eckhof, and his gaze was riveted
sternly upon the young girl.
" Yes ; but there we do not agree," she replied, frankly.
" If I had wealth, I would employ it as a means of clear-
ing up the disgraceful gloom that envelops the past of
our family. I would no longer eat the crumbs that are
thrown to me. I feel and know that it is unworthy of
me, that it will shame me one day to have done so I From
this time I will hoard and save "
"Fraulein Charlotte save?" Eckhof interrupted her r
with incredulous sarcasm.
" I tell you," she replied, angrily, " I would dress in
sackcloth and ashes to have the means to go to Paris to
investigate "
"Suppose you need not go so far to penetrate the
mystery ?"
Each of these words struck upon my ear like sounding
brass. The man who had slowly uttered them looked as
if he had at one decisive blow put an end to a severe
mental struggle. " Come," he said, authoritatively, to
the young girl, who followed him silently and mechan-
ically. He sat down upon the rocky seat where I had
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 239
and sung on the previous Sunday, and which was directly
opposite my hiding-place.
Oh, dear, what a situation was this in which I found
myself! In mortal distress, I clung to the trunk of the elm,
fearing that the thin bough upon which I was perched
would crack beneath my weight ; and, to add to my misery,
my unfortunate shoes undertook to slip off my feet grad-
ually, and there was no way in which I could keep them
on. Good heavens, if one of the monsters should suddenly
come tumbling down from the tree, how Dagobert would
laugh, and what a splendid occasion it would afford for
my arch-enemy to hurl a thundering anathema at me !
" I will tell you a story," said the bookkeeper to the
brother and sister, who had seated themselves beside him.
"But first hear me solemnly declare that you do not learn
what I am now about to impart to you because of my
attachment to you. If I said you did, it would be false.
Nor do I speak out of revenge. ' Vengeance is mine, 1
saith the Lord.' You will not hear the man Eckhof in
what I am about to say, but the soldier of the Lord, who
has no choice when human interests, even those of his
own flesh and blood, are opposed to the welfare of the
church I"
Eckhof was, in truth, inspired by this blind fanaticism,
he was terribly in earnest, as I could see in the gloomy
fire of the eyes that he raised for one moment, as if seek-
ing heaven through the leafy screen above him.
" You have repeatedly assured me that you would be
one of us, were you but the possessor of wealth and a
distinguished name," he said to Dagobert.
" And I now solemnly reiterate the assurance. I could
not place either name or wealth in better hands. I should
think thousands but a small recompense."
Eckhof bowed his head: " The Lord will accept them
240 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
4
as an atonement for so much secret sin, and remove his
chastising hand from the poor souls that find no rest now
in their graves," he said, with pathos. " The evil began
when the merchant's son despised the station in life to
which the Lord had called him, and grasped the sword
He was fair to look upon, and understood the arts by
which human souls are ensnared, so the Duke conferred
upon him a patent of nobility and could not bear to have
him out of his sight. A godless life was led in those
days at court, whence justice, discipline, and the fear of
the Lord should have shone abroad over the lands. The
Duke himself was frivolous enough, as was his consort;
and his two sisters, the Princesses Sidonie and Marga-
rethe, were likened to the daughters of Herodias. They
did as they pleased, for the Duke loved them tenderly ;
he granted whatever they asked of him, but he would
never have consented to a mesalliance for either of them,
for he was proud of his princely blood. The beautiful
sisters went hither and thither to other lands and courts
as it pleased them. The Princess Margarethe was more
at the court of L than at home, but her elder sister
liked best to visit Switzerland and Paris. She often left
home for two or three months at a time, or even longer, of
course in the strictest incognito, and always accompanied
by an elderly and most respectable lady-in-waiting and a
cavalier as elderly, these worthy people died long since."
He paused a moment, and slowly stroked his chin,
while I sat in silent despair upon my trembling bough,
curling up my feet as well as I could to keep my shoes
on, while the blood began to throb in my temples, for I
did not dare to take a long breath ; and yet that old man
would talk so slowly that it seemed as if he never would
come to the end of his story.
" But the strange part of it all was/' he at last went
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 241
on, "that always, whenever the Princess Sidonie de-
parted for Switzerland, a lovely young creature made her
appearance in the Karolinenlust. She had the Princess's
raven curls and slender figure, and was, in all respects, her
very image. At such times the gate of the bridge across
the stream was more firmly locked than ever, and upon
the Karolinenlust side a fence was erected, which was, of
course, removed at Lothar's death. Only one person
from the other house was allowed to pass across that
bridge freely, Fraulein Fliedner. Her visits were paid
principally in the evening or late at night, and she had a
private key of her own. If you ask me whence comes
my knowledge of all this, I can only tell you that it was
told me by my wife, now with the Lord. It is true she
was never made a confidante in these matters, to her
honour be it said, but women's eyes and ears are keen,
and if once feminine curiosity is aroused, little is thought
of wetting the feet in a stream, and there is sure to be
some unguarded place to slip through."
"Aha, the worthy woman played the listener too,
then," thought I, to my great satisfaction, and for a mo-
ment I almost forgot my perilous position.
" The days passed by as in a nest of turtle-doves. A
woman's glorious voice sang charming songs, and late
in the silent night, upon the woodland lawn, the gay
officer's epaulettes have been seen sparkling in the
moonlight, while a graceful woman, clad in white, clung
caressingly to his arm.
"One evening Fraulein Fliedner forgot her usual cau-
tion, so great was her hurry in crossing the bridge,
lights were seen to . move wildly to and fro in the win-
dows of the Karolinenlust, and at midnight the cry of a
child was heard."
Charlotte started up, with parted lips, as if gasping
Q 21
242 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
for breath, her flashing eyes were riveted upon the
speaker.
" For several years afterwards the presence of the lady
in the Karolinenlust was observed from time to time ; the
scene of which I have just spoken was repeated once
again," Eckhof continued ; " and then the gay, frivolous
Princess Sidonie suddenly died at the baths of heart dis-
ease, and three days afterwards our handsome Lothar,
who was at Vienna with the Duke, put a bullet through
his brain. Herr Claudius arrived here a few days after
the terrible event. He had, whilst upon his travels,
been with Lothar in Vienna, and the two brothers,
who had met but rarely, became very dear to each
other. This I have from Erich himself. The first time
that I had an opportunity of speaking seriously to him, I
could not forbear mentioning the reports concerning the
Karolinenlust. He gave me a dark, haughty glance, and
said, showing me Lothar's letter-case, ' Here are all the
documents, my brother was lawfully united to his wife!'
The next day, according to his brother's desire, he sent
for the legal authorities. I remained with them in the
corridor, while he entered for the last time the apartments
in which his brother had lived. I saw him lock up the
letter-case in a writing-table in the drawing-room ; then he
made the round of all the rooms, closed the doors, saw that
the windows were firm, and three minutes afterwards the
official seals were placed where they still remain. The
two children, born in the Karolinenlust, are "
"Hush, hush, not a word more 1 Do not sav it
aloud !" cried Charlotte, springing to her feet. " Do you
not know that I shall go mad, that I shall die, if I believe
this wondrous tale even for one short hour, and then ad-
mit to myself, ' It is not true, it is a vision born in the
brain of a woman long since dead' ? "
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 243
She put her hands to her temples, and hurried to and
fro.
"Be calm and cool," said EckhoPs warning voice, as
he rose and took the young girl by the arm. " I only
ask, 'If you are not the children of Lothar and the
Princess, who are you V "
Good heavens ! Charlotte the daughter of a Princess !
I came within an ace of falling from my seat. Every-
thing would now turn out as it should, everything!
How manifest was the princely blood in her veins ! I
could have shouted with joy if it had not been for the
terrible pain in my feet, and if I had nob needed every
atom of muscular force that I possessed to keep perfectly
motionless. What would become of me if that cross old
man should discover me now in my involuntary part of
listener, after all his confessions 1
" What reason could Herr Claudius have for adopting
strange children of foreign nationality ?" he continued.
II Mark you, he will not deprive you of his brother's in-
heritance, your rightful possessions, he is too just for
that ; nay, more, he insures you his own wealth, also,
since he does not marry. He provides brilliantly for you
in a pecuniary point of view, but you must wait until
after his death. Until then he keeps you in leading-
strings, and he will never reveal your true origin to you,
for he does not choose to perpetuate a line so crossed
with noble blood. I know him well, he has all the
Claudius bourgeois inflexibility and pride of purpose.
But be composed," Eckhof concluded, impatiently, " and
try to recall the scenes of your earliest childhood."
"I know nothing, nothing 1" stammered Charlotte,
her hand upon her forehead ; her strong mind was shaken
beneath its weight of joy.
" Charlotte, pray collect yourself!" cried Dagobert. He
244 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
was apparently much calmer than his sister; but he
seemed to me suddenly to have grown, he held himself
so proudly, and there was an expression upon his flashed
face that almost terrified me. " She can have but very
vague recollections of that time, for she was quite small
when our lives were all changed, and mine are not much
clearer," he said to the bookkeeper. "We did not spend
our earliest years in Paris, but at a little country-seat near
the city, with Madame Godin, this you know. I per-
fectly remember that my father used to ride me on his
knee, but I cannot for my life tell what he was like. I
only know that he sparkled and shone, and they told us
he was an officer. I saw my mother very rarely, one
afternoon is imprinted more clearly than anything else
upon my memory. Mamma drove out to us with Uncle
Erich and another gentleman. We had coffee in the gar-
den, and Uncle Erich chased me about the lawn and
tossed me up in the air, and took Charlotte in his arms.
He was very different then from the Uncle Erich of to-
day, his colour was very fresh, and all his motions were
quick and energetic. I think he could not have been more
than twenty years old then."
" He was twenty-one years of age," the bookkeeper
rejoined, with a gloomy look, " when he left Paris for-
ever."
" Mamma sat at the piano," Dagobert continued, " and
every one implored, 'The tarantella! the tarantella! 9
And then she sang, sang so that the glass in the win-
dows shook, and every one seemed crazy, and I was
crazy, too, with delight. Madame Godin often had to
sing the song to me afterwards, in her weak, old voice,
when she wanted me to be good and obedient, and I
never shall forget ' Gia laluna e in mezzo al mare, mamma
mla bi B<evk, V Try as I m&y, I cannot recall my
TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 245
mother's face after the song. Uncle Erich is the promi-
nent memory of that afternoon. Among a number of
faces I could not select my mother's, I only know that
she was tall and slender, and had long black curls falling
upon her shoulders. I should have forgotten them, too,
but that mamma scolded me because I had disarranged
them with my childish caresses. After this visit, Uncle
Erich often came alone. He petted and spoiled us, .
very different treatment from that which we have from
him to-day ; and then he stayed away for a long time,
until he came and separated me from Charlotte and Ma-
dame Godin. This is all that I can tell you."
" It is quite enough," said Eckhof; "Herr Claudius was
probably informed at an early period of the secret, and
accompanied his sister-in-law upon one of her visits to
her children. The Princess almost always went to Paris
when the Duke took a journey with his adjutant."
He took the young officer's arm. "And now there is
need of the greatest caution and prudence to attain our
common aim," he said, slowly walking away with him
into the forest. "Of course you will learn nothing .
not one word from Fraulein Fliedner, who knows every-
thing, but who would rather die than reveal what she
knows. And how innocent and placid she contrives to
look, too 1 The lady-in-waiting, the old courtier, and the
Princess's physician, who used to be at the Karolinen-
lust, are all dead "
"And so is Madame Godin, she has been dead for
years," Dagobert added, dejectedly.
"Never mind, we do not need them, we will find
ways and means," Eckhof rejoined, resolutely. During
his revelations the man had entirely dropped his biblical
phraseology. "But we must strictly avoid all haste, even
although years should elapse."
21*
946 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
They walked away. Charlotte did Dot follow them;
but when she thought herself alone she suddenly tossed
her arms aloft, and from her panting breast came a strange
laugh that was almost a sob. I did not know whether
it was the inarticulate expression of intense happiness or
of madness. I had seen my grandmother stand just so
at the well in the courtyard. I leaned forward in terror,
when one of my shoes fell off and went clattering down
among the bushes, as if shot from a pistol. Charlotte
uttered a half-stifled shriek.
" Oh, hush, for Heaven's sake!" I cried, slipping down
to the ground and running towards her.
" You wretched child, you have been listening ?" she
said from beneath my hand that I had placed upon her
lips ; and then she pushed me away from her, and sur-
veyed me, angrily, from head to foot.
11 Listening ?" I repeated, insulted. " Is it my fault if
you walk beneath the tree in which I am sitting ? Ought
I to scream, ' Don't come here, if you are going to tell
secrets, for I am sitting up here, and would not for the
world be seen by that old man who is so cross to me?'
And why do you call me wretched ? I am more delighted
than I can tell, Fraulein Charlotte ! All will be well
now, you may well be proud I Only think, the Princess
Margarethe is your aunt 1"
"Good God! would you torture me to death?" she
almost screamed, shaking me violently by the shoulder
Then she left me, and walked hastily to and fro.
" It is not true, I do not believe one word of it all I"
she said, after some minutes, apparently more composed,
although her breath came gaspingly. "That old man la
growing childish, he dreamed strange dreams long ago,
and now he says his long-deceased wife told him this wild
tale i And some shadow of probability attaches to the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 347
atory from our adoption by Uncle Erich. Nobody could
ever conceive why he should have us here, and my heart
always assured me that it was certainly not out of com-
passion. Nothing but an investigation of those closed
apartments in the Karolinenlust could convince me of any
foundation in fact for the old man's narrative. I cannot
believe that the haughty Princess pride of birth is a
distinguishing characteristic of our ducal house could
have been privately married and have lived in the Karo-
linenlust. I would stake my life that if the seals were re-
moved from the doors to-day, nothing would be revealed
but the home of a gay, pleasure-loving bachelor."
" Do not stake your life upon that, Fraulein Charlotte,"
I softly interrupted her, a strange bewilderment stealing
upon me, and my brain whirling. " A woman's silken robe
iH hanging in those rooms, and upon the sheets of paper
strewing the writing-table is written ' Sidonie, Princess
of K .' She must have written it herself, for neither
my father nor Hen* Claudius writes so delicate a hand,
none but a lady could write so."
She stared at me. " Have you been there ? behind
those seals ?"
" Yes, I have been there," I replied, quickly, with down-
cast eyes ; " I know a way into those rooms, and I will
take you there, but not until Use has gone."
As I uttered Use's name, a sensation of terror crept
over me. She seemed to stand beside me with a raised
and warning forefinger, while I felt as if I had done some-
thing evil that could never be undone. It did not console
or soothe me in the least to have Charlotte suddenly throw
her arms around me with a cry of exultation and clasp
me to her heart, had I not sacrificed to her my dear odd
Use?
US TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCES*
CHAPTER XXII.
Ilss'b industry daring the following days was greatei
than ever. Among my father's effects she found two
trunks of house-linen, which had never seen the light ot
day since my mother's death. Of course she said sharp
things of the odd man in the library, who was' unpacking
all sorts of broken crockery, as if it were too precious to
be touched, while he left all this fine table- and bed-linen
to go to ruin. She grew quite cheerful as the yellow tint
produced by their long imprisonment faded into spotless
white beneath her skilful hands and the bleaching rays
of the sun ; but she had very little time to spare for me.
She never noticed how often I threw my arms around her
neck, and in an outbreak of tender caresses tried to atone
for that treacherous " until Use has gone."
I was disturbed, too, by another scruple. Of course
the thought of any danger to myself from meddling in
this mysterious drama, never occurred to me. I was not
worldly-wise enough for that, but I began to be conscious
of a dim feeling of wrong done to the man in the other
house, who sat unsuspectingly in his counting-room while
all were leaguing against him. He was guilty, there
could be no doubt of that, he was robbing the lofty-
minded young pair of their noble name, and I longed to
have them established in their rights ; but that under the
seal of the deepest secrecy within the precincts of his own
home there should be a plot contrived against him, that
the treacherous bookkeeper and the brother and sister
should continue in daily intercourse with him, and sit at
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 249
his table, that my father should go on working and study-
ing in the Karolinenlust as if it were his own, whilst I r
his child, was assisting the enemies of its proprietor,
all this caused me genuine and profound distress.
" You overheard us yesterday," Dagobert said to me
on the following morning, knitting his brows darkly, as,
terrified at suddenly meeting him in the hall, I was en-
deavouring to slip past him. He seemed to have been
waiting for me. A single night had transformed the
obsequious famulus into an imperious lord, he looked
quite as haughty as he had been upon the moor, and it
provoked me; but those proud brown eyes possessed
such power over me that not one of the angry words I
would have said to him passed my lips.
" Charlotte's information terrified me," he continued.
"I am convinced that the sparrows under the eaves
will soon be chattering of our precious secret, for you
are much too young and inexperienced to be able to
judge of the importance of this matter. One single
thoughtless word from you would put our cunning foe
upon his guard and frustrate all our efforts."
" But that word will never be spoken," I said, angrily.
11 We shall see who can be most silent." And I ran up
the stairs and took refuge in the library. A seal was set
upon my lips. I would sooner die than allow one word
to be extorted from me.
Dagobert's rude brevity made me defiant, but Char-
lotte inspired me with a sort of dread. She would stand
for hours in the grove, her arms folded, her intense gaze
riveted upon the veiled windows of the second story.
Sho looked much paler than usual, and whenever she met
me alone she would clasp me in her arms and whisper,
eagerly, " When will Frau Use be gone ? I can noithe?
eat nor sleep, this suspense will kill me I"
250 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
My chief refuge in my anxieties was with my father
He was just finishing the arrangement of the antiques;
the Princess proposed to visit them shortly. I helped
him, and to the instruction that he unconsciously imparted
during our common labours I owed my growing capacity
to handle the smallest and most insignificant fragment of
clay or marble with his own delicate touch. I began to
flee, although but dimly, brooding above the "broken
trash" the immortal spirit, that centuries before had
animated the human brain, marking out in every outline,
every trace of colour, the ring that denotes each fresh
phase in the tree of human development.
But at last the sad, the dreaded day arrived ; it touched
with burning gold from the unveiled sun the summits of
the forest trees, and looked up from the pure blue of the
little lake. How I hated that lake, the shining group
of marble figures in its midst, and the trees which
approaching autumn had begun to tint here and there
with yellow 1 I gazed at it all with a throbbing heart,
my tears were prisms for the dazzling play of colour.
" There must positively be no crying, child," said Use,
passing her hand over my eyes. She had on her travel-
ling dress, her Sunday bonnet was upon the table, and
near me stood the box containing her scanty wardrobe.
She had been up-stairs to bid farewell to my father ; I
could not go with her, but as I stood upon the landing
outside I could hear her relieving her anxious heart in
tones of respectful but adjuring entreaty. Her cheeks
wore crimson when she rejoined me, but her agitation did
not hinder her from making good use of the dust-cloth
she had in her hand. She wiped off with it each of the
marble steps as she descended them, remarking that the
Princess would be here in an hour and that everything
ought to bo " spick-and-span."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 251
Then she brought me the box containing the pearl
necklace that my grandmother had given me.
" There, child," she said, as she put it around my neck,
" the Princess will see that you did not come like a pauper
to your father. I know what a power of money these
things cost, for I have seen my poor mistress sell the
J acobsohn jewels one by one.'*
She hastily put on her bonnet, took her box under her
arm, and, without looking round, walked by my side to
the other house. I had her hand, which I held pressed
to my breast as I went on passively. But I started back
in the large hall, for Use did not go to Fraulein Fliedner's
room ; old Erdmann, at her request, showed her into his
master's " new office."
" Will you insist upon being childish to the last ?" she
said, roughly, as she put down her box and entered the
open door. Reluctantly I crossed the threshold of the
green-curtained room. I had not seen Herr Claudius
since the evening when I had offended him ; I would have
liked to avoid him always, but here I was forced into his
presence. I bore myself with as great an air of indiffer-
ence as I could assume : the weight of guilt lay upon his
soul, not upon mine, no, of course not.
He was sitting, writing, at the southern window. As
we entered, he pulled a cord, the curtains parted, and
through the green tracery of the plants outside glinted the
gay plain of the flower-garden. He arose and offered his
hand to Use. I expected, after the look that he had last
given me, that he would certainly regard me differently ;
but no, his eyes met mine as full and gravely as when I
had first seen him in his office, they made me timid.
" Herr Claudius, the time has come," said Use. And
the grief at parting, that she had hitherto repressed, broke
forth in her voice " I must go home, or the Dierkh^f will
252 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
go to rain. God knows my heart is heavy enough:
bat you are my comfort ; you know what you promised
me, aud here is Lenore."
Before I knew what she was doing, she took my hand
and would have placed it in his. He turned his face
away and took up a book, I understood the action : he
remembered my rejection of his hand a few days before.
" I will do all that I can, Frau Use," he said, with his
wonted composure ; " but time alone will show whether
I can gain any influence, or be of the slightest service
here."
" You cannot think, Herr Olaudius, that the child could
possibly fail in respect to you. Lenore knows that, occu-
pied as the Herr Doctor is, he cannot find time to attend
to her, and that she is sadly in need of some one to watch
over her like a father until she comes back to the Dierkhof.
I must say you are my only hope, and if you did
not give Lenore your hand, I know how grave and
strict a man you are, while she is such a mere child in
reality "
" You misunderstand me there," he interrupted her.
What a pang I felt I Here was Use reopening the wound
that I had made. Again I was filled with remorse. I
might atone now for my unkindness ; but no, I could not
I should then be as false as the old bookkeeper, who had
betrayed his master while pretending to be upon good
terms with him.
" Your charge needs consolation more than anything
else, Frau Use," he continued, his eyes riveted, to my
great embarrassment, upon my face. " She is so pale, and
I fear that her detestation of the imprisoning forest will
greatly increase now." He took a new key from the wall
and laid it upon the writing-table before me. " I know
where you will easiest forget the pain of separation, Fraa
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 253
lein von Sassen," he said. " I have had a new lock pat
apon the gate of the grove, and the key is yours ; you
can visit the Helldorfs now when you choose, and see as
much as you please of your little pet."
Use looked on astonished, but there was no time for
further explanations. A carriage rattled over the stones
of the courtyard.
" Frau Use, you must go," said Herr Claudius, stepping
to a window and drawing the curtain aside. His carriage
was standing before the door, and old Erdmann was just
lifting Use's box up beside the coachman.
" But I am not to go in the carriage 1" she said,
startled.
"And why not? The parting will be much sooner
over than if you went on foot."
" There's something in that. There, child, don't forget
the key." And she put it into my pocket. " I don't know
what it means ; but Herr Claudius gives it to you, and-
he understands what is right."
She shook hands with him heartily and left the room.
Without, in the hall, Fraulein Fliedner and Charlotte
were awaiting us. I could not endure the young girl's
sparkling glance and beaming smile, and hid my face
sobbing on Use's breast. The strong woman struggled
against her tears; I heard her laboured breathing; for one
moment she clasped me to her convulsively. As through
a veil I saw Herr Claudius standing between the window-
curtains of his room. He signed to Use to hurry ; there
was no need ; I put a stop myself to the parting. Press-
ing my hands upon my temples, I fled through the court-
yard into the garden, and I was crossing the bridge when
I heard the carriage roll through the gateway.
I closed the shutters of my windows, bolted the doors,
22
254 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and threw myself upon the sofa, where Use had so lately
been sitting. Here I lay for hours in dull misery.
The Princess Margarethe came; my father received
her in the hall. 1 heard Herr von Wismar and the maid of
honour scolding the crane, who had doubtless approached
the august lady too familiarly. On the first landing of
the staircase the footsteps of those ascending were stayed :
the Princess had paused for a moment, probably before
the sealed doors. A sudden anguish seized me. Use
was gone, and the moment was near at hand in which I
had volunteered to give indubitable proofs of all that the
bookkeeper had said. I took the key from my pocket
and hurled it across the room as if it burned me. I was
deceiving one who trusted me. Strange I whithersoever
I turned, the man in the other house stood by my side,
thoughtful for me, grave and silent, but not to be avoided;
and I rebelled against his care. I had sided with his
enemies ; I clung to them, as he would one day learn to
his cost. I buried my face still deeper in the cushions.
I could not endure even the slender rays of light that
came through the cracks in the shutters.
The Princess came down again and my father knocked
at my door for me. I did not stir, and rejoiced to hear
them all leaving the house ; but after a short time Char-
lotte came running along the corridor, and, impatiently
rattling the latch of my door, called me, imperiously, by
name. I opened the door, and there she stood hand
somer than ever, and magnificently dressed.
" Quick, quick, child 1 the Princess wishes to see you !"
she cried, impatiently. " What nonsense to bury your-
self here in positive Egyptian darkness, all because you
are rid of your old home-made moralizerl Have done
with such sentimentality !"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 255
She brushed back my hair, smoothed out my sadly
crumpled dress, and put so firm and determined an arm
around my waist that I soon found myself upon the way
to the other house.
41 1 was by chance with Dagobert in the garden when
the Princess visited the hot-houses," she said, in a negli-
gent tone. Simple as I was, and ready to place implicit
faith in all that she said, I could not but regard a little
dubiously the careful elegance of the dress which she had
put on "by chance." "And only think, your absent-
minded papa, who usually does not know me from old
Erdmann, actually undertook to present us, and it was a
great success, positively he did not once mistake me
for Dagobert."
I was cowed and subdued as usual at her decision of
tone and manner.
" Uncle Erich made his appearance among his aristo-
cratic visitors quite unwillingly, of course," she continued.
" He was superintending some alteration in the large hot-
house when the Princess entered with us. I know how
he is at this moment cursing in his soul our daily papers,
that will publish, at full length, to-morrow, the account
of the visit of the Princess to the Claudius establishment.
But, of course, his annoyance will never be evident ; he
has robed himself in all the calm composure of his bour-
geois virtue, and looks as if he were conferring honour
upon the assemblage. Ridiculously enough, even the
Princess seems impressed by him ; she sraelled at every
flower, and has gone now to the other house to inspect
thoroughly the entire establishment, that horrid back
office, for example. Ugh well, it's all a matter of taste 1"
We entered the hall just as the Princess was leaving
the back office. She was walking beside Herr Claudius,
and held a magnificent bouquet in her hand.
256 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
"Where has the little moorland Princess been hiding ?"
she said, smilingly threatening me with her uplifted fore*
finger. Charlotte had already found an opportunity, then,
to tell her of that nickname.
"In a pitch-dark apartment, your Highness," Charlotte
answered in my stead. " The little one is very melan-
choly because she has had to part to-day from her old
servant."
"Pray, Charlotte, designate Frau Use more kindly,"
said Herr Claudius. "For many years she has done
everything in her power to replace a mother's care and
tenderness to Fraulein von Sassen."
" Then she deserves that your eyes should be so red
with tears for her," said the Princess affectionately to
me as she kissed my brow.
Fraulein Fliedner here solemnly descended the stairs
with a bunch of rattling keys, and announced with a pro-
found courtesy that the apartments were all open. The
merchant's ancient dwelling interested the Princess
greatly; she had expressed a wish to see the upper
stories, when Herr Claudius informed her that their ar-
rangement had been undisturbed for many years. My
father and Herr von Wismar with the young maid of
honour came laughing out of Fraulein Fliedner's room,
where they had been inspecting the glass cabinet crammed
with curiosities.
Involuntarily my eyes followed Herr Claudius as he
slowly ascended the staircase beside the Princess. Char-
lotte was right,. proudly reserved and dignified, the
" tradesman" seemed to be conferring honour upon his
distinguished guests. All at once the gloomy house of
his ancestors seemed to me to be invested with the same
dignity that clothed its master; there was an antique
majesty in the grand old marble arches that re-echoed
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 257
every word, every footstep, and the broad, massive stair-
case with its imposing but finely- wrought balustrade.
The upper rooms had indeed been furnished " for all
time" with bourgeois taste and good sense. They were
filled with the evidences of wealth, although all was
different from the luxurious splendour that characterized
the Karolinenlust. Here were no swelling cushions with
costly coverings of satin damask; but the furniture,
although carved in rare woods, was as ungraceful, stiff,
and angular as the straight backs of its former posses-
sors. No arch cupids or fairies showering flowers peeped
at you from the walls, but here and there hung some dim
old religious picture, or the head of a worthy German
matron, by Holbein, her eyes modestly cast down, and a
wonderfully painted veil above her brow ; while the un-
fading colours of genuine Gobelin tapestry and the un-
alloyed gold of antique leather hangings gleamed on all
sides, and the windows were hung with magnificent
brocade.
The strict spirit of genuine German bourgeoisie that
breathed within these walls seemed greatly to interest
the Princess. She entered the open door of the dining
saloon, and took up in both her hands a silver goblet,
a gigantic piece of plate that glittered upon an oaken
table in the centre of the room. With a laugh she tried
to raise it to her lips, in an instant Herr Claudius stood
beside her, and caught the huge vessel as it fell from her
grasp, and she stood gazing, pale as ashes, at the picture
of the handsome Lothar.
" Oh, God I" she stammered, and covered her eyes with
her hand.
Nothing sooner restores one's self-possession upon a
painful occasion than affected concern or compassion from
others. Fraulein von Wildenspring rushed up to her
R 22*
258 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Higbne3S and attempted to support her. The Princess
stood erect, and haughtily repulsed her.
" What are you thinking of, Constanze ?" she asked,
with a slight tremor in her voice. "Are my nerves so
weak that you dread my fainting? Is it not natural to
be strongly moved by such a living likeness of one long
since departed? I must have left my vinaigrette in the
hot-house, will you have the kindness to look for it
there ?"
The maid of honour and Herr von Wismar instantly
vanished in the corridor. Dagobert and Charlotte with-
drew to the recess of a window, behind the heavy cur-
tains ; and my father busied himself examining a carved
crucifix in the next room. The apartment seemed almost
empty. With a profound sigh, the Princess stepped in
front of the picture. After a moment of perfect stillness,
she signed to Herr Claudius to approach.
"Did Claudius have this painted for you?" she asked,
breathing quickly.
"No, your Highness."
"You do not know, then, who was its former pos-
sessor ?"
"It is the only thing that I appropriated to myself
from my brother's former abode."
"Ah, from the Karolinenlust I" she said, apparently
relieved, " from his own apartments. Who could have
painted it ? Certainly not our pedantic old court-painter,
Krause, he never could have put so much soul into the
eyes."
She paused a moment, and pressed her handkerchief to
her lips.
" It cannot have been painted long before his death, "
she continued, slowly. "That little silver star that
peeps out among his other orders was instituted by
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 259
my sister Sinonie two years before her death, in one of
her gay moods at a woodland fete ; it bore the device,
4 Silent and true,' and of course possessed no worth for
those upon whom it was bestowed except as a memento
of happy moments."
Again there was perfect silence, broken only by a faint
rustling of the brocade curtain.
" Strange I" the Princess suddenly exclaimed. " Clau-
dius never wore any rings, he was accused of the vanity
of not wishing to injure the incomparably fine shape of
his hand, but here there is a ring upon the third finger
of the left hand. I knew that hand well. I had seen
it often, but always until that last terrible moment with-
out this peculiar, plain gold ring. Why is it here? It
looks like a betrothal ring."
Herr Claudius said not one word in reply. His lips,
always tightly closed, as is usually the case with reflect-
ive natures, were compressed, did he see, as I did
Charlotte's gleaming eyes fairly riveted upon his face ?
" Good heavens ! what tricks my fancy plays me !"
said the Princess, with a melancholy smile, after a short
pause. " He never was betrothed, no, no, we all know
that. And yet, tell me frankly, did no one claim that
picture after his death ?"
" There exists no one, your Highness, except myself,
who has the slightest claim to anything Lothar left be-
hind him."
What ? The answer was so entirely unembarrassed,
and bore so unmistakable a stamp of strict truth, that to
doubt it seemed impossible. Charlotte's pale face, im-
pressed with a mortal terror, looked out from the heavj
curtain ; she evidently felt as I did. But Dagobert sur-
veyed his uncle with a long, scornful look, and a con-
temptuous smile hovered upon his lips, he was firm in
860 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
his conviction that this man was lying. Which was
wrong? I still hoped for victory for the brother and
sister ; but I felt that never again could I place faith in
mortal man if it should be found that such a one as Herr
Claudius had condescended to a lie.
The two ambassadors returned from their bootless
errand to the hot-house, and the Princess, who had
perfectly recovered her dignified self-possession, found
the vinaigrette in her pocket. But her cheeks, that were
usually a delicate rose-tint in colour, retained a crimson
hue.
Friiulein von Wildenspring anxiously reported that
the sky was covered with threatening clouds, and her in-
formation was confirmed by the increasing gloom of the
apartments. Nevertheless, the Princess sat down and
partook of the delicious fruit offered her by Fraulein
Fliedner. Those present grouped themselves around
her ; my father alone was absent ; he was looking through
one of the most distant apartments, carefully examining
the antique furniture, he seemed totally to forget whom
he had accompanied hither, and his absence of mind was
smilingly condoned.
I was full of a nervous dread of I knew not what.
Suppose the handsome Lothar should suddenly descend
from his frame and join the party? How like-life his
eyes looked down upon us, and how warm and living
the " incomparably fine" hand, with its mysterious
golden circlet, stood out from the dark background !
Perhaps the Princess read these uneasy thoughts in
my face ; she beckoned to me.
" My child, you must not be so sad," she said, kindly,
as I, made shy by feeling the eyes of all turned upon
me, quickly and involuntarily knelt down before her, just
as I often used to do to Use. She laid her hand upon
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 261
my head and slightly inclined it back upon my neck.
" Little moorland Princess ! It is a pretty name I But
you are no genuine child of the northern moors, with
that brown complexion, that Oriental profile, these
thick, dark curls, and the shy disdain in your eyes and
bearing, but rather a little Princess of the wild Hun-
garian steppes, at whose feet her robber subjects lay the
day's booty every night, who decks herself with costly
pearls from the Orient. See here how right I am I" She
smiled, and took hold of my pearl necklace, that hung
forgotten around my neck. " But," she said, in astonish-
ment, as she let the pearls slip through her fingers,
" these are really most magnificent pearls 1 Are they
your own, and whence came such a valuable ornament ?"
" From my grandmother."
" From your father's mother ? Oh, yes, if I do not
mistake she was a Yon Olderode, one of our wealthy old
noble families, was she not, my child ?"
A movement just above the Princess's head made me
look up quickly, there stood Dagobert with a raised
forefinger: his piercing glance affected me magnetically;
his expressive gesture said, emphatically, " Tell nothing."
I seemed to remember, as in a dream, some previous
warning of his; but at this moment I was bewildered
and could recollect nothing clearly. In my confusion I
stammered, " I do not know."
What had I done ? The sound of my own voice dispelled
the mist in my mind, and I shuddered at the falsehood
of my words. Had I not declared before all these people
that I did not know whether my grandmother was one
of the wealthy old noble family of the Von Olderodes ?
Falsehood, falsehood ! I knew as well as I knew the
Ten Commandments that her maiden name was Jacob-
sohn ; I had cheered her dying moments, and knew that
262 THE LITTLE MOORLAND rRINCESS.
she had died a Jewess. What purpose could be answered
by that false u I do not know" ? I had spoken mechani-
cally under some incomprehensible influence, and I knew
that I should despise myself as long as I lived for those
words. What if all assented, as did Dagobert, to my
denial? One there would judge me strictly Herr
Claudius lifted his eyebrows in surprise, turned away,
and left the room.
I struggled mentally, but I could not find courage to
expiate my fault by immediate confession. Shame and
the fear of ridicule sealed my lips, and the momentary
silence that ensued upon my reply was cut short by the
first blast of the storm that came sweeping through the
streets, whirling clouds of dust against the windows from
the sun-baked pavement without. It parted the black
cloud hanging overhead, and an intensely yellow light
broke the gloom, sparkling dazzlingly upon the window-
panes of the opposite houses, and throwing pale, hovering
reflections upon the walls and furniture of the darkening
room.
The Princess arose, while the rest hurried to the
windows; even my father left his interesting investi-
gations and came forward hastily. In my silent despair
everything grew dreamlike around me. I saw Herr
Claudius re-enter the room, dignified and calm ; and I
saw then, for the first time, why the Princess looked so
steadily at him when he spoke with her. There was the
same light in his eyes that shone in the eyes of the por-
trait she called it soul that the pedantic old court-
painter could never reproduce. She took his arm, and
he conducted her down the stairs. As I followed, me-
chanically, I passed Fraulein Fliedner, and there waa
something cold and strange in her glance as it met mine.
Yes, she, too, had heard Dagobert's warning in the
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND FRINCESS. 263
hot-house, and saw the black brand of falsehood upon
my brow. I bit my lip and hurried by. The silken
trains of the ladies rustled upon the staircase an accom-
paniment to the gentle caressing tones of the Princess's
voice. I thought I had never heard it sound so sweet
and kind, as she assured Herr Claudius that she should
some again to visit the old patrician mansion." Frau-
lefn von Wildenspring and the chamberlain whispered
together for an instant, and then the impertinent maid of
honour held up her train and looked suspiciously at the
steps of the staircase, while Herr von Wismar waved his
handkerchief to and fro in the air, as Dagobert had done
at thrt Hun's mound, a most eloquent protest against
the noble lady's intention. Charlotte was walking be-
hind them. I saw her face flush and the corners of her
mouth twitch with indignation. Even that did not affect
me. I t was suddenly roused from my state of stupefac-
tion by a whisper in my ear.
11 Brava I Bravely done, little moorland Princess, I
know now that the secret is safe with you !" And Dago-
bert leaned towards me, so that I felt his breath upon my
cheek. Had I suddenly received a painful blow, it could
not have irritated me more than that whisper. I hated
those laughing brown eyes ; they had tempted me to the
meanness of which I had been guilty, and that warm
breath upon my cheek was an insult. This was no longer
the man for whom I would boldly have entered the lists
against all foes. He was false, this handsome Tancred :
his chestnut curls wreathed above his brow like ser-
pents. Involuntarily I pushed him from me with my
hand, and, running hastily down the stairs, seized the
arm of my father, who was standing on the lowest step
beside the Princess.
" Gently, gently, my child ; we are not upon the open
264 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
moor !" he smilingly rebuked my impetuosity. Herr von
Wismar and the maid of honour had stood aside to make
way for me, and even the Princess turned to see the
cause of the unusual noise.
"Do not rebuke your charming little romp, doctor,"
she said, kindly. "Let us rather rejoice that her gay
temperament can so quickly overcome the pain of part-
ing."
It needed but this. Now my indignation would pass
for the wayward humor of a child ; Herr Claudius, too,
would thus estimate it. He never even looked at me;
I had not deserved any notice from him.
CHAPTER XXIII.
A sultry blast from without came rushing into the
hall ; the fragrant air from the garden had grown dull
and heavy. There had as yet been no thunder-clap.
Not a drop of rain had moistened the thirsty earth, but
little straws and minute pieces of paper were whirling
hither and thither in a mysterious dance in the courtyard,
and there was a movement in the topmost boughs of the
poplars by the stream. The tempest was taking breath
to break out afresh. The Princess hastily got into her
carriage, and my father, who was going to the Duke, ac-
companied her. She once more held out her hand to
Herr Claudius, and inclined her head courteously to
Charlotte and Dagobert, who replied by a profound
courtesy and bow.
In the hurry my small person was completely overlooked.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 2bS
and it was well that it was so. I turned my back upon them
all, walked across the courtyard, and opened the garden-
gate. I could hardly keep my feet; the tempest had
burst. The angry wind tore the gate from my grasp.
With difficulty I seized it again, and slammed it after
me. It was against the rules to leave it open.
On I went. Struggling for breath, I staggered along,
when suddenly a wind arose, with which I battled as
with waves of water. Beneath it the gay sea of flowers
disappeared, showing for the moment only the pale
green of the stalks and the under side of the leaves, to
return to view the next instant rolling in all its pomp
of brilliant colour. And how mad and wild the slender
poplars grew! they writhed and bent beneath the blast,
joining in its savage uproar !
All at once my feet ceased to be upon the ground.
I was tossed into the midst of the bed of heliotrope, and
then hurled back against the stone wall. I clung to the
projecting stones with upstretched arms, leaned my head
upon them, and let the whole fury of the storm wreak
itself upon me. I peeped out timidly from among the
mass of hair blown about my face, for the gate, not far
from me, opened with a loud creak, and Herr Claudius
came through it, he looked around, as if in search of
some one, and espied me.
'Ah f has the wind kept you here?" he cried, shelter-
ing me so with his tall form that my hair was not even
stirred.
" Precisely like an unfortunate swallow tossed out of
its nest," laughed Dagobert, who had followed his uncle,
and was holding tight by one of the gate-posts to keep
himself erect.
My hands loosed their hold upon the stones, and I
turned away my head: I heard the same laugh that
23
266 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
had driven me upon the moor to seek shelter In the
Dierkhof.
11 Come into the other house ; you cannot possibly
reach the Karolinenlust now/' said Herr Claudius,
gently.
I shook my head.
" Then I will go with you ; you cannot keep your feet
without assistance."
" My plaidie to the angry airt, to share it a',"
rang in the ears of my excited girlish fancy. No 1 I would
not they might both leave me. I detested him of the
smooth brow, behind which lurked deceit, and I was
ashamed and afraid in the presence of him who spoke so
kindly and patiently to me.
" 1 ueed no assistance. I can struggle through it
alone," I said, looking up at him through glittering tears
that would rise to my eyes, although I tried hard to sup-
press them. My teeth chattered as if with cold.
Dagobert laughed again ; but Herr Claudius regarded
me with a strange expression. " You are ill," he said,
in a low tone, bending down to me; "indeed, I cannot
leave you alone. Be gentle, and come with me."
His inexhaustible patience and gentleness towards a
creature so despicable as I felt myself to be, and so ob-
stinate as I had shown myself, completely conquered
me ; there was just then a lull in the fury of the wind,
so that I left my place by the wall and walked beside
him.
Dagobert was still standing by the gate. Probably
Herr Claudius's low words to me, and my instant will-
ingness to accompany him, had aroused the young man's
suspicion, he laid the finger of his left hand significantly
upon his lips and shook his right at me in warning
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 267
Then he went back into the courtyard and closed the
gate after him. His threatening gesture was unneces-
sary. Not a word should pass my lips, first to lie,
and then betray ! Why, Herr Claudius, much as he
might value my revelation of the secret, would surely
despise me for making it. Yet I could not help thinking
in deep depression of Heinz's gruesome tale of a soul
that had been sold to the Evil One, such a one was
I, tossed to and fro, never escaping from the snare.
We reached the nearest conservatory at flying speed.
I was not once obliged to cling fbr protection to my
companion ; my skirts fluttered wildly, as I sped along,
my feet scarcely touching the ground.
Then, in a long, quivering fork, as if madly seeking
some vent, a rose-coloured flash of lightning hovered
above the rustling wall of poplars ; almost simulta-
neously there came a deafening crash of thunder, and
the first drops of rain fell pattering upon the glass panes
of the green-house. We hastily entered among the tall,
strange, foreign plants that stood in their shelter, motion-
less and unruffled by the storm outside. I glanced at
my silent companion ; he seemed as calm and isolated
as the palms around him. Was it because he was con-
scious of guarding within his breast dark secrets ?
He had noted my glance, and looked keenly at me
"Your run has brought the colour back to your lips.
Are you better ?" he asked.
" I am not ill," I said, looking down.
"But greatly agitated, and shaken in nerve," he said.
" No wonder, how could you else become acclimated ?
No youthful soul can leave a peaceful solitude and enter
the great world with impunity."
I understood him. How gently he judged me 1 The
previous day I should have thought, " Yes, because he,
268 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
too, says what is false ;" but the time for such thought*
was past.
" I would so gladly make this time an easier one foi
you," he continued. " Awhile ago I thought this could
only be done by hastening your departure from my
^ouse ; but my judgment is not infallible, and I might
intrust you to hands that "
"I am not going," I interrupted him. "Do you think
I would have endured an hour of the grief of parting
from Use, that I would not have followed her on foot to
the moor, if I had not known that my place was with my
father ? I know that I belong to him, and he needs me ;
childish and ignorant as I am, he is used to me now."
He looked at me in surprise. " You have more force
of will than I thought, it needs much to bring a nature
fostered in entire liberty of action under the control of
duty. Well, then, I, too, find your going impracticable
the idea of it occurred to me only in a moment of great
depression when I saw you fail "
He stopped, and, turning away, bent aside a lovely
tropical blossom that was likely to be crushed against
the glass, addressing himself to the work as if it ab-
sorbed his entire attention. He would not see how I
buried my face in my hands to conceal the blush of
shame.
" You have no confidence in me, that is, it has been
systematically destroyed in your mind ; for you did not
bring hither with you one atom of distrust in any human
being," he continued, gravely. " My task is a hard one
where you are concerned, it has fallen to my lot to play
the thankless part of the trusty Eckhardt, who warns
others to flee from the sin that is so fair to the sight,
and who is hardly rewarded by affection. But that
shall not deter me from fulfilling my office. Perhaps
THE LITTLE ML ORLAND PRINCESS. 269
when you have seen more of the world you will under-
stand that my hand is a faithful one, faithful as the hand
of a parent, covering the sharp corner of a table that it
may not wound the forehead of his thoughtless child,
and your acknowledgment of this must content me. Do
not number over those grains of sand at your feet so
diligently," he suddenly interrupted himself. " Will you
not look up ? I should like to know of what you are
thinking."
14 1 am thinking that you will forbid my intercourse
with Charlotte," I said, quickly raising my head.
" Not entirely, you may be with her as much as you
like when I am by, or in Frfiulein Fliedner's presence.
But I entreat you to avoid tete-a-t6tes with her. As
I told you before, her brain is filled with unhealthy
fancies, and I cannot endure that you should be infected
by such visions. I saw to-day how quickly a pure, inno-
cent mind can be affected by such an influence. Promise
me to do as I wish in this matter 1" He forgot himself,
and held out his hand to me.
" I cannot 1" I exclaimed, as he hastily drew back his
hand. " I stifle here in this sultry fragrance-laden air,"
And, in truth, my heart was throbbing painfully. " Look,
the rain is less violent, there are trees overhead all the
way to the Karolinenlust. Let me go 1"
Before the words were fairly uttered, I was speeding
along the stream, the storm raged as fiercely as ever,
and almost in an instant I was drenched to the skin. I
shielded my eyes with my hand or I should have run
blindly into the stream or against the trees, and hastened
on until, breathless, I reached the hall of the Karolinen-
lust. Thank Heaven, I was out of hearing of that calm
voice that touched me in spite of myself, as if it gave
utterance to a warm, sensitive heart !
23*
870 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
I changed my dress for my old despised black gown,
and pushed open the shutters. I was utterly alone in
the huge house. The fowls were clucking and chatter-
ing outside, whither I had banished them from the hall,
where they had incontinently taken shelter from the sud-
den storm. Cowering in the recess of a window, I took
the pearls from my neck. My fancy recalled with ter-
rible life-likeness my grandmother's failing eyes turned
upon me. I heard her gasping voice say again, " Use,
put the necklace upon the child's neck. It belongs to
your face, my child ; you have your mother's eyes, but
the Jacobsohn features." The name that I had this very
day pretended not to know was written upon my face.
Could there be a more false and faithless creature in the
world than I ? Whither was I hurrying ? How often
in the course of the last few weeks had I been led away
to folly and deceit I But I would stop in this career. I
would be good again. I fervently pressed the pearls to
my lips. I would never again act blindly without con-
sidering whom I might harm by what I was doing.
The storm and rain were unabated ; it seemed as if
rival tempests were battling and hurtling in the air,
when all at once, to my dismay, I saw two figures issue
from the grove and run towards the house, they were the
brother and sister.
" See how one has to labour, child, to gain the road
to happiness 1" said Charlotte, quite out of breath, as
she entered my room. She threw her broken umbrella
into a corner, and her dripping shawl upon a sofa, while
she dried her face and hair with her handkerchief.
"At last 1" she cried. " We were upon the rack while
Uncle Erich loitered in the garden, and we could not get
across 1 But he is safe in his counting-room now, with
Eckhof, whom, to please you, we have not told that yon
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 271
know our secret. Your father is at the castle, there
could not be a better opportunity, we are masters of
the field. Forward, then I"
" Now ?" I cried, with a shudder. " It must be fear-
some up there now 1"
Dagobert burst into a loud laugh, but Charlotte grew
crimson, and stamped her foot angrily.
" Good heavens, do not be such a coward 1" she cried,
in an outburst of irritation. " I am dying with impatience,
and you come with such silly stuff 1 Do you imagine that
1 am going to wait patiently and obediently another night,
when I have been hoping and longing for the departure
of your odious, old never-to-be-got-rid-of Use, as the Jews
waited for the Messiah ? that I will even wait until
evening to be quit of the terrible doubt that Uncle Erich 'a
decided declaration to-day aroused within me ? I should
stifle with the throbbing of my own heart. And Dago-
bert is going back to his garrison day after to-morrow ; he
must be satisfied before he goes. We will not delay an
instant longer. Keep your promise I Come, come, child I"
She took me by the shoulders and shook me. Hitherto
I had timidly loved and admired the strong, handsome
girl ; now 1 feared her, and the way in which she spoke
of Use provoked me. But I said nothing. I had volun-
tarily put my head into the snare, and could not with-
draw it. I silently opened the door of my bedroom and
pointed to the wardrobe.
"Push it aside?" asked Charlotte, instantly under-
standing me.
I assented, and immediately the brother and sister
pushed aside the cumbrous piece of furniture, the door
oehind it appeared. Charlotte opened it and stood upon
the stair. For one moment she remained still, deathly
pale, with both hands pressed upon her heart as if to
272 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
stay its beating, and then she quickly ascended, Dagobert
and I following her.
I was right : it was fearsome up there. The tempest
raged against this corner of the house as if it would
sweep it away, and scatter to the winds all hidden mem-
ories, and relics of old, mysterious events and occurrences.
Behind the shadowy outlines of the roses on the window
curtains, the panes, against which the rain dashed in
torrents, rattled unceasingly, even the roseate glow of
the pink gauze draperies was quenched in the gathering
gloom. To open the door, to take from the latch the
garment hanging there, and spread it out before her, was
the work of but a single moment for Charlotte.
"It is a domino; as much a man's garment as a
woman's," she said, in a tone of dull disappointment,
letting the garment fall upon the carpet. With a shrug
she went to the toilet-table, and examined with agitated
haste the silver articles upon it. " Pomade and Poudre
de Riz, and bottles of cosmetic washes !" she exclaimed,
blowing away the thick dust that had gathered there.
41 We know well enough how the toilet-table of a hand-
some young officer, the pet of the women, is furnished,
hey, Dagobert ? Lothar was vain as any woman then.
If you can bring no better proof than this, child, affairs
look rather dark !" She said this over her shoulder to
me, with an attempt at calmness; but there was that
gleaming in her eyes that inspired me with a kind of
compassion for her, it was dread, and profound disap
pointment.
Suddenly she uttered a tremulous scream, an exulting
cry, that pierced my very soul. She extended her arms,
rushed through the open door into the next room, and
threw herself down beside the basket that stood near
the bed, beneath the violet canopy. *
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRmCESS. 273
u Our cradle, Dagobert, our cradle I Oh, God l* she
Btammered, whilst her brother sprang to the window and
drew aside the dark curtain. The pale and uncertain
daylight fell upon the little yellow pillows among which
Charlotte had buried her face.
" It is true, it is all true, every word 1" she murmured,
as she arose. May the earth rest lightly upon that
woman who traced out this mystery I Dagobert, here
our royal mother heard our first cry, our mother,
the noble daughter of the Dukes of K . How in-
toxicating a sound that is, and how vanish in the dust
those daughters of the aristocracy who scorned and
jeered the adopted daughter of the merchant ! Heavens 1
this happiness crushes me !" she interrupted herself,
pressing her hands upon her temples. " He was right,
our cruel foe in the other house, when he told me lately
that I must learn to bear the truth, I am bewildered."
"As you please," said Dagobert, dryly, and with irri-
tation, letting the curtain drop again over the window
" Rave your fill, and afterwards I should like to address
myself to your reason, this exaggeration I cannot under-
stand. I needed no such proof as this ; EckhoPs informa-
tion perfectly convinced me, and even it was only the ray
of sunlight that enabled us to comprehend what we had
long been conscious of in our inmost hearts, our very
blood."
Charlotte tenderly spread the green coverlet over th
little bed.
" Thank God for this proof I" she said, with more com-
posure. " My skeptical brain has made wild work for
me during these last few days. Sweet innocent that you
are," she said to me, with a sneering laugh, " you prattle
to me of a woman's handwriting and a woman's garment,
both of which are very ambiguous, and utterly Qvettaok
2U THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
this room with all its details ! Are you really so frighU
fully simple-minded? You might by one word have
spared me all the torture that I have lately endured."
I scarcely heard her sarcastic words: I could only
think with a tremor of EckhoPs declaration that the dead
had wandered restlessly within the sealed apartments.
Everything that had been a part of the secret shared by
two human souls long since departed was now ruthlessly
dragged forth from the gathered dust of so many years.
Even the sister of the dead Princess had passed these
doors unsuspectingly. What if those two departed souls
had ardently desired that even after their death the veil
should not be lifted! They were in the grave, the
fair, noble face, and the man with the bloody mark upon
his brow, and could not guard their secret from stranger
hands and eyes. Or could they return to warn away the
living, as the stern old fanatic had said ? There was life
here now, where I had seen only the noiseless sunbeams
glide and hover. Without, the tempest beat against the
walls ; but within, it died away into a low, sobbing moan.
The loose curtains waved and rustled like a woman's
garments, letting in here and there a pale glimmer of
light to play restlessly upon the violet bed-hangings, and
flit across the gray shadows of the opposite corners,
ghostly as some poor soul hovering between heaven and
earth.
It was audacious to intrude thus secretly, under cover
of the tempest, among the carefully-guarded relics of de-
parted mortals. My heart beat quickly as I thought thus,
but I said nothing. What would my weak voice avail
against such passion and yes, it was the right word for
the cause of Charlotte's actions greed for position and
rank?
The brother and sister stood beside the writing-table
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 275
that I had so respected as scarcely to breathe upon it,
and were tossing the articles about and searching eagerly
among them.
"Here is our mother's crest upon the seals, writing
materials, and letter-paper 1" said Charlotte, her voice
trembled, but she had regained all her wonted self-pos-
session of look and manner, "and here are some old
envelopes." She drew them out from beneath a paper-
weight. " Her Highness the Princess Sidonie von K ,
Lucerne," she read. " Look, Dagobert, these letters have
all been sent to Switzerland ; see the postmarks. Some
friend and confidant of our mother's must have received
them there in her stead and forwarded them to the mys-
terious Karolinenlust."
Dagobert made no reply. He was rattling at the lock
of the table-drawer : the key was gone. According to
Eckhof s testimony, this drawer, so securely locked, con-
tained Lothar's pocket-book, filled with valuable docu-
ments. With a shrug and a darkening brow, Dagobert
turned away, drew aside one of the curtains before the
glass doors, and looked out at the storm, while Charlotte
carelessly rearranged the table and walked to the other
end of the room, where stood a grand piano. In my
previous hasty visit I had not noticed it Charlotte
opened it and ran her fingers over the keys, which were,
perhaps, never to have been touched again. They at
least had voice to remonstrate, and answered to her touch
with such horrid discord and shrill jangling of broken
strings that, as the harsh sounds re-echoed from the
walls, even Charlotte recoiled, and closed the instrument.
She was startled, but there was not in her nature one
trace of the timid dread the almost reverential awe-
that had informed all these lifeless objects with a kind
of soul in my eyes. She next* rvmmaged through tha
fry 6 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
beets of music lying upon the piano, until, with a sud-
den exclamation, she began to sing, in a low but exulting
voice, "Gia la luna in mezzo al mare."
"Here is the song, Dagobert, that mamma sang at
Madame Godin's ; here it is, look, look 1" she interrupted
herself, waving the sheet of music in the air. I did not
hear her brother's reply, and turned towards him. He
was bending over the writing-table, his back to us. In
an instant I stood beside him.
"You must not!" I said, and shrank from the tremu-
lous sound of my own voice ; nevertheless I looked boldly
in his face.
"Must not what?" he asked, with a sneer, dropping his
hand, however, in which he held some kind of instrument
" Force that lock," I replied, more firmly. " It is my
fault that you are here, behind those sealed doors. I
brought you here. I have done very wrong; I see that
now clearly. There shall no more wrong be done. I
will not allow it 1" I declared emphatically, as I saw him
raise his hand again.
" Indeed ?" he laughed, his eyes scanned me with a
strange fire in them that I had never seen before, " and
how will you prevent it, you frail quicksilver sprite ?" he
asked, scornfully, and instantly applied the instrument to
the lock. Frightened as I was, I angrily seized his arm
with both hands and tried to pull him away ; but in an
instant I felt my waist closely embraced, and Dagobert
whispered in my ear, " Little tigress, do not touch me or
look at me so ; it is dangerous. Those eyes of yours
intoxicated me the first time I ever saw them. Your
elfish malice bewitches me, and the next time you repulse
me as you did to-day upon the staircase, you are lost,
lithe, bewitching lizard I"
I screamed, and he released me.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 277
"What nonsense are you about, Dagobert?" Charlotte
cried, coming towards us. " Let the child alone, I en-
treat you. Lenore is my protegee, which should be
enough for you. And the little innocent is right, too, for
the matter of that. We ought not to force open what we
find locked here. Of what use will the papers be to us
if, like thieves, we steal them from where they are legally
sealed up ? Let them stay where they are until the time
comes for producing them with eclat. Even Uncle Erich
cannot remove the seals that he has had affixed to the
doors. And we need not come here again. I am now
es certain as that I breathe that we were born here,
that we are in our parents' house; our own by right of
inheritance," she added, with some solemnity. " Hark !
the storm says 'Amen !' "
A furious blast shook the entire building, and dashing
open the glass door, that I had probably not latched
securely upon my previous visit, drenched the writing-
table in an instant.
"Aha! it says 'Amen,' and sets us an example V-
laughed Dagobert, closing the door again. " It does nol
handle this important table with gloves, but, as you see,
advises 'force to resist force. ' According to Eckhofg
and your counsel, I must sue to Uncle Erich for every
groschen that I spend, and be scolded for my debts unti/
my hair is gray, and you are a dependent old maid 1"
"Perhaps," she said, and her cheek paled slightly.
" I certainly will never marry beneath me, and I can-
not endure the coxcombs that frequent the court. I car
nothing for love, nothing. My desires lie elsewhere. ]
should like to be the abbess of some female order : my sway
would extend over many who have scorned me, let them
look to themselves ! I cannot understand you, Dagobert,"
she said, after a long sigh. ' T thought we had to&q\s&
24
278 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
not to make the matter public until January, when you
will be ordered here, and that the intermediate time
was to be spent in collecting proof. It will be a hard
task for me to keep silent so long, it requires all my
self-control now to enable me to look Uncle Erich in the
face calmly, and not denounce his falsehood, to spend my
days with Fraulein Fliedner, who puts on such an air of
simplicity and innocence, while she systematically abets
the fraud practised upon us, malicious old cat that she
is 1 And I really loved her 1 It is almost too much for
my strength, but no matter for that, what must be, must.
Eckhof is right in counselling silence and caution."
She wiped the moisture from the table with her hand-
kerchief and replaced the disordered papers.
I took no further part in their investigations, but sta-
tioned myself between the glass door and the writing-
table, and stood there on guard. I thought I could still
feel the ground beueath my feet tremble, but the tremor
was in my own limbs. Never in my life had I expe-
rienced such horror as when I felt that vicelike grasp.
If I had been hurled down some dark abyss I could not
have been more terrified than by that intense whisper,
which I could only half understand, but which, never-
theless, drove the blood into my cheeks and temples,
flow I longed to leave everything behind me and run
away as far as my feet would carry me 1 but fear lest
the writing-table drawer might still be broken open kept
me where I was.
" Here is our crest; look at it, little one," Charlotte said,
coming towards me, at last, holding out to me a seal-ring.
" Papa never wore rings, as her Highness told us to-day;
nevertheless this one exists, and has evidently often
been used as a seal, it was lying beside papa's blotting
hook. I will take it with me; it is the only thing here
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 279
that I shall appropriate at present/' And she slipped the
ring into her pocket.
I was at length released. We went down-stairs, and
the wardrobe was restored to its place. The brother and
sister descended the dark staircase, which Charlotte had
ascended in such dread, the rightful heirs of Lothar von
Claudius, and nearly related to the reigning ducal family.
The solution of the mystery was as clear as daylight,
even to me. How could Herr Claudius have denied
the truth so firmly and with such an unblushing front ?
And yet, he could not have spoken falsely 1
CHAPTER XXIY.
Charlotte took up her shawl ; then dropped it in a
fright, ran to the window and opened it
" What is the matter, Herr Eckhof ?" she cried.
The old bookkeeper was running across the walk
below, towards the house. He was without a hat, and
his usually calm countenance showed signs of emotion.
He was apparently greatly agitated.
" There is a freshet at Dorotheenthal 1" he cried out to
us, breathlessly, "A loss of forty thousand thalers at
least for the firm of Claudius. Everything laid waste and
under water that it has taken years of labour to bring
to perfection. Do you hear that signal-gun? Human
life is in danger I"
Dorotheenthal was one of the Claudius estates, an an-
cient domain that had once belonged to a noble family, and
was situated, together with a village of the same name,
in a low, narrow valley. The nurseries at. Dotofo^^^Ofcsk
280 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
brought far more profit to the firm than did the gardens
in K . The collection of rare trees there was immense,
the costly collection of conifera in particular had really
made the place quite famous. Acres of ground were
often devoted to a single species of tree, and hot-houses
filled with palms, orchids, and cacti surrounded the
old castle. A few small lakes, and a pretty river that
watered the valley, greatly lightened the colossal labour
of culture there ; but at present the friendly element was
metamorphosed into a deadly enemy, the lakes had over-
flowed their banks, and the river, sweeping away all bar-
riers, had united its waters with theirs. All this Eckhof
called out to us before he reached the shelter of the halL
"What a misfortune 1" cried Charlotte, clasping her
hands in dismay.
"Ah, bah 1 there is no cause for alarm," said Dago-
bert, with a shrug. " What are forty thousand thalers
to Uncle Erich ? He can bear their loss easily enough ;
and, besides, what affair is it of ours ? It cannot diminish
our inheritance by a single penny. I have no doubt he
will make a wry face, and the viaticum that he bestows
upon me day after to-morrow will be most minute. No
matter, it was not much better when the shop was all
in order."
His last words we scarcely heard. Charlotte ran out,
and I with her. Human life in danger ? How terrible
it sounded ! I wanted to know more. I could not stay
alone in the Karolinenlust. Charlotte gave me her arm,
and, unprotected from the rain, we rushed across the
swelling stream and through the dripping garden to the
other house.
Here and there an under gardener, terror in his face,
crossed our path, and long before we reached the wall
of the courtyard we heard from the other side a coo*
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 281
fused noise of voices raised in command and complaint.
Almost all the work-people were assembled in the courtyard
as we entered it, and Herr Claudius's equipage was stand-
ing before the hall-door. He himself, wrapped in a cloak,
his hat in his hand, appeared upon the threshold. The
soothing calm in his face and bearing produced its effect ;
the clamour was instantly stilled. He gave a few orders,
his gestures were as free from all hurry and agitation
as ever: that head crowned with fair curls retained its
self-possession in every emergency.
As we appeared, the people made way for us and let
us pass ; I was still clinging to Charlotte's arm. Herr
Claudius saw us coming, and for an instant he seemed
startled ; an angry expression crossed his uncovered brow,
his eyebrows contracted, and from beneath them a long,
reproachful glance met mine. I cast down my eyes and
drew my hand away from my companion's arm.
11 Uncle Erich, this is a severe blow 1" Charlotte cried
as she ran up to him.
" Yes," he replied, simply, and then he turned back to
the hall where Fraulein Fliedner was standing. "My
dear Fliedner," he said with all his wonted composure,
pointing as he spoke to my muddy, torn satin boots and
my dripping dress, " pray see that Fraulein von Sassen
has dry clothes immediately, I rely upon your doing so."
He turned away without looking at me, got into his
vehicle and seized the reins.
" Take me with you to Dorotheenthal, Uncle Erich J."
cried Dagobert, approaching from the garden with the
bookkeeper, who had meanwhile provided himself with
a cloak and hat.
11 There is no room, as you see," Herr Claudius replied,
pointing to several workmen who got into the carriage
after Eckhof, their homes were at Dorotheenthal.
1*
382 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
The carriage rolled away, and Fraulein Fliedner took
my hand and led me into her room. Charlotte fol-
lowed us.
" You are as soaked as a drowned kitten 1" she said to
me whilst Fr&ulein Fliedner was getting me some dry
clothes, "but it is very odd that Uncle Erich should
notice it just at the moment when his tradesman's soul
must be wrung by the loss of thousands."
"A proof that his is no tradesman's soul," replied
Fraulein Fliedner. Her gentle face was still pale with
terror, and at Charlotte's words the lines about her mouth
grew harsh and severe. "I have often begged, Char-
lotte, that you would refrain in my presence from such
unkind, unjust epithets. I really cannot endure to hear
them."
" Oh no, but you have no fault to find with Uncle
Erich when he takes me to task in your presence, and
drives me wild with his cold, composed manner 1" Char
lotte cried, angrily. " If he were a venerable old man it
would be easier to bear, but my pride revolts against this
man with fire in his eyes, possessing over us less the
advantage of years than of power. He abuses us 1"
" That is not true," said Fraulein Fliedner, firmly. " He
only rebukes what he cannot allow. If you insist upon
behaving recklessly and extravagantly, you must submit
to reproof, Charlotte. Something happened to-day that
you might have avoided. While Herr Claudius was in
the conservatory with the Princess, the carpenter took
the measure of the windows in your rooms. He said
you had ordered shutters "
" Yes, I have borne the sun blazing in upon me as long
M3 1 could," Charlotte interrupted her, defiantly. " Ther
chould be shutters on the sunny side.''
" Quite true ; but it \s sviTe\y isasouaMe that you should
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 283
consult Herr Claudius upon the subject ; it is his house
and his money that you are making use of."
" Good heavens ! when will the time come for these
chains to cease rattling forever in my ears ?" cried Char-
lotte in an outburst of passion.
" The time may come when you will long for them
again/' Fraulein Fliedner calmly rejoined.
" Do you think so, my good Fliedner ?" The smiling
scorn in the girl's voice was terrible. " A most depress-
ing prophecy. In spite of it, however, I am audacious
enough to hope, indeed confidently to expect, that Provi-
dence has something much better in store for me."
She walked towards the door.
" Will you not drink tea with me ?" asked Fraulein
Fliedner as kindly and gently as if not a bitter word had
been said. " I will order it immediately. I have been
made responsible for Fraulein von Sassen's health, and
must guard her against taking cold."
" No, thank you," Charlotte replied, coldly, over her
shoulder, as she stood upon the threshold of the door.
"Send the tea-urn up to me, the small silver one, if
you please, I cannot drink out of pewter, however
brightly Ddrte may polish it. Adieu, little Princess."
She closed the door and ran hurriedly up-stairs. An
instant afterwards the quiet house rang with the thun-
dering rattle of the keys of her piano.
The old lady started. " Heavens ! how thoughtless 1"
she murmured to herself. "Every note falls upon my
anxious mind like a blow."
" I will go and beg her to stop," I said, running to the
door.
" No, no, do not go 1" And she detained me. " She
always does it when she is angry, and we must let her
anger take its course. But to-day, when we sk^ v^ ^wsk
284 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS
distress, what will the servants think ? They already
believe her much more heartless than she really is."
She made me recline among the cushions on the sofa,
and busied herself with her tea-table. At any other time
it would have been most comfortable in the old lady's
cosy, old-fashioned room. The tea-kettle was singing ;
outside, the wind swept in long, sighing gusts through the
empty streets, and the rain beat steadily against the
window-panes. The smiling face of the mandarin behind
the glass doors of the cabinet nodded content, and the
peevish little lapdog was lazily stretched in extreme
comfort upon his cushion. But Fraulein Fliedner's hands
trembled as she made the tea, and Ddrte, the old cook,
when she brought in the hot biscuits, asked, with a sigh,
" Will there be much danger out there to-night, Fraulein
Fliedner?"
My heart throbbed with anxiety. I was deeply pained
when I reflected that Herr Claudius had left the house
displeased with me, and I could think of nothing else
How childishly wayward and obstinate he must have
thought me when he saw me clinging to Charlotte's arm !
And yet he had remembered to care for my welfare, the
welfare of such an insignificant little creature as I, when
such grave misfortunes were befalling him ! My teeth
fairly chattered with a nervous chill, and I coiled myself
up among the sofa cushions. At Fraulein Fliedner's
earnest entreaty, I swallowed some hot tea. The old
lady herself took nothing, she sat silently by my side
" Is Herr Claudius in danger out there ?" at last burst
from my lips.
She shrugged her shoulders. " I am afraid he is,
there must be danger, a flood is almost worse than a
fire, and Herr Claudius is not the man to think of him-
self at such a moment; but he is in God's hands, my
child 1"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 285
I was not at all relieved by her words. I had often
read of men who were drowned, innocent men who had
done no wrong, and he had murder upon his soul. Was
a murderer in God's hands ? The torture that I was suf-
fering compelled me to speak.
" He is guilty of the death of a human being," I said,
without looking up.
The old lady started ; and for the first time I saw her
g&ntle eyes fairly light up with anger.
"Horrible! Who told you that? And so thought-
lessly ?" she cried, with much agitation. She arose, and,
going to a window, stood there silent for a few seconds.
Then she came back, and, sitting down beside me, took
both my hands in hers.
"Do you know anything more about it?" she said,
more calmly.
I shook my head.
" What terrible fancies, then, must fill your young mind,
all inexperienced in the ways of the world as it is ! Poor
Erich ! It was indeed the darkest part of his life ; but,
my child, he was then a young man scarcely twenty-one
years old, a passionate, enthusiastic man. He loved a
woman, most devotedly. I will not dwell upon that to
you. And he had a friend in whom he reposed entire
confidence, and for whom he had sacrificed much. One
day he, all unsuspicious as he was, found that both the
woman whom he loved and his friend were deceiving
him, they were both faithless. A violent scene ensued,
and words were uttered, the insult of which, according
to the wicked law of human honour, could only be wiped
out in blood. There was a duel for the sake of the
treacherous woman ; the friend "
" Young Eckhof ?" I hastily interposed.
" Yes, the bookkeeper's son was shot in the shoulder,
286 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and Herr Claudius was wounded quite severely iu tho
head, his eyes have never yet recovered their old strength.
Eckhof's wound was not in itself a dangerous one, but his
constitution, already much shattered and weakened, could
not sustain its effects, and he died after an illness of some
weeks in spite of the skill of our most distinguished phy-
sicians "
"And the woman, the woman W I interrupted her.
" The woman, my dear child, had left Paris long be-
fore Herr Claudius arose from his sick-bed; she went
off with an English map."
" What ! she was the cause of all his suffering and
never came to beg for forgiveness, and nurse him ?"
" My little girl, she was an actress, she received the
bloody sacrifice as homage due to her dangerous beauty,
and never dreamed of asking forgiveness, or of soothing
the pain with her petted hands. A short time after his
recovery, Herr Claudius came hither, his brother had
died and left much to be arranged by his heir. I saw him
then for the first time after our long separation, and I have
never in my life seen a human being undergo such fearful
suffering."
" Did his conscience sting him ?"
" Not so much that ; but he could not forget his love.
He used to pace the garden like one insane, for hours,
or sit at the piano "
" Herr Claudius, grave and quiet as he is ?" I asked,
breathless with amazement.
" He was not so then. He sought consolation and re-
pose in music, and how he played I I can easily under-
stand that Charlotte's ' thrumming' must often be torture
to hitn. For a year he travelled aimlessly through the
world, and then returned entirely changed, the grave,
Btern, silent man whom you know, and took bis place aa
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 28T
the head of the firm. I have never since known him to
touch the keys of the piano, I have never since heard
him utter a hasty word or seen him use a violent gesture.
He has fought a better fight than his brother, who suc-
cumbed to his anguish. Erich's strong mind discovered
the best medicine for his hurt in labour. And thus he
became what he is to-day, a labourer in the strictest
sense of the word, a firm, resolved character, who finds
a spring of healing for the human soul in order and
action."
Fraulein Fliedner spoke with an earnestness for which
I should not have given the kindly but reserved old lady
credit. She was evidently carried away by her subject.
And I sat beside her, gazing breathless into an unknown
world. It was a miracle to my mind, this devoted love
of a man for a woman ! My darling fairy-tales paled
and lost their charm beside this true story. And the
man, who could not forget his faithless love, whose pain
at her treachery drove him hither and thither like one
insane, was Herr Claudius ! Could he really take any-
thing so deeply to heart ?
" Does he love her still ?" I interrupted the sudden
silence in a low voice.
" My child, I cannot answer that question," said the
old lady, with a smile. " Do you suppose that any one can
tell what is passing in Herr Claudius's inmost thoughts ?
You know how grave and quiet are his face and bearing,
his soul is as a closed book. But I can hardly think
it possible that he should still love : he must despise the
woman."
It had grown quite dark. Fraulein Fliedner opened
a window, for the room was warm. The plashing rain
had ceased. The street was silent, but from the more
frequented squares and places of resort of the town
288 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
came the hum and noise of human life. The gaslights
sparkled up one after another on the opposite side of the
way. They were mirrored in the puddles of rain on the
pavement, and showed how dark and threatening were
the clouds that still overhung the city. Their feeble light
penetrated the room, too, in which we were sitting; and
I begged Fraulein Fliedner not to light the lamp, it was
light enough. I dreaded seeing the old lady's face ; I
knew it must be so full of distress and emotion.
Echoing footsteps passed beneath the window, and a
voice in conversation said, rapidly, "A lame woman who
could not get away is drowned ! Wild work out there l n
We arose, and Fraulein Fliedner began to walk rest-
lessly to and fro. There was loud talking in the hall.
Fraulein Fliedner opened the door, and we heard Char-
lotte ask from the upper landing, " No news yet from
Dorotheenthal ?"
" None of our people have returned yet," replied old
Erdmann. He was standing in the midst of the house-
servants, and his harsh voice trembled. " But they say
it is terrible out there, and the master is everywhere fore-
most ln the rescue. God knows, he never will remember
how easily such a nut-shell upsets! And every one is
there 1 They say the Duke is there."
" What 1 his Highness himself?" Dagobert asked from
above.
Erdmann assented. A door was closed, and the lieu-
tenant came rushing down-stairs, ordered his horse to
be brought, mounted, and galloped off. He cut but a sorry
figure, my handsome Tancred.
I crouched down again in a corner of the sofa, and
Fraulein Fliedner, with a sigh, retired to the recess of a
window. I thought of the wild waters raging hither and
thither, and drowning all who could not save themselves.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 289
It must be horrible to perish in the gloomy, tossing
waves! And Herr Claudius never would remember
u how easily such a nut-shell upsets," as old Erdmann
said. He had no love for the world or for his own life,
and he was right. The woman whom he could not for-
get, had proved false to him, and the brother and sister
and the old bookkeeper were false too, and I, to whom he
had shown such genuine, patient kindness, had, but a few
short hours previously, dragged to the light of day such
convincing evidence against himl Fraulein Fliedner
alone was true to him. I looked across the room, with
a kind of envy, at her delicate little figure, standing mo-
tionless at the window ; her conscience was clear ; she
had never done him an injury ; she would have nothing
to reproach herself with if the waters should close over
those fair curls. That " if" almost made me cry out with
sudden terror, but I bit my lip, and listened anew for
every sound of wheels, every passing footfall.
Thus hour after hour passed. My father, too, had
not yet returned. Fraulein Fliedner had sent Erdmann
to the Karolinenlust to ascertain if he were there. The
noise of unusual excitement in the city had not entirely
died away, but it was more quiet. Midnight was near at
hand. The sound of carriage- wheels was heard at the
entrance of the street ; with a low cry, a mixture of joy
and dread, the old lady hurried into the hall and threw
open the door into the courtyard. The darkness without
was intense, but I ran to meet the carriage as it came
thundering over the stones.
"Are you there, Herr Claudius ?" I cried, my trembling
voice sounding above the rattling of the wheels.
" Yes," was answered from the coachman's seat.
" Thank God 1" I clasped my hands tightly upon my
T 25
290 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
heart. I thought it would break with sudden relief from
such anxiety.
The servants came rushing from ail quarters and sur-
rounded the carriage. Herr Claudius descended.
" Is it as bad as they say, Herr Claudius ?" asked old
Erdmann. " Schafer says it is a loss of forty thousand
thalers."
"The damage is greater; everything is ruined; we
shall have to begin all over again at Dorotheenthal. I
am sorry about my young conifera, not one is left stand-
ing," he said, sadly. " Still, time will remedy all that,
but here " And he opened the carriage-door.
He carefully helped some one to alight from it The
light of the hall lamps fell through tne open door upon
a young girl, who would have fallen to the ground but
for Herr Claudius's sustaining arm. Her delicate form
was convulsed with sobs, and a mass of hair hung loose
and disordered around a face whose great beauty was
marred by its expression of intense woe.
" Her mother is drowned," the people who had come
with her whispered.
Herr Claudius half supported, half carried her up tne
steps. In the darkness he passed close by me ; his clothes
were dripping wet.
Fraulein Fliedner was standing on the topmost step,
and held out her hands to him. I could not understand
what he said to her ; a sudden shyness and an inexplica-
ble sadness drove me out farther into the courtyard, away
from every one ; but I saw the old lady gently take the
arm of the weeping girl and lead her away. Herr Clau-
dius lingered for a moment in the hall talking to Char-
lotte. It did not escape me that he looked searchingly
around in the mean while : was it possible that he had
recognized my voice, and wished to assure himself tliAt
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 291
it was really I, the child who had so displeased him ? Fool*
ish thoughts ! He had more important matters to occupy
him. How much misery he had just witnessed ! what
hard tasks we're imposed upon him ! And had he not
just led a stricken orphan girl compassionately into his
house ? She was not as ungrateful as I ; she had not
repulsed the hand extended to protect her ; she had
resigned herself thankfully to the sustaining arm. And
could he bestow a thought upon the wayward moorland
child ? Most certainly not.
He descended the steps again, and stood looking keenly
out into the darkness. In the mean while, a gentleman
got out of the carriage and approached him. It was
my father. To my amazement I saw him offer his
hand most cordially to Herr Claudius, the despised
" tradesman," and take leave of him with warm expres-
sions of gratitude. I ran to my father when he reached
the garden, and clung to his arm. He was greatly sur-
prised, and could not understand " picking up his little
girl so late at night in the open air." He had accom-
panied the Duke to Dorotheenthal, and had then accepted
the offer of a place in Herr Claudius's carriage to return
home. Whilst we were walking to the Karolinenlust he
talked all the while of Herr Claudius.
" What a man he is !" he said, pausing upon our way.
" The Duke is charmed with his calm self-possession, and
the quiet dignity with which he meets the misfortune that
has befallen him. And I took him for a human multipli-
cation-table ! I apologize most humbly."
Yes, what a man 1 " Time will remedy all that, but
here 1" With these simple words he had put aside all
thought of his own enormous loss, in view of the young
girl's misery. And this was the reckoning-machine,
the cold money-maker? No, but a "labourer in the
292 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
strictest sense of the word ;" not for the mere sake of
gain, but because he found " in order and action the true
spring of healing for his soul." Now I understood him
better.
I did not go to bed that night ; I seated myself upon
the low window-sill and awaited the dawn. The day
that began to glimmer faintly behind the treetops should
usher in a new life for me.
CHAPTER XXV.
On the afternoon of that day I took the key that had
been given me, unlocked the gate in the wall, and went
across the road to the Swiss cottage. I knew that Gret-
ehen's father was a teacher in one of the first establish-
ments in K ; he should help me to mould myself
anew. It was not long before I felt at home among the
inmates of the cottage. Frau Helldorf recognized me
instantly, and, as I learned afterwards, Schafer, the gar-
dener, had already told them of the "learned gentle-
man's strange, wild child," who had suddenly made her
appearance in the Karolinenlust. Gretchen, of course,
was immediately my warm ally. No one alluded to the
unhappy scene in the grove, which had been all owing
to me.
" Will you teach me ?" I asked Herr Helldorf, who was
sitting at a table covered with exercise-books to be cor-
rected. " I will learn learn all that my head can hold !
I am so old, and I cannot even write decently." He
smiled, and his charming little wife smiled too, and we
then and there made an arrangement whereby I was
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 293
made free at all times of the cottage, and should receive at
least three hours of instruction there daily. I informed
Fraulein Fliedner of this plan, to which she gave her cor-
dial approval, and, at my request, promised to attend to the
payment for my lessons, so that I should not have to go
myself to Herr Claudius's counting-room.
From this time I studied unweariedly. At first, in
deed, the pen was often tossed under the table, and I ran
off into the forest with a throbbing head and eyes filled
with tears; but I always returned with a sigh, and
slowly picked up the small steel tyrant from the floor,
and worked away until at last my hard labour brought
forth results. Writing became no longer a matter of imi-
tation to me, but a means of expression for my thoughts,
it was like a new sense. My progress began to delight
my teacher; the rather contracted plan of study that
had been at first adopted was enlarged, and comprised
music also. Here my natural talent stood me in stead ;
and before long 1 frequently sang duets with the younger
Helldorf.
My intimacy in the Swiss cottage, of which my father
approved, and which Herr Claudius and Fraulein Flied-
ner openly advised, was regarded unfavourably in other
quarters. Eckhof was very angry, and Charlotte's in-
dignation and satire with regard to my daily visits I
could not understand. I soon learned the whole story
of Eckhof s quarrel with his daughter. Helldorf had
studied theology, and, while a student, had been betrothed
to Anna Eckhof. Her father had given his consent to
their marriage, but upon condition that when the young
man's studies were completed he should, with his wife,
go as a missionary to India, a missionary of the strait-
est form of Lutheranism. This condition had gradually
become most distasteful to the young man, whosA x\sre^
25*
294 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
had become liberal, and at last he refused to fulfil it, de-
claring himself hostile to all illiberality and pietistio
phraseology. At the same time the physicians pro-
nounced Anna's constitution entirely unfitted to endure
tho hardships of missionary life in India. Their verdict,
however, had no power to move the old fanatic's stern
resolve, he maintained that, by the grace of God,
her physical strength would be found equal to her ap-
pointed task, and that even if she succumbed to the perils
of the life to which he had devoted her, she would be
received in heaven as a martyr to the cause of the church.
When Helldorf persisted in his rejection of the mission-
ary scheme, and Anna refused to forsake her lover, the
old bookkeeper cast his daughter off.
Thus I could easily understand the old man's indigna-
tion at the sudden destruction of the partition-wall be-
tween the outlawed cottage and the house where he had
hitherto reigned supreme. But what had induced Char-
lotte to regard my intercourse with the teacher's family
so unfavourably ? She repeatedly told me angrily that
she did not comprehend how Herr Claudius could in-
trust to such a child the key of a gate opening directly
upon the highroad, some day the garden would be
overrun with tramps and beggars. She declared that I was
miserably changed since I had become so " stuffed" with
knowledge, that there was no longer a trace left of the
charming natural " little moorland Princess," and that I
arranged my curls with such chic as showed me to be
possessed of no small amount of coquetry. When my
music lessons began she was more bitter and cross than
ever. I often found her near the woodland wall when I
returned at the close of a lesson, when she would assure
me with sparkling eyes, but an air of contemptuous in-
difference, that from the tew uote& \.ta.t had reached her
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 295
ears she should judge that the small bird had a very loud
voice ; and one Sunday afternoon when my fellow-singer,
young Helldorf, accompanied me to the garden-gate and
there took leave of me, she came running towards me
from the grove, laughing violently, and crying, " May I
congratulate you, Fraulein von Sassen ?"
I did not remonstrate with her, for in very truth I
could not understand her conduct. She really was more
quiet with regard to the secret in her possession than I
had thought she could be. Only in two ways was her
pride more apparent : in the fact that, to Fraulein Flied-
ner's annoyance, she would not sit down to a meal except
dressed in heavy silk, and in her contempt for everything
bourgeois. This last was severely felt by young Helldorf,
whom Herr Claudius was continually asking to the house.
She treated him with a cool hauteur that often pained
me, more especially as a relation almost like that between
brother and sister had gradually come to exist between
the young man and myself. To my great satisfaction he
proudly bade defiance to her unkind treatment by ignor-
ing the haughty girl entirely. I had frequent opportuni-
ties of observing this, for I often made one of the small
circle at Herr Claudius's tea-table, and always in com-
pany with my father. Between my father and Herr
Claudius there was much more intercourse than formerly,
the latter now frequently visited the library, and my
father often went up of an evening to the room in the
observatory. They always sat together during the even-
ings that we spent at the other house, and seemed to un-
derstand each other, as far as I could learn, remarkably
well. I had not heard any reference made as yet, how-
ever, to the affair of the coin. My position with regard
to Herr Claudius remained the same, in spite of this in-
tercourse : I shrank from him more timidly than, e^ret^
296 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
the secret which I had in my keeping was a barrier
between us. In January, when Dagobert should return,
matters were to be brought to a crisis, how false I
should then appear if, in the mean while, my manner to
Herr Claudius became more friendly or familiar I And
there was something besides that frightened me away
from him. Often, when I happened to glance towards
him while I was talking with others, I surprised him in
the act of regarding me with a kind of compassionate
abstraction. 1 knew what that meant, he was thinking
of the falsehood that stained my brow. The thought
sent the blood to my cheeks and aroused in me the old,
hateful spirit of defiance.
Upon his part, he seemed to regard my behaviour to-
wards him as nothing more than he had expected. He
never alluded in word or manner to the guardianship
with which Use had invested him, although I knew that
he kept a strict watch over all my actions, and had es-
tablished an understanding with the teachers I had
selected. He would keep the promise strictly that he had
made to Use, however burdensome its fulfilment might
become to him. Sudden terror sometimes seized me as
I saw him sitting so calm and collected among his guests,
and thought of the mystery suspended by a hair above
his head. How would he come forth from the revelations
that were to be made ?
Thus three months passed. I looked with pride at
the firm, bold form of my handwriting, to which I was
now able to give genuine character. I had a correspond-
ent already a secret correspondent in the person of
my aunt Christine. She had shown quite an exag-
gerated amount of gratitude to me for the money I had
sent her, and informed me that she was in Dresden under
medical care, and confidei tly hoped to regain her voice
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 297
again. According to her protestations, I was her saviour,
her guardian-angel, the only being who had any sympathy
for her in her present misery, and she frequently reiter-
ated her desire to clasp me in her arms. This corre-
spondence had such an effect upon me that I one day
timidly alluded to my aunt in my father's presence. He
started, and instantly forbade all future mention of her,
adding that he could not understand how Use could have
told me of such a dark passage of family history. After this
her letters, which grew more and more frequent, troubled
me not a little, but I had not the heart to ignore them.
Other cares, too, entered into my life. We my father
and I were the guests of Herr Claudius as far as our
lodging in the Karolinenlust was concerned. My father
had ordered our dinners to be brought to us from a hotel
in the city, and I had the responsibility of providing for
the rest of our modest manage. I, who a few months
before had not known what money was, now anxiously
counted every groschen, and they were few enough. I
had gladly undertaken to regulate our small household,
and had arranged a cosy little tea-table every evening in
the library, a luxury to which my father had long been
unaccustomed, but I forgot what it would cost until the
maid handed me a long bill for provisions.
" Money?" my father asked, looking up in alarm from
his writing, when, without a thought of any difficulty in
paying it, I handed him the account. " My child, I can-
not understand this, what is it for?" He felt in his waist-
coat pockets, and in the side pockets of his coat. " I have
no money, Lorchen," he said, shrugging his shoulders in
a helpless way. " What is this ? I surely paid the hotel
bill a little while ago."
" Yes, father, but this is the account for our suppers,"
I stammered in surprise.
298 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Oh, indeed I" He ran both hands through his hair
"Yes, my child, but this is something quite new, I neve*
used to have any. Here, here," he added, pushing
towards me a little paper of sugar that lay upon the
table beside him, " this is very nutritious and extremely
healthy."
What a fright this revelation gave me !
My father's income was considerable, but he denied
himself the necessaries of life that he might increase his
various collections. Here was the cause of bis emaciated
face, that, since Use and I had taken him in charge, had
become much less haggard. For his own sake, I could
not allow this sugar diet. But I had not the courage to
remonstrate with him ; I could not say one word when
I saw him give hundreds of thalers for some yellow piece
of paper or an old majolica vase, and leave himself with-
out a penny in his pocket. His gentle, amiable manner,
the almost childlike glee with which he would show me
his newly-acquired treasure, and my own profound respect
for his attainments, closed my lips.
I went to the little purse that Use had left with me "in
ease of need," and which I had almost forgotten. Its
contents sufficed for awhile ; but my last groschen van-
ished at last, and my wearying care began. I could not
go to Use, nor to Herr Claudius, for I should have to tell
him for what purpose I desired a portion of my property.
Now that my judgment of men and things began to grow
more clear, I remembered that he had expressed stern
disapproval of the passion for collecting ; I now under-
stood all that he said, and I could not expect him to grant
my request for money. But he would have no right to
withhold from me what I earned myself, I need not
even tell him what I wished to do with it: there wan
instant consolation in this xtaox^Vit.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 299
Two days after the flood in Dorotheenthal, I saw
the young girl whose mother had been drowned sitting
at a window of one of the back offices, bending so earn-
estly over her work that I could not attract her attention
as I bowed to her in passing outside.
" What is she doing ?" I asked Fraulein Fliedner.
" She begged for some employment, as the only means
of mastering her grief. She is writing labels for the
packages of seeds ; her father was the schoolmaster at
Dorotheenthal, and she writes a very good hand."
I remembered this, when Emma the maid again brought
me a long account one day, and I had not a penny where-
with to pay it. With some hesitation I asked her to wait
a few days. Evidently surprised, she left the room, and
that evening ,at six o'clock I went to the other house.
It was an evening when we had been invited thither to
drink tea ; but my father had not yet come from the
ducal castle, whither he had gone to pay a visit to the
Princess Margarethe, who had just returned from a three
months' stay in the capital.
I took off my cloak and hood in Fraulein Fliedner's
room.
4t My child," said the old lady, with an air of some
slight embarrassment, drawing me towards her, " if your
finances should ever become entangled you will come to
me, will you not?"
I was startled. Emma had betrayed me, but I did not
want to confess my annoyance. I would not compromise
my father. How would it help me to have Fraulein
Fliedner lend me the money ? It would only be another
debt to pay. I thanked her most kindly, and took my
way to the counting-room, for the first time since Use's
departure.
As I approached the closed door, I heard Hart CV^xAva*
800 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
walking to and fro. When I opened it, he turned at the
noise, and stood with his hands clasped behind him.
Upon his writing-table a lamp, with a green shade, wag
burning ; the other desks were deserted ; the clerks had
departed.
I shuddered slightly ; that tall figure had just been
measuring the long apartment with hasty steps, and I
could not but think of the time when his passionate
agony had driven him restlessly hither and thither in gar-
den and forest. My presence in the counting-room
seemed to surprise him; involuntarily, as it were, he
lifted the lamp-shade so as to throw a broad ray of light
full upon my small figure standing timidly in the door-
way. I felt as if I were in the pillory, but I summoned
every spark of courage that I could command, walked
up to him, and with rather an awkward courtesy laid a
piece of paper upon his writing-table. " Will you have
the kindness to look at this handwriting ?" I said, with
downcast eyes.
He took the paper. "An excellent hand, full of
character ; the letters are firm and bold, and yet not with-
out grace," he said, turning to me and smiling slightly.
" It is as if the writer had drawn on a steel glove to mask
a delicately soft, little hand."
" Then it is fair enough ? and is it serviceable ? I
should be so glad 1" I said, hurriedly.
"Ah 1 you have more to do with it than I thought.
Did you write it yourself?"
" Yes."
II And what do you mean by serviceable ? Are you
not content to write so soon such an excellent, and, as I
can plainly see, so flowing and easy a hand ?"
" Oh, no," I answered quickly. " I want to write so
that I may be intrusted with some work " It waa
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 301
out at last, and I grew braver. " I know that you em*
ploy women to write the labels upon the packets of seeds,
will you not try me ? I will take the greatest pains,
and be very exact." I looked up at him, but my glance
instantly fell again; there was such fire in those blue
eyes gazing at me with a kind of melting compassion,
such glowing eloquence that they scarcely seemed to be-
long to that calm face.
" You wish to work for pay V ' he nevertheless asked
in a quiet, business-like tone. " Has it not occurred to
you that there is no need for your doing so ? You have
property of your own. Tell me how much you want and
for what you want it." He laid his hand upon the iron
safe by his side.
" No, no ; I will not !" I cried, decidedly. " I will let my
money alone for the present. My dear grandmother said
it would be sufficient to shield me from want, and Heaven
knows I am not yet in want."
He took his hand from the safe. I do not know why,
but hie peculiar smile suggested to me that he, too, had
heard of what Emma had told Fraulein Fliedner. The
thought depressed me, but also strengthened me in my
resolution.
" You evidently have a false idea of the labour that
you wish to undertake," he rejoined. " I know that, in
five minutes, your cheeks would burn, and the thoughts
in your brain and the little feet beneath the writing-
table would all rebel against the detestable writing n
" Not now," I interrupted him, meekly, and ashamed.
He was quoting some childish expression of mine that I
had formerly used to him. " It has gone hard with me,
I don't deny it, but I have conquered myself."
" Indeed 1" The same smile flitted across his face.
You have entirely abjured, then, all the moorland
26
302 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
habits ? You despise climbing trees, and cannot under-
stand how you could ever wade in the water."
" Oh, no, I am not so far as that by a long way !" I
exclaimed, in spite of myself. " Indeed, I cannot believe
that the time will ever come when I can hear the rustling
of the trees and the merry rippling of the brook without
longing ; but I will learn to control the longing, just as I
have compelled myself, against my nature, to write thus."
And I pointed to the paper.
He turned away and looked up at the green window-
curtain as if he were counting the threads in it. Then
he picked up a little paper envelope and held it towards
me. Upon it was written, in finely-formed, firm charac-
ters, " Rosa Damascena."
tl Remember, you would have to write those words four
hundred times," he said, with emphasis.
" Indeed you shall see how well I can do it 1 It is the
name of a flower ; and even if I had to write the word
'rose' a thousand times, I could always, while I was
writing, think of its delicious fragrance, the fairy-nest
among its leaves. I used to think it a palace for the
beetles, that was one of my ' moorland habits.' Will
you not trust me with the work now ?"
He was silent, and my hopes fell, for I thought that
he was raising all these objections only to avoid telling
me directly that my scribbling could be of no use to
him. Much humbled, I thought of Luise, the orphan
girl, she was still in the house, and every one praised
her skill and capacity, of course she could write these
labels much better than I; it was presumption on my
part to enter into competition with her. Oh, how bitterly
I repented having come into the counting-room 1 With
a sudden access of my old defiant mood I took the paper
that I had brought and thrust it into my pocket
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 303
" I know that I have been presuming, and have esti-
mated my capacity too highly," I said, catching my
breath. " When I see those firm, graceful letters," and
I pointed to the little envelope, "I am ashamed of
myself."
I turned towards the door, but he stood in my path.
" Do not leave me so," he said, in his gentlest tones.
" I am acting foolishly. You give me a first proof of a
budding confidence in me, and I discourage you. But I
cannot consent that you should undertake a task at which
your whole nature revolts. You told me just now how
difficult you found such purely mechanical labour. And,
besides, I will not have your hand, hitherto so unstained
by all soil of money, and the curse that cleaves to it, toil
for pay. Do you suppose that the human miracle, who
at seventeen years of age had never seen money, made
as idle an impression upon me as that produced by a
fresh landscape, or a variation in national costume? I
told you at the first that the wayward, antagonistic ele-
ment in your nature would have to be subdued, it dis-
torts a truly feminine character, admired though it be
by many as lawless grace, but not an iota of your
individuality must be disturbed."
"Labour, hard, resolute labour, will subdue me," 1
replied, obstinately. " I know that others, too, find help
in labour. You yourself are continually employed from
morning until night, and you require those about you to
be the same."
He smiled. " I think I have the right to require that
all should be diligent in their several callings. But do.
you think me such an ingrained labourer as to require all,
without distinction, to plod on in the same path ? I look
quietly on while one of my people cuts away with axe
and saw the superfluous branches of my trees j but I
804 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
should bo quick to find fault if he attempted to touch
rudely a delicate flower, or brush the exquisite velvet
from its petals. I should like to see a little less way-
ward defiance in the toss of that curly head ; but it must
be the result of mental self- conquest, not of the galling
yoke of mechanical labour."
I was upon the point of losing my only chance to com-
pass my desire, because I could not possibly regain the
business-like tone, which he, too, had entirely dropped.
Every word that he uttered sounded half suppressed aud
muffled, as if he feared that even a slight elevation of his
voice might set aflame some passion yet held in check.
Had anything that had been said recalled the memory of
that faithless woman ? Moved by an inexplicable senti-
ment of sadness and pity for the man who had suffered so
deeply, I had recourse to the only means left me, en-
treaty. I begged and implored in a beseeching tone that
moved even myself.
His face lighted up as with a sudden sunbeam. " Well,
then, you shall have what you desire," he said, after an
instant's reflection, in a voice that vibrated strangely.
"I understand now why even stern and strict Frau
Use was at the mercy of the ' little moorland Princess.'
No, no, we are not through yet," he cried, as I turned to
leave the room, after a few words of thanks. "Is it
more than reasonable that I, too, should have a request
to make ? Do not be frightened, you shall not give me
your hand." How bitterly mortified those words made
me 1 "I am only going to ask you to answer me frankly
one question."
I turned back, and looked up at him.
" Was I wrong, or was it really your voice that called
out to me on the night of the flood, when I returned from
Dorotheenthal ?"
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 305
My face flushed painfully; but I answered, without
hesitation, "Yes, it was I. I was so afraid " I
paused, for the door opened, and old Erdmann entered.
With an expression of great annoyance Herr Claudius
pointed to a packet of letters that were to be carried to
the post. The old man had a letter in his hand, and he
laid it upon the table, while he put the others into the
letter-bag that he carried.
"From Fraulein Charlotte, " he said, as he saw his
master look in some surprise at the seal of the aforesaid
letter.
" This need not go until to-morrow morning, Erdniann,"
said Herr Claudius, taking it from the table.
In the mean while I had reached the door, and before
I could be again addressed I was standing in the hall
with a beating heart. I took a long breath, old Erd-
mann had appeard at a lucky moment ; one instant more
and I should have told Herr Claudius how I had suffered
that evening upon his account. What did it all mean ?
There was no firm ground beneath my feet. The distant
image of the old gentleman in blue spectacles had vanished
like a phantom, and of all that had impressed me upon
my entrance into this new world, nothing held its own
beside the imposing figure of the " tradesman."
U
806 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
CHAPTER XXYI.
1 ban up-stairs to the reception-rooms. Three adjoin*
ing rooms, including Charlotte's, were always warmed
and lighted. The doors connecting them were wide open,
and Herr Claudius liked now and then, while conversing,
to pace them slowly. The circle that met around tho
tea-table was very small Two or three gentlemen,
elderly respectabilities, old friends of the family, made
their appearance occasionally; my father and his "daisy,"
of course, and young Helldorf were standing guests,
and Luise, the young orphan, was always present, sit-
ting silent at her embroidery. The bookkeeper excused
his absence upon the plea that he was growing old and
must avoid the walk through the gardens upon cold,
misty evenings, but he made no secret of the fact that
the whole tone of the house of Claudius had undergone
so radical a change that he felt obliged to wash his hands
of it, and take no part in a course of life for which the
head of the firm would one day have to answer to his
predecessors.
On this evening the rooms seemed quite empty. It
was a cold November night, the first snowflakes of the
season were mingling with the fine rain that enveloped
the earth in mist, and sharp blasts of wind whistled
through the streets.
I found Fraulein Fliedner busy with her tea-equipage.
The old lady was apparently agitated ; her arrangements
were not made as quietly as usual. Charlotte was observ-
ing her with a malicious smile. She was leaning back in a
corner of the sofa half buried in the voluminous flounces
TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS 307
and pannier of a green silk dress that shone with a metal*
lie lustre. Her imposing beauty impressed me anew,
the superb figure reclined so gracefully among the warm
elastic pillows, and yet I shivered involuntarily at the
contrast between the rude November blasts sweeping by
outside and the girl's bare neck and arms.
" Pray be careful, for Heaven's sake, dearest Fliedner 1"
she cried, with an affectation of politeness, without stir-
ring in the least from her attitude of negligent repose.
" The sainted Frau Claudius would turn in her grave if
she could hear the clatter that you are making at this
moment among her porcelain treasures. The matter is
not worth mentioning, why should you be annoyed ? Is
it my fault that your Luise is antipathetic to me ? Am
I to blame that her weeping-willow face always looks as
if entreating pardon of God and the universe for her pre-
sumption in existing ? The girl feels instinctively, what
I declare frankly, that she does not belong in the draw-
ing-room. It is carrying my uncle's benevolent whim
altogether too far to accord her a position to which she
is in no wise entitled. Good heavens ! I am not a mon-
ster of cruelty ; but right is right ! Good-evening, little
Princess."
She held out her hand and drew me down beside her
on the sofa. " There, sit quietly, child, and do not go
flitting about the room like a will-o'-the-wisp," she said,
authoritatively, " or else Uncle Erich will plant a neigh-
bour by my side who will drive me to despair with her
eternal embroidery, and that steel thimble on her finger "
"You can easily abolish one of these terrible evils,
Charlotte," said Fraulein Fliedner, calmly. " Give Luise
one of your silver thimbles ; you never use them "
"Very seldom, that's true," laughed Charlotte, com-
placently regarding her slender white fingers. "And I
808 . TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
know why. Do you see these nails, my good Fliedner f
They are not particularly small, but perfect in shape and
rosy of hue, and each one is equal to a patent of nobility,
don't you think so ?" And she smiled impertinently,
showing her pearly row of teeth.
" No, I certainly do not think so," said Fraulein Flied-
ner, with an irritation that brought the colour to her
cheeks. " There is no such patent, warring against hon-
est labour, to be had from nature, and the stroke of a
prince's pen, to which such virtue is ascribed, that, by
its magic, healthy red blood is transformed to- artificial
blue, even it has no power to release any one from the
obligation to work which lies upon every human being.
It would indeed be a miserable contradiction in the plan
of God's creation if the right were really decreed to the
powerful to sanction indolence. And I must take occa-
sion to remind you of one thing : it has never passed my
lips before, but your arrogance transcends all bounds ; it
increases hourly, and therefore I must beg you to re-
member that you are an adopted child /"
" Oh, yes, a poor creature living upon the bread of
charity, is not that what you mean, my dear Fliedner ?"
cried Charlotte, her flashing eyes resting scornfully upon
the old lady's face. "But do you know, it does not
signify that to me," and she lightly snapped her forefinger
and thumb, " the bread tastes very good, for I cannot
rid myself of the idea that it is mine by right I cer-
tainly wrote truly to Dagobert to-day, that you decidedly
play the first fiddle at the tea-table since Eckhof has fallen
into disgrace. You grow insolent, my good Fliedner."
She ceased and looked past the old lady towards the
open door, upon the threshold of which Herr Claudius
appeared.
Without the least embarrassment, she arose and bade
TBli ijITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 309
him good-evening. Simply replying to her salutation,
be went to the table, and held the seal of the letter that
be had confiscated in the counting-room near to the light
of the lamp.
41 Where did you get this crest, Charlotte ?" he asked,
quietly, but with a degree of sharp emphasis.
She was startled. I could see it by the twitching of
her half-closed eyelids, beneath which she examined the
seal with well-aflfected indifference.
" Where did I get it, uncle ?" she repeated, shrugging
her shoulders almost playfully; "I am sorry to say I
oannot tell you."
" What do you mean ?"
" Can I speak more plainly, Uncle Erich ? I am not
at present able to tell you how that pretty seal came into
my possession. I, too, have my own little secrets among
the many that are floating about in this old Claudius
house. I did not steal it, nor did I buy it, nor was it
given to me." In her assurance she ventured, in the
presence of that serious face, to toss the secret like a
child's ball, from hand to hand.
" The solution of the important mystery is, I suppose,
that you found it, although I cannot imagine where," he
said, evidently disagreeably impressed by her impertinent
tone. " Keep your secret ; it does not concern me. But
I must seriously ask you how you came to adopt this
crest ?"
" Because because I like it."
" Indeed I You have a curious understanding of mine
and thine. True enough, this crest is ownerless and I
care nothing personally for the fictitious nimbus tnat en-
circles such a little shield ; it would seem that I might
easily allow you for the future the childish gratification
of sealing your letters with these crowned eagles' wiu^$ x
810 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
if you were not the Charlotte that you are ; but when
one wishes to cure a notorious gambler one does not pat
cards into his hands, and therefore I must forbid all fur-
ther use of the seal you have found."
" Let me ask you, Uncle Erich, whether you really
have the right to do so ?" cried Charlotte, in an outbreak
of passion. I trembled with terror; she was upon the
point of cutting the knot at one stroke.
Herr Claudius retreated a step and regarded her with
unfeigned surprise.
"Do you presume to doubt it?" He was angry, but
he retained his self-command. " The right became mine
from the instant that you your brother and yourself
left Madame Godin's house with me. I gave you the name
of Claudius, and no court of law on this earth can de-
prive me of the right to insist that you shall bear
it without any artificial addition. Is it possible that
the moment may come when I shall repent ever
sheltering Dagobert's head and your own beneath the
name that 1 received unstained from my forefathers?
My brother degraded it when he appended to it that
folly," and he pointed to the seal ; " with my consent
it shall never be attached to it again!" A scornful
smile of superiority hovered around Charlotte's lips ; he
saw it, and frowned darkly. "A weakly, childish, and
sickly soul informing so strong and healthy a body I" he
said, his gaze resting upon the young girl's handsome
form. " You denounce the arrogant pretensions of the
nobility, and yet foster them, as do thousands of others
like you, by your eagerness to thrust yourselves within
their ranks, and by your slavish servility if you are tol-
erated there. I am not one of the fanatical opponents
of the nobility who would dethrone them from their ped*
C8tal; Jet them maintain their \l&ce. I, too, will pre
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 311
serve my own position. The significance of rank is no
longer what it was ; if I do not cringe I cannot be de-
graded. The imaginary power of the nobility has its
roots in your feebleness; there can be no idols where
there are no worshippers."
Charlotte threw herself back again in the corner of the
sofa ; her cheeks glowed, and it was plainly with great
difficulty that she restrained her tongue.
" Good heavens ! how can I help my nature ?" she
cried, with hauteur. "So be it. I cannot help it; I
belong among the feeble-minded creatures that you speak
of. Why should I deny that if this charming crowned
pair of eagles' wings really belonged to my family name
I should be proud, beyond measure proud ?"
" There is no danger of your being subjected to the
temptation. Alas for those around you if what are
called the privileges of birth were really yours 1 Fortu-
nately neither your adopted name nor that of your own
family justifies you "
" That of my own family ? And what is it, Uncle
Erich?" Involuntarily she sat erect, and riveted her
gaze upon his face.
" Can you really have forgotten it, when it has sounded
bo much sweeter and more distinguished in your ears
than the name of Claudius? It is Mericourt." It evi-
dently cost him an effort to pronounce the name.
Charlotte sank back among the pillows, and pressed
her handkerchief to her lips.
u Is your tea ready, my dear Fliedner ?" asked Herr
Claudius, turning towards the old lady, who, like my-
self, had listened with breathless eagerness to the danger-
ous conversation.
He pushed an arm-chair up to the table for himself, and
Fraulein Fliedner poured out for him a cu\t oC te*. "fit
312 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
delicate little hand was rather unsteady as she handed
it to him, and she glanced anxiously at his clouded brow ;
could she be his accomplice, that gentle, kindly, amiablo
old lady, aider and abettor in a course of dark deceit and
fraud ? Impossible ! Those last words spoken by Herr
Claudius had again invested the whole matter with pro*
found mystery. I believed him. Charlotte thought other-
wise ; I could see in her face that her conviction was unal-
terable. She sat there like a princess, while Fraulein
Fliedner handed her her tea. The contemptuous curve of
her lips had been called forth by the name of Mericourt !
What a contradiction to her former self she was ! Here*
tofore she had prided herself upon the French name as a
pledge that no drop of the plebeian Claudius blood flowed
in her veins ; now she disdainfully rejected it, like a worn-
out garment, in the belief that she was a genuine Claudius
-the lawful niece of the despised " tradesman.' 9
Innocent child of the moor that I was, I could not un-
derstand that a word from the Prince, a couple of strokes
of his pen, could sever to the roots a bough from the old
merchant trunk, and ennoble it beyond all recognition.
Luise entered, followed shortly afterward by Helldorf.
I breathed freely again, as in a purer atmosphere ; these
two had no suspicion of the volcanic soil beneath the
peaceful tea-table, they interrupted the gloomy silence
that had followed Herr Claudius's last words, and when
Helldorf was present I always felt easy in the sense
of protection ; for had I not gradually become a petted
favourite in his brother's house ?
Carefully, and with a meaning smile, he handed me a
white paper parcel loosely folded. I knew what it con-
tained, a half-blown tea-rose, which Frau Helldorf had
been nursing for me, and which she had told me in the
morning she wouW send ma fct tea-time if the bud opened
/
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 313
sufficiently during the day. I exclaimed with pleasure
as I unfolded the paper, and the lovely creamy bud
appeared, exhaling delicious fragrance, and swinging
heavily upon its shining stem.
" Oh, dear, pray have a little pity for my skirt, Luise 1
Tou are tearing the lace off the flounces 1" cried Char-
lotte, angrily, just at that moment, drawing the rustling
folds of her dress around her. She was much provoked,
but I could not attribute her irritation to any injury to her
dress ; she was always indifferent to a rent in the cost-
liest fabric. I had seen her enlarge with her own hands
a small hole torn in some rich lace by a brier, because " it
looked so ridiculously," and she would playfully pull the
ears of Fraulein Fliedner's little dog for being " so sweet
and naughty" as to tear to pieces the trimming of a new
dress.
Luise looked up in terror and stammered out excuse
after excuse, although the injury so sharply reprimanded
was quite invisible. The poor girl stood in great fear
of the imperious young lady. It was a painful scene,
and would doubtless have terminated unpleasantly for
Charlotte, had not Fraulein Fliedner, with a glance at
Herr Claudius's knitted brows, come to the rescue. She
took the rose from my hand, and placed it among my
curls.
" You look magnificent, little Oriental," she said, strok-
ing my cheek caressingly.
Charlotte leaned far back among her pillows, her long
dark eyelashes almost resting on her cheeks, as if she
were going to sleep ; she did not deign even to glance at
the flower in my hair.
In spite of the cheerless weather, a few guests from
the town joined us. The conversation was soon general,
and Charlotte aroused from her seeming apathy \ ta
21
814 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
could not resist the temptation to exercise her brilliant con*
versational talent. This evening her wit fairly sparkled;
I thought I had never known her so eloquent. Now
and then her laughter was satirical and dissonant, how-
ever, and there was far too much of the bacchante in the
toss of her head and the free play of her arms and shoul-
ders, which were freely exposed by her d6collet6e dress
There was nothing maidenly in the striking picture that
she presented ; it was as if fire instead of blood filled her
veins.
I sat gazing at her with a kind of shuddering admira-
tion, when a hand was slowly interposed before my eyes,
as if to shield them from the sight of her ; it belonged
to Herr Claudius, who was sitting beside me. At the
same moment, he requested Hell dor f to sing. His evident
intention of putting a stop, by the young man's singing,
to the flow of wit sparkling from those rosy lips, failed
utterly. Charlotte continued to talk on, in a somewhat
lower voice, indeed, apparently unconscious that Helldorf
was at the piano, singing Schubert's "Wanderer" with
great power and expression.
"If you have no love for music yourself, Charlotte,
pray do not interfere with the enjoyment of others," Herr
Claudius interrupted her, with an emphatic gesture en-
forcing silence.
She started and obeyed. In proud indifference her
head reclined upon the back of the sofa, and, taking up
one of the two thick curls that hung down upon each
side of her bosom, she nervously pulled it through her
trembling fingers. She did not even raise her eyes when
the young man left the piano and received the enthusi-
astic thanks of all present.
One of the gentlemen then entreated her to sing a duet
with Helldorf.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 315
41 No, not to-night ; I am not in tune," she said, negli-
gently, not altering her attitude or raising her eyes.
I saw Helldorf s handsome face turn pale to the very
lips. I pitied him greatly ; I could not endure to have
one of the family that had grown so dear to me pained,
I arose, courageously.
" I will sing the duet with you, if you like," I said,
with something of a tremor in my voice, it is true, for I
seemed to myself to be doing something superhuman,
preternatural.
And he knew it, for he was well aware of my dread of
a strange audience. With a grateful glance he took my
hand, and touched it with his lips ; then we went to the
piano.
I think I never in my life sang so well, or with so
much feeling, as upon that evening. Some powerful
emotion, incomprehensible to myself, soon conquered the
timidity that veiled the first tones of my voice. During
the song, one by one of those present gathered around
us, and at its close we were fairly overwhelmed with
applause. I, in especial, was exalted to the skies, as a
lark, a flute, and Heaven only knows what beside.
Charlotte, too, came rustling towards us. She rushed
up to me and put her arm about my waist. I was terri-
fied, for she bent down towards me so that I could see the
glittering tears in her eyes, which she was trying with
firmly-closed lips and heaving chest to suppress. If I
had only then had the slightest idea what the passion
was that moved her so terribly, how easily I could have
soothed her, and how gladly would I have done so I But
as it was, she inspired me with dread, and involuntarily
I tried to free myself from her clasping arm.
" What a little moorland lark it is !" she laughed. " Her
tiny form might be crushed with a single effort" Aod
316 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
she held my waist in such a grasp that I almost lost n /
breath. " But she can warble so that the glass rattles in
the windows 1"
Before I knew what she was about, she had, while ap-
parently caressing me, drawn me away from the circle
around the piano into the comparative darkness of the
other end of the room. She passed her hand swiftly
over my head, and the rose in my curls was tossed far
into the adjoining apartment.
" Charming little coquette, you have played your part
to admiration! who would have suspected that there
was such danger lurking in the barefooted little gipsy ?"
she whispered, evidently commanding her voice with dif-
ficulty. " Do you know how those whom all delight to
applaud are treated ?" she continued in a louder tone.
" They are elevated far above the common herd. Look,
* thus, thus, you airy, fairy thing, you charming
nothing 1"
In an instant I was lifted from the floor, and held so high
that I could almost have touched the ceiling of the apart-
ment, for none of the rooms in this story of the old house
were very lofty. Borne aloft in those strong, shapely
arms, I was no more than thistle-down flung into the
air, a helpless child, a "nothing." I had not even
control of my voice, shame and terror destroyed all
power of utterance. I was at the mercy of one bereft of
reason.
Laughing, she bore mo through the rooms, while I in-
voluntarily closed my eyes. Suddenly I felt a crash*
ing blow upon my head, it had come in contact with
the heavy bronze chandelier that bung low in the farthest
apartment. I gave one trembling cry ; all present rushed
towards us, and Charlotte, frightened, let me slip to the
Moor. As through a veil I saw that Herr Claudius's
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCES3. 3H
arms received me, and then black, mysterious darkness
encompassed me.
How long I remained unconscious I do not know, but I
seemed to come gradually to myself, much as I used so
often to awake when a child in Use's lap. I was gently
supported, and now an.d then a whisper swept by my ear
like a breath. I could not understand it, but it sounded
precisely like Use's rare terms of endearment, that were
so seldom heard by me when wide awake. The heart,
however, against which my head reclined, was beating loud
and fast, not like Use's, and when at last I opened my
eyes, I looked into a colourless face, whose expression of
passionate alarm I shall never forget.
Suddenly I awoke to where I was, and with a burning
blush raised my head, that the sudden movement caused
to ache terribly. Instantly the arm around me was with-
drawn, and Herr Claudius, who had been sitting beside
me upon the sofa, sprang up.
" My dear, sweet child ! thank God for a sight of those
large eyes again I" cried Fraulein Fliedner, her voice
trembling as she wrung out a linen cloth from a bowl
of water.
I put my hand to my head ; it was bandaged, and the
cold water that had been applied to it was trickling down
from my left temple. More quickly than I myself should
have supposed possible, I regained my self-control, and
conquered the strange, mysterious emotion that had
thrilled through me so deliriously for a moment. I in*
stantly thought of Charlotte, and the lecture she would
have to undergo. It was incumbent upon me to stand up
strong and well as soon as possible.
" What folly have I been about ?" I asked, sitting erect
with energy.
2t*
318 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
41 You fainted a little, my darling," said Fraulein Flied
ner, evidently rejoiced at my vivacity.
"Am I really such a worthless creature? What would
Use say ? She has no patience with women with weak
uerves. Let me take off the bandage now, Fraulein
Fliedner. It really is not necessary." And I put up my
hand. " Oh, my rose I" I cried, involuntarily.
" You shall have it again," said Herr Claudius, quietly,
and I saw his chest heave with something like a sigh.
Ho went into the adjoining room where the rose lay and
picked it up from the floor.
" I must take great care of it, for Frau Helldorf has
been nursing it for ever so long on purpose for me,
together we have watched every leaf unfold," I said,
looking up at him as he handed it to me.
These few words produced a strange effect, every
trace of depression vanished from Herr Claudius's coun-
tenance; and Charlotte, who had fled behind the cur-
tains of a windowed recess when the catastrophe occurred,
came quickly towards me, and threw herself upon her
knees beside me.
" Little Princess," she said, in broken tones of entreaty,
holding her right hand out to me, imploring forgiveness.
Herr Claudius stepped between us. I trembled. I had
never seen anger flaming in those dark-blue eyes before
" You shall not touch her ! Never again ! I shall
know how to shield her from you in future I" he cried,
and pushed her hand away. How implacably hard and
cruel that calm, gentle voice could sound !
Fr&ulein Fliedner looked up at his face in dismay : for
the first time for long years, passion, the last sparks of
which had seemed extinguished, burst through the bar-
riers of that stern, unexampled self-command which he
bad learned to maintain so constantly. The old lady
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 319
noiselessly closed the door ; the gentlemen were still in
Charlotte's drawing-room.
" I repent, bitterly repent, the moment when I thought
to surround you, beneath my care, with a purer atmos-
phere," he continued, with the same emphasis. " I have
drawn water in a sieve, nature is nature, and the law*
less blood in your veins "
" Say rather the ' proud' blood, uncle," she interrupted
him, rising from the floor ; she was pale as death, and the
head, arrogantly erect, seemed transformed to marble in
its contemptuous repose.
" Proud?" he repeated, with a bitter smile. "Pray
tell me how and on what occasion you display the pride
that becomes a woman ? When, as just now, you in-
dulged in the wild humour of a bacchante, bereft of
all feminine dignity ?"
She recoiled as if he had struck her.
" And what do you call proud ?" he went on, inexora-
bly. " Your unjustifiable greed for rank and position, .
your heartless and degrading treatment of those whom
you consider your inferiors ? Your conduct often incenses
me greatly, and unconsciously you yourself destroy the
ground already crumbling beneath your feet. Have a
care "
" Of what, Uncle Erich ?" she interrupted him, coldly
and contemptuously. "Have we not, my brother and
myself, passed through all the stages of oppression ? Can
there be one chord in our highly-strung natures that you
have not rudely and dissonantly struck, asserting its utter
want of harmony with practical or rather homely
existence ? Have you not done your best whenever you
could to destroy our ideals ?"
" Yes, as venomous reptiles, creations of disordered
brains, utterly at variance with morality and a genuine
820 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and elevated conception of human nature. There is not
an atom of nobility in your souls. There is not even
room there for gratitude."
" I would thank you for the bread that I have eaten
if I had not the right to ask more from you !" she flashed
out.
" For Heaven's sake, hush, Charlotte !" cried Fr&ulein
Fliedner, catching her by the arm. She angrily shook
off the old lady's hand.
Herr Claudius regarded the girl's erect, menacing fig-
ure in utter amazement. " And what do you ask ?" he
inquired, with recovered composure.
" First of all, to know who I am 1"
" You wish to hear the truth ?"
" Yes, tell it me ; I need not fear it l n she gasped, with
a kind of triumph.
He turned away and walked once up and down the
room ; in the intense quiet, I thought I ought to hear the
throbbing of feverish pulses.
"No, not now, not just when you have so deeply
offended and irritated me, it would be an ignoble re-
venge !" he said, at last, pausing before her. He raised
his arm and pointed towards the door. " Go, you never
were less fit to hear the truth than at this moment."
" I knew it !" she laughed aloud, and swept out into
the corridor.
With trembling hands Fr&tlein Fliedner put a fresh,
cold bandage around my head and then left me to " see
to the gentlemen again."
My heart beat I was alone with Herr Claudius, whe
seated himself beside me.
" An unhappy scene, ill suited for these startled eyes
which I would so gladly guard from all experience o*
ertil" he said, in uncertain tones. " You have seen me
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 321
angry. I am very sorry ! The dawning confidence in
me that you showed to-day has vanished without leaving
a trace. I can readily understand that."
I shook my head.
"Not yet?" he said, the light in his eyes chasing their
previous gloom. " I know and can almost always smother
the subtle flame that steals upward to my brain ; but not
to day, when I heard your cry and saw the blood trickle
down your pale cheek." He arose and walked through
the room, as if the remembrance of the scene were too
much for him.
His glance rested upon the old-fashioned chandelier de-
pending from the ceiling. "Evil old house!" he said,
standing still. "There is sorcery in its ancient walls
and furniture 1 understand now why the Karolinenlust
was built. I comprehend old Eberhard Claudius. My
beautiful ancestress faded like a flower here, the gloomy
rooms were a quiet, peaceful home enough for prosaic
women whose hearts were bound up in the order of their
household ; but they have always been perilous to women
who were idolatrously ndored and cherished."
The intense emotion in his voice thrilled me to my in-
most soul. These were the tones that he used to that
faithless love, how, how could she ever have forsakep
him ?
" Your innocent, childlike nature shrank instinctively
from these cold, dark apartments/ 7 he continued, again
seating himself beside me.
"Yes, but that was at first,'' I interrupted him,
eagerly, " when I had just left the moor, and every
strange room seemed a prison to me,~that was very
childish. It is not light at the Dierkhof ; the panes in
the windows are thick and dull, the sun only peeps
through them, and the Fleet is always in twilight, al-
V
322 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
though there is broad, warm sunlight on the moor. No ;
I like it now, this old house. I see it with quite other
eyes ; and since I have read about Augsburg and the
Fugger, it seems to me that these dames, with veils above
their brows, must descend from their frames and meet me
in the passages, and on the broad marble staircase."
"Aha, the little moorland Princess transfigures even
this dull home with the play of her fancy ! You can
endure the old merchant-house now, then, and would not
flee to the Karolinenlust ?"
"No; it is cosier, and more like home here. Was
there no one in this house to love your beautiful an-
cestress?"
What had I said that he should start and gaze at
me so?
The door opened, and Fraulein Fliedner entered with
a physician who had been sent for, followed by my
father. He was at first much alarmed by my accident,
but the physician assured him that there was not the
slightest cause for anxiety. One of my curls fell beneath
the scissors, and a small bandage was put on; it was
decreed, however, that I must not brave the night air.
For the first time I slept, guarded by Fraulein Flied-
ner, beneath the roof of the other house. Through my
slightly feverish dreams hovered a little figure, a veil
about her brow like the ancient Claudius dames; she
swept through the echoing corridors, and down the
broad marble staircase, but her feet never touched the
cold stone ; flowers from the garden were strewn upon
Ler pathway, and in this little figure I recognized, with
An indescribable sensation of happiness, myself
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 323
CHAPTER XXVII.
The next morning, when a pale, cold sunbeam fell
across my bed, the delightful rision vanished to thinnest
air. I felt ashamed without knowing wherefore, and
in spite of Fraulein Fliedner's remonstrances I sprang
out of bed, dressed myself with trembling hands, and
ran to the Karolinenlust. I fled from the other house.
But I could not escape the keen glance against which I
was helpless; strangely enough Herr Claudius, who
until then had opposed to my repellant demeanour a
stern gravity, a perfect reserve, never retreated a hair's
breadth from the position he had taken upon the evening
of the accident. He had once held me in his sheltering
embrace, and it seemed as if that were to continue, invisi-
bly, forever. My fleeing timidly at sight of him, my
drooping eyelids when he spoke to me, my silence in his
presence, all produced no effect; he continued to speak
to me in the same familiar tone he had once adopted,
and his clear brow was unclouded. He held me in an
iron clasp without touching me ; his declaration that he
should know how to protect me was verified in every
respect. He spent almost more time in his observatory
than in his counting-room. There were no more gather-
ings at the tea-table in the other house, but instead Herr
Claudius often made one at our little table in the Karo-
linenlust; and when the wintry wind howled outside, so
that even the heavy, closely-drawn library curtains were
lightly stirred, my father would read aloud to his two
listeners one of his world-renowned essays. Herr Claudius
would listen with profound attention, only now and thca
324 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
making some comment, at which my father would pause
in amazement, for it was sure not only to be original
and striking, but to be based upon an amount of scientific
knowledge for which the man of science had by no
means given the " tradesman" credit
Oar agreement with respect to my writing for the firm
was carried out. I procured my work through Fraulein
Fliedner, also delivering it to her when it was completed,
and I was greatly surprised at the amount of money
that could be earned by writing, for not only were my
housekeeping bills promptly paid, but I always had a
small sum laid by for emergencies.
What a change ! I knew I was irrevocably ensnared,
and fast bound to another, and yet I no longer envied
the birds that could fly over the moorland as they pleased.
I could have shouted aloud in my ecstasy, and proclaimed
abroad that I was a captive. If I desired now to dash
my head against the imprisoning trees, it was but that I
might once again have the bliss of seeing how another
could suffer upon my account. For the sake of that other
I forgot the whole world, and the fact that two sins were
upon my soul, the sin of falsehood and my concealed
complicity in a secret that touched Herr Claudius so
nearly. What a fall there was from my heaven when-
ever Charlotte's voice fell on my ear or her imposing form
appeared in sight ! True, she now wrapped herself in a
cloak of proud reserve. The day after that eventful
evening she came to my room. " I will not touch you,
my breath shall not even brush your cheek 1" she said,
with bitter emphasis, as she stood upon tbe threshold of
the door. " I only want that there should be peace between
us, little Princess. Forgive me the pain I caused you ! w
I ran to her and seized her hand.
"Did you see how hard I pushed our tyrant last even
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 325
lug ? He is lost ! I walk through this tradesman's house
with compressed lips and muffled pulses. Every mouth-
ful that I eat is embittered by rage, by impatience ; but
I will endure to the last. I must guard our precious
treasure in the writing-table above you here. I dare not
do anything until Dagobert comes. How I shall rejoice
to leave the old shop forever, and take up my abode in
the home of my parents 1"
At this passionate outburst I dropped her hand and
retreated. Since then we had seldom been alone to-
gether ; only upon the occasions when I returned from
visiting the Princess in a court equipage, she received me
in the courtyard and accompanied me through the garden
to hear all that I had to relate. Shortly after her visit to
the Claudius house, the Princess had a rheumatic attack,
and was ordered away from K for her health, by her
physician. During her absence, of course, I did not go
to court ; but now I went regularly twice a week, at
which times only did Herr Claudius's face wear a cold
frown.
Thus, amid joy and dread, amid inward struggles and
intervals of peaceful repose, the weeks sped away, and
the last days of January arrived, bringing Dagobert with
them. I was seized by mortal terror when I heard that
the Herr Lieutenant had come with bag and baggage ;
the dreaded moment loomed up before me so gloomy and
monstrous, and withal so near, that I would gladly have
closed my eyes that I might not see it, and yet I said to
myself that the keen, sharp stroke of deliverance was
infinitely to be preferred to this fluctuating between
hope and fear. Let it come, and come soon; then my
wretched complicity would be over, and I could speak,
and confess the wrong of which I had been guilty.
Those were hard days for me, for I had another weight
28
32G THE LITTLE moorland princess.
burdening my soul. My father suddenly appeared
changed. His actions and manner reminded me of the
time when he had wished to purchase the medal ; he did
not eat, and I could hear him restlessly pacing to and
fro in his room at night. Letters came for him in quan-
tities from all directions, and with each fresh one that he
opened, the feverish flush upon his hollow cheek deep-
ened. He wrote much, but not in the manuscript descrifau
ing the curiosities of the Karolinenlust, it lay untouched
upon his writing-table. I listened eagerly to the mutter
of his soliloquies as he walked up and down the library,
but I could not distinguish a word, and I did not venture-
to question him for fear of irritating him.
I shall never forget the hour when he was driven to dis-
close the disquiet that cost him so much pain to suppress.
It was one of those sombre melancholy winter afternoons
that weigh like lead upon the face of nature and the soul
of man. My father withdrew to his room after dinner,
taking with him the newspapers, at which he had scarcely
glanced. A few minutes afterwards I heard him leave
his room, slam the door to after him, and rush up-stairs
into the library. I followed him timidly.
" Father V 9 I cried, throwing my arms around him as
he passed me without noticing me.
I must have looked much frightened, for he ran his
hands through his hair and evidently tried to appear
composed.
"It is nothing, Lorchen," he said in a forced tone.
" Go down-stairs again, my child. They lie 1 They
grudge your father his fame ; they know that to question
his authority is to give him the death-blow. And they are
crowding upon him, each with a stone ready to hurl at
him. Yes, stone him I stone him I he has been a shining
light too long l"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 327
He suddenly paused, and looked over my head towards
the door. A lady had entered noiselessly, a tall figure
in a black velvet cloak and a broad ermine collar. She
threw back her veil. Heavens, what beauty I I thought
of Snow-white-and-Rose-red. Eyes black as ebony, a
white brow, and cheeks of a delicate rose colour.
My father stared at her in amazement while she ap-
proached us with uncertain steps. A slight smile was
upon her lips as she glanced archly aside at my father.
A charming glance ; it was almost childlike in its inno-
cence, and yet I could not help thinking that the heart
behind that simple demeanour was throbbing with anxiety,
for I noticed that her cherry lips twitched nervously.
"He does not know me," she said in a harmonious
voice, as my father continued silent. "I must remind
him of the time when we played together in the garden
at Hanover, and the elder sister, if she proved an unruly
steed, often felt Willibald's little whip. Do you not re-
member ?"
My father recoiled as if the claws of some monster had
appeared from out of the beautiful woman's velvet cloak.
He regarded her with an icy stare. I could not have be-
lieved that a man so gentle, so absent-minded, could
suddenly have adopted so hard and repellant a manner.
" I can hardly believe that Christine Wolf, who once
lived beneath the roof of my father, Herr von Sassen f
has indeed crossed my threshold."
" Willibald
"I must beg you," he interrupted her, raising his
hand with a forbidding gesture. " We have nothing in
common! A mistaken woman, who left her mother's
house secretly, impelled by an invincible love of art, I
would receive immediately. I will have nothing what*
ever to do with a thief."
328 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Oh, heavens !" She clasped her hands and raised her
eyes to heaven. I could not understand how he could
resist that Madonna face, although the word " thief had
fairly electrified me. " Willibald, have mercy I Do not
judge so sternly that one sin of my youth," she implored.
"How could I begin empty-handed the career for which
my very soul longed ? My mother refused me a single
penny, as you know, and yet I asked such a trifle from
her."
" Only twelve thousand thalers that you took with you
from her locked desk."
" Had I not a right to them, Willibald ? Tell me your-
self."
"And to the diamonds, also, of the Baroness Hanke,
then a guest in our house, that vanished as you did with-
out a trace, jewels that my mother was obliged to replace
at an immense sacrifice, to shield our house from public
disgrace ?"
" Lies I lies !" she screamed.
" Go out of the room, Lorchen ; this is not fit for you
to hear !" said my father. And he conducted me towards
the door.
"No, do not go, my sweet child! Have pity, and
help me to convince him that I am innocent ! Yes, you
are Lenore ! What gloriously lovely eyes I" She put her
arms around me and kissed my eyelids ; the soft velvet
cloak fell around me, and her dress exhaled a delicious
odour of violets that intoxicated me.
With a rude hand my father drew me away. " Do
not beguile my innocent child," he said angrily, as he
closed the door behind me.
I went down -stairs and crouched upon the lowest
step, as if stunned. That, then, was my Aunt Christine,
"the blot upon the family," as Use called her; "the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 329
gtar," as she had called herself. She was a star, this
entrancingly-beautiful woman. All that I had ever read
of female loveliness paled beside the delicate colour, the
youthful charm, of my aunt's face ! How thick and heavy
the black curls lay upon the white ermine ! How the un-
furrowed brow shone, with the delicate blue veins show-
ing above the temples ! And oh, that sweet, caressing
voice : it had come again, the baths had restored it !
Could those slender hands that had caught me so ten-
derly to her breast ever have stolen ? Could such a
fascinating woman be a thief ? No, no ; her indignation
at such an accusation disproved it utterly; had I not
seen the tears shining in her eyes ?
With a beating heart I listened to the voices up-stairs
in the library, I could not catch a word of the conver-
sation, and it did not last long. The door opened. " God
forgive you !" I heard my aunt say, and then came the
rustle of her skirt upon the staircase. Her steps grew
slower and feebler ; suddenly she covered her eyes with
her hand, and leaned against the wall. I sprang up the
steps and seized her other hand.
" Aunt Christine !" I cried, deeply moved.
She slowly took her hand from her eyes and regarded
me with a melancholy smile. " My little angel, my con-
solation, you, at least, do not believe me guilty !" she said,
gently stroking my cheek. " These wicked, wicked
tongues have pursued me all through my life with their
evil slanders ! What have I not been compelled to en-
dure I And in what a miserable plight I am now when
your stern father thrusts me forth ! Child, I have not a
roof to shelter me, not a pillow whereon to lay my
head at night. I have spent my last groschen in coming
to K . I wanted to see you, you, my little Lenore.
28*
330 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Good heavens ! oh, for a shelter for a few days, and then
I can do something to help myself I"
What a situation for me ! I would have given up my
own bed and slept upon straw, such was the fascination
exercised over me by this woman, but I could not keep
her in tbe house contrary to my father's will. I thought
of Fraulein Fliedner, she was so good and kind ; she
would, perhaps, advise me. Ah, where were all my wise
resolutions never to proceed to action without due con
sideration ?
Without a word I led my aunt down the stairs, and
along the gravel-path ; she followed me with the docility
of a child. We were just about to turn into the grove
when we met the brother and sister, Charlotte in a
white satin hood and sealskin jacket. They were evi-
dently setting out for a walk.
I had not yet seen the " Herr Lieutenant," for I had
carefully avoided him upon his frequent visits to the Karo-
linenlust. I now dreaded him from the depths of my
soul, and recoiled from him. He, too, seemed surprised ;
his brown eyes, that had been odious to me ever since
the scene in the sealed apartments, flashed strangely
as they looked at me. I pretended not to see the
hand that he smilingly held out, and presented my aunt
to Charlotte. I was bewildered to perceive sudden
and violent emotion in tbe countenance of the unhappy
woman. She tried to speak, but no sound escaped her
lips.
Charlotte bowed slightly and haughtily, as she scanned
my aunt's person.
"I hardly think Fraulein Fliedner will be able 10
advise you," she said to me, coldly, when I had told her
of my intention in as few words as possible ; " and still
less to assist you, we Yiotq ho\. muth room in the other
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 331
house. In my opinion it would be better to go to your
friends the Helldorfs ; they surely must have some little
room where they could accommodate your aunt."
I turned away irritated, and my aunt hastily dropped
her veil over her face.
Just then the gardener Scbafer passed us with a bow.
The Swiss cottage belonged to him, and I knew that he
had frequently let the dressing-room, as it was called, of
his deceased wife to strangers. I ran after him and
asked him about it ; he was ready to conduct my aunt
thither on tbe instant, and assured us that everything
was " in perfect order."
Without another glance towards the brother and sister,
she walked on beside the old man, who talked to her in
his gentle, good-humoured way, and led her to the gate,
of which I had the key. She seemed as if goaded on
by some strange agitation. Schafer could hardly keep
pace with her, and in spite of all my exertion 1 was left
some distance behind them.
" For Heaven's sake, get rid as soon as you can of
this aunt of yours!" Charlotte whispered to me. "She
will never be a credit to you. The paint on her face is
an inch thick, and that imitation ermine ! For shame !
Child, you have queer relatives, a grandmother born a
Jewess, and now this varnished-up actress of an aunt I
Apropos, do not be late this evening. Uncle Erich
quite unexpectedly has not spared expense; the con-
servatory will be brilliantly illuminated ! I hope he may
enjoy it."
She laughed, and took Dagobert's arm. He was gazing
keenly after my aunt.
" I do not know I must have met that woman some-
where," he said, passing his hand across his brow
" Heaven knows where ; but "
332 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
44 It is very easy to tell. You have seen her upon the
stage," said Charlotte, hurrying him on with her.
I looked after them, thoroughly vexed. My poor aunt I
She was, indeed, an unfortunate woman, persecuted by
the world I Her beauty, the only thing left to her, was
called paint.
I found the little room, to which Schafer conducted us,
neat and comfortable. In a few minutes the old man
had kindled a fire in the stove, and filled the window-seats
with rose-bushes and boxes of mignonette.
" Small, and low," said my aunt, raising her arm as if
to touch the snowy ceiling. " It is not what I am used
to, but I can bear it. We can do anything that we choose
if our will is firm, eh, my love ?"
She threw off her cloak and bonnet, and stood before
me clad in purple velvet. The gorgeous dress was, it
is true, somewhat worn and faded along the seams and
at the elbows ; but the form that it clothed was tall and
slender, the slight train lent a royal dignity to the
figure, and the square cut of the boddice revealed a das-
zlingly-white neck. And what hair I Short, raven curls
were brought low upon the brow, and others, long and
heavy, fell down upon each side of the massive braids
that covered the back of the graceful head. I could not
understand how it could carry itself so lightly beneath
all that weight of splendour.
My undisguised admiration was plainly to be seen, of
course, in my face.
" Well, little Lenore, does your aunt please you 1* sho
asked, with an arch smile.
" Oh, how beautiful you are !" I cried, enthusiastically.
"And so young, so young ; and yet you are three years
older than my father I"
44 Silly child, there \a no wed. to ^toclaim that aloud,"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 333
she said, with a forced laugh, laying her white hand upon
my lips.
Her eyes wandered inquiringly about the room and
fixed themselves upon the little looking-glass by the
window.
"Oh, that will never do, never, never !" she said, in a
startled tone. " You can hardly see the tip of your nose
in that splinter of glass. How can I dress myself? I
am no farmer's wife, child, I am accustomed to live
after a princely fashion. I am willing to put up with
some things, but I cannot bear this. You will certainly
get me another decent-sized glass, that will be a little
more like what I am accustomed to ? There in the villa,
where you are staying, there must be many a superfluous
pier-glass. My child, in confidence, every attention
that you pay me in this hour of temporary distress will
be repaid to you at a future time from another quarter.
Have everything that I need brought over here for me.
J will take all responsibility upon myself."
" But how can I, aunt ?" I rejoined, greatly puzzled.
"The furniture in our rooms belongs to Herr Claudius."
She smiled.
"I would not like to move a chair even from where it
is," I continued, in eager remonstrance. " I can send you
nothing from the Karolinenlust, but perhaps Frau Hell-
dorf can give you what you want ; we will go up-stairg
and see."
It depressed me greatly to find that Frau Helldorf re-
ceived my beautiful, richly-dressed protegee with evident
coolness. It did no good for my aunt to say a thousand
flattering things in her melodious voice, or to call the two
children playing in the room golden-haired angels. The
refined face of my friend lost nothing of its cool, suspi-
cious reserve, and when finally I hesitatingly preferred
834 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
the request for a looking-glass, she became rigid as a
statue, took a tolerably large mirror, her only one, from
the wall, and handed it to the beautiful woman, saying,
with undisguised contempt, " I can do without it."
"Be upon your guard, Lenore, let me entreat you ! I
will be upon the watch too," she whispered to me in the
passage, as the purple velvet dress vanished in the room
below-stairs.
I meekly laid my little purse upon the table in that
room, for which action I received a kiss and the assurance
that I should in a short time be repaid with interest for
all my " little sacrifices." And then my aunt busied her-
self with placing the looking-glass in the most favourable
light, and I returned to the Karolinenlust with a doubly
heavy heart.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Twilight had set in when I again entered the library.
My father was wandering to and fro in the cabinet of
antiques among the quiet marble figures, and never
alluded to his outcast sister, perhaps he thought her
gone forever, and wished me to forget the afternoon scene
as quickly as possible. I drew my shawl close about
me with a shiver ; it was bitterly cold in the spacious
apartment, where there was no fire, and the first flakes
of a flurry of snow were falling upon the glass dome.
"You will take cold here, father," I said, seizing his
hand, it was burning hot ; and oh, how his eyes flamed
in their hollow sockets !
11 Take cold ? It is delightful here. I feel as if a cool
bandage were wrapped around my forehead "
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 335
" But it is late," I rejoined, hesitatingly, " and jou must
arrange your dress somewhat. Have you forgotten that
the Princess is coming this evening to see the large con-
servatory lighted up with gas ?"
" Oh, good heavens ! what should I do in the conser-
vatory ?" he cried, impatiently. "Would you drive me
insane with all those lights and the heavy perfume that
always affects my head ? What do I care for the Prin*
cess or the Duke ? Nothing, nothing!"
With a sudden sweep of his arm he accidentally
threw down a charming little statue from its pedestal.
It was strange that he who usually handled every antique
with so gentle and caressing a touch, scarcely noticed the
mischief he had done, but let the injured god lie unheeded
on the ground.
Much terrified, I tried to soothe him. " Just as you
please, father," I said ; " I will instantly send to the other
house, and excuse us both from going to the conservatory
to-night "
" No, no, you must go at all events, Lorchen !" he inter-
rupted me more gently. " I wish you to do so for the
sake of the Princess, who is fond of you, and I prefer to
be alone this evening."
He went into his library again, and sat down at his
writing-table. I closed the doors, made up the fire afresh
in the stove, and arranged the tea-table; then, with a
troubled heart, I went to my room and made my toilet,
which I completed by taking my grandmother's string of
pearls from their box, and wreathing them among my
curls. The effect of the cool, bluish-white drops gleam-
ing from the dark hair was far more striking than when
I had worn them upon my neck, and I intended that it
Btoould be so, for who could tell when the Princess might
risit the Claudius house again ?
336 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
It had grown late when I finally crossed the bridge
and came in sight of the conservatory. For a moment 1
paused, dazzled. A few flakes of snow from the clouds
that were parting and clearing away overhead, loitered
down upon me, the frozen snow crackled beneath ray
tread, and on all sides the trees and bushes stretched
towards me white, ghostly arms laden with snow, but
before mo tall, feathery palms waved in majestic grace
above a wilderness of ferns and cacti and bits of velvet
lawn, through which the silvery cascade trickled in
shining streams. Bathed in the light of concealed gas-
jets, the green melted into a thousand tints, from the
phosphorescent hue of early spring to the deepest hem-
lock shade; the conservatory lay in the midst of the
dimly gleaming field of snow like a cluster of emeralds
upon white velvet.
" Ah, good-evening, little one !" cried the Princess as
I approached her. She was sitting among a group of
ferns just where I had sat on the evening when I told
about my grandmother. Herr Claudius stood beside her
talking with her, whilst those belonging to her party,
and the brother and sister were grouped on either side.
"Little moorland Princess, you come upon us like a
vision !" she said with a smile. " Have you just been
born from the waterfall here ? My child, you really do
not know what a priceless possession you have in those
pearls that are wreathed so carelessly in your wealth of
curls I"
" Yes, your Highness, I do know that the pearls are
all now left of great riches," I replied, endeavouring to
make my voice full and clear. " My poor grandmother
said when she had them put about my neck that they
had witnessed much happiness, but that they had also
fled from the fagot and the block with which Christian
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 337
intolerance bad threatened the Jews, for my dear grand-
mother was a Jewess by birth; she was a Jacobsohn
from Hanover."
I emphasized the last words sharply, and looked up at
Hcrr Claudius. What did I care that Herr yon Wismar
cleared his throat in great embarrassment, while Fraulein
ron Wildenspring gave a little nod of triumph, as much
as to say, " Was I not right when my aristocratic intui-
tion suspected the bourgeois element in this creature ?"
What difference did it make to me that the handsome
Tancred angrily twisted his moustache, and, with a con-
temptuous shrug, whispered a few words to Charlotte ?
I saw the pleased surprise in Herr Claudius's face, he
looked as if he would have snatched me from among
those sneering lookers-on and clasped me to his strong,
proud heart, for I had conquered my false shame and
braved those contemptuous glances, that I might regain
his esteem.
" Aha, a most piquant discovery !" the Princess said,
merrily, with no accent of disagreeable surprise. " Now
I know where my little favourite got her Oriental face.
Yes, yes, it must have been just such a black-haired girl,
with feet of quicksilver, who beguiled Herod to give her
the head of John the Baptist ! When you come to me
next, my child, I must hear all about that dear grand-
mother of yours, remember." She arranged one or two
of the pearls in my hair, through which she gently passed
her hand. "I love her very much, this little Rebekah,
with her childlike heart and artless, prattling mouth,"
she added tenderly, and kissed me.
Ah, this time my prattling had not been artless, as he
whose eyes were still fixed upon me well knew I
The Princess drew me down upon a cushion at her
feet, and I sat there silently listening to the conversation*
W 23
538 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS,
until Fruulein Fliedner announced that tea was ready in
the other house, for the august lady had begged for a cup
of tea in the " interesting old house," her constitution
would not allow of her remaining long in the damp,
misty atmosphere of the green-house. She wrapped her-
self in her fur cloak, took Herr Claudius's arm, and walked
on before the muffled company, who followed, talking
gayly, through the snow-clad garden. There was no need
of the lanterns of the attendant servants; the clouds
had vanished from the sky, and through the naked
branches of the poplar grove grotesque streaks of silver
light fell upon the snowy plain. The moon had risen.
I ran back across the bridge and looked up at the win-
dows of the library. The curtains were not drawn, the
light of the lamp upon my father's writing-table shone
peacefully, and I could even see a blue, dancing glow
from the corner of the room where the tea-table stood,
it came from the spirit-lamp beneath the tea-kettle. It
looked cosy and comfortable. To satisfy myself still
further I slipped into the house, ran up-stairs, and lis-
tened at the door. All was still within : my father was
writing, of course. No longer anxious, I went to the
other house.
The ancient household gods of the firm of Claudius
must have crept timidly and angrily into their darkest
retreats. Certainly none of the wealthy old merchants
had ever allowed such an illumination, even at the chris-
tening of some future head of the house !
" What does it all mean, Fraulein Fliedner ? The
master cannot get light enough to-night," grumbled old
Erdmann, who was carrying a stepladder to an upper
corridor as I came up the staircase. " I am to hang the
big lamps from the work-room up here I"
" It is all right, Erdmajm," rallied the old lady, as she
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 339
came out of the first reception-room. A perfect flood of
light came gushing through the open door. " I am glad
to have it really bright in the old Claudius house."
Smiling kindly and meaningly, she passed her hand over
my hair and hurried down into the hall.
Her smile sent the blood into my cheeks. I timidly
took my hand from the handle of the door. I could not
brave the light of the numberless candles in the huge
chandelier. I went into Charlotte's room. It was empty ;
two lamps were burning upon the open piano, and from
the apartment where the handsome Lothar's portrait
hung came the rattle of teacups and lively conversation.
I stood still, reflecting how I could most quietly effect
my entrance there, when Charlotte came sweeping in
accompanied by her brother.
" The Princess has asked me to sing," she said to me,
turning over her notes. " How did you come here, and
where have you been hiding, little one ? You have been
missed in there."
"I was anxious about my father, and went to look
alter him ; he is not well "
" Not well ?" And Dagobert gave a low laugh, he was
already preluding at the piano.
" Yes, yes, his illness is severe very serious ! I heard
the interesting news at the club ; it was all the talk there,
and it has gone through the city like wildfire that the
archaeology craze is at its last gasp. We shall have
another fashion before long, Charlotte. Thank God, there
will be no more need of that jaw-breaking Greek, Roman,
and Egyptian gibberish ! What a bore it has been 1" He
ran his hands over the keys in a series of brilliant runs,
while my heart nearly ceased beating with amazement.
"And just when your father has lost his stirrup, and
almost his seat in the saddle, you publish to the world.
840 TIIE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
with exquisite naivete, that he is a direct descendant of
the Jews. I think it has done for him 1"
" Yes, that was rather silly, if you will allow me to say
bo," said Charlotte, putting a sheet of music upon the
desk of the instrument. " I would not have you tell a
falsehood: I never do that myself; but in an emergency
a middle course is best ; be silent."
Dagobert began the accompaniment, and Charlotte's
powerful voice re-echoed from the walls.
What had happened ? All that the handsome Tan-
cred said had sounded so odd and incomprehensible, with
its accompaniment of trills and roulades upon the piano.
I looked at him with intense indignation. "Archaeology
craze" was the designation he had bestowed upon my
father's labours, he, who had been a servile " famulus"
to the famous philosopher, disturbing him continually.
How often I had heard my father complain of the frivol-
ous, persistent intruder I Thus much I understood, my
father's position at court was not as secure as formerly,
and the cowardly rabble that had fawned upon him,
were beginning to bark at him.
The Princess had never been so kind and affectionate
to me as upon this evening, and yet I could not bring my-
self to approach her again immediately. I slipped into the
adjoining room, and seated myself in a dark corner, while
Charlotte's piercing voice sang on. I could see the tea-
table very well from where I was. The Princess sat a
little at the side, beneath Lothar's portrait, certainly not
by her own desire, for I could see her privately endeav-
ouring to get a full view of the picture. Her neighbour
upon her left was Herr Claudius. One glance at his
noble, composed countenance soothed my troubled, bur*
dened heart What a light there was to-night upon his
brow I The fine, soldierly \md,^N\tii the soul in its eyes,
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 341
that hung above him, was perhaps handsomer in out-
line, more captivating in its ardent expression ; but all his
fiery courage had not sufficed to sustain him in the battle
of life, the suicide had succumbed miserably in the
storm, whilst he of the deep, calm eyes had snatched at
the helm when it was nearly torn from his grasp, and by
force of will righted the vessel again.
" You have a fine voice, Fraulein Claudius," said the
Princess, when, her song finished, Charlotte again ap-
proached the tea-table ; " your middle notes remind me fo;-
cibly of my sister Sidonie, and your brilliant bravura style
brings back to my memory long-forgotten days, my sister
preferred wild, original music to soothing, melancholy
songs."
" If your Highness will permit me, I should like to
sing you a wild, original air," Charlotte replied, hastily.
" I love the Tarantella, it intoxicates me. Gia la
luna "
" I must beg you, Charlotte, not to sing the Taran-
tella," Herr Claudius gravely interrupted her. His voice
was firm, but he looked pale, and frowned warningly.
" You are right, Herr Claudius," replied the Princess,
eagerly; " I share your antipathy. There was an actual
rage for the Tarantella in my day, it was the show-piece
of all brilliant singers, and, to my annoyance, Sidonie, too,
delighted in it. It is too wildly bacchantic for me 1"
She put aside her cup and arose. " I think we will
now take a small voyage of discovery," she said, smiling.
44 1 must explore these rooms thoroughly. I seem to be
reading some ancient book whenever I raise my eyes.
Herr von Wismar, do you see that magnificent pair of
antlers ?" She pointed towards the farthest room of the
long suite. " There is a sight for your huntsman's soul 1"
The chamberlain tripped away to examine them, fol*
29*
342 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
lowed by the rest of the court party. Her Highness
wished to be alone. Just then Charlotte turned her head
so that I could look her full in the face. As soon as I
marked the eagerness in her eyes the flickering disquiet
and yet intensity of her expression I felt sure that the
young girl had determined to attain her goal this very
evening. Now, to be sure, she dutifully followed her
brother and the others to the inspection of the antlers so
imperiously designated by the royal finger, while the
Princess remained alone in the small room adjoining the
large drawing-room, examining with great apparent in-
terest the story of Genoveva depicted upon the antique,
vari-coloured woollen tapestry.
" Do you know where Fraulein von Sassen is ?" Herr
Claudius asked of Fraulein Fliedner, who was just en-
tering the room where I was.
" Here I am, Herr Claudius," I said, rising.
" Ah, my little heroine !" he cried, coming quickly to-
wards me without heeding whether others should note
the unwonted fire in his look and voice. Fraulein Flied-
ner instantly withdrew to the tea-table.
11 And you have buried yourself in the very darkest
corner to-night, when I wanted to surround the little
moorland Princess with all the light that the old house
could afford ?" he said, in an undertone. " Do you know
that on this delightful evening I am celebrating a kind of
new birth ? I was still very young when I condemned
myself to wear the fetters of age. Rudely and inexora-
bly I suppressed the fountains of youth in my heart: I
would not be young; and now, when I am in truth no
longer so, the fountains burst forth and demand their rights,
their ancient, disused rights ! And I resign myself with-
out a struggle. I am unspeakably happy to feel young
once more, as if the pxecVoM* ^roel of youth had been
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINGESS. 343
uninjured by years or bitter experience. Is not this folly
in the man, ' old, old as the hills/ whom you saw first
on the moor V*
My head drooped upon my breast. Anxiety on my
father's account, terror as to what Charlotte intended to
do, the people in the other rooms, all faded into forget-
ful ness at the sound of those half- whispered words
breathed into my ear. And could those keen eyes doubt
what was passing within me ?
"Lenore," he said, bending over me, "let us imagine
ourselves all alone in the old merchant's house, with
nothing to do with all those people," and he motioned
towards the other rooms. " I know for whose sake vour
brave confession was made this evening. I claim the
delight of that moment for my own, and only mine, against
the world, yes, even against yourself, if you should seek
to withhold it from me. Our souls are united, although
you should still be cruel enough in reality to refuse me
the hand that once scattered my money so defiantly at
my feet."
An instant afterwards he was seated at the piano, and
such a flood of harmony rolled forth upon the air as fairly
bewildered me. Those wondrous tones were for me,
insignificant as I was ; they had " nothing to do with all
those people" whose talk and laughter were audible in the
farthest room. Yes, the fountains of youth, released at
last, leaped high in the sunlight in the heart of the man,
once so basely betrayed, who had thought to expiate the
brief madness of passion by a life of renunciation. And
the hands that " never since had touched the keys" now
, struck into the theme of that song that revealed the mys-
terious bond between his strong, ripe nature and my own,
weak and unformed as it was.
JM4 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" Oh, wert thou in tho oauld blaat
On yonder lea,
My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee!"
"Good heavens I is not that Herr Claudius playing f"
asked Frftulein Fliedner, coming hurriedly out of tho
next room, and clasping her hands with delight at sight
of the figure sitting at the piano.
I passed by her : I could not let her see my face. I
took refuge in one of the deep windowed recesses of the
large room where the tea-table stood, behind the heavy
silken curtains, which I drew closely, except for a narrow
break, there my cheeks might glow and my eyes look as
happy as they pleased. None troubled themselves about
me, not even Fraulein Fliedner, who had retreated to a
corner, where she stood with clasped hands and bent head
listening to the music.
For a moment the room was entirely empty. Every
note, even the faintest, reached my ear from the piano, and
now and then a light laugh or a word spoken rather loudly
could be heard from the apartment where the antlers
were hanging.
Suddenly the Princess entered with a noiseless foot-
fall. I saw that she was relieved at finding herself at
last alone in this room. She took the shade from the
globe of the lamp upon the tea-table, that its light might
fall full upon Lothar's picture. Once more she cast a
searching glance around her, and then, stepping in front
of the picture, took a little book from her pocket, and
began with a pencil to draw a hasty sketch. She was
evidently trying to catch, now when she was unobserved,
the outline of the handsome head, perhaps even a hint
of the " soul " in the eyes.
IsArankback in my hiding-place at this sudden glimpse
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 34E
into the heart of the august lady, and thought to myself
that she would certainly have given a year of life to call
the portrait her own. No one could so deeply sym
pathize with her at this moment as myself, to whom
another soul was discoursing such eloquent music! I
wanted to rush up to her and take both book and pencu
from her hand and hide them, for she did not hear the
footsteps approaching through the long suite of rooms,
she never looked up when Charlotte noiselessly drew near
and started in amazement upon recognizing Herr Claudius
in the performer upon the piano. Before I was aware of
her intentions, she advanced directly towards the Prin-
cess, closing the door, so that the music sounded fainter
in the distance.
The rustle of her dress at last attracted the Princess's
attention. She looked up, and her cheeks flushed crimson
with surprise. Quick as thought, however, she recov-
ered herself, closed her book, and regarded the intruder
over her shoulder with a glance of haughty inquiry.
" I know, your Highness, that my intrusion must seem
inexcusable," said Charlotte. And I could hear in the
tremor of her voice how the strong, self-reliant girl was
shaken to the very core of her nature. " I must seize
what seems to me a favourable moment in which to speak,
even without your Highness's gracious permission. I do
not know what else to do. Even if your Highness should
grant me an audience at any hour in the castle, I do not
think I could find courage to utter what I can venture to
say here beneath the protection of those eyes." And sta
pointed to the picture of Lothar.
The Princess turned fully towards her, amazement in
every feature. "And what have you to say to me ?"
Charlotte sank upon her knees, seized the lady's hand,
nd pressed it to her lips. " Help my brother and my-
J46 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
self to recover our rights I" she implored, in half-stifled
accents. " We have been robbed of our true name, and
forced to eat the bread of charity, when we are entitled
to wealth, and should long since have been independent
In our veins flows noble blood, and yet we are actually
fettered to this trading-house and forced into bourgeois
associations "
" Stand up and compose yourself, Fraulein Charlotte,"
the Princess interrupted her. There was small encour-
agement in her grave, dignified demeanour. " And first
of all tell me who has thus deceived you."
" The name can hardly pass my lips, for its utterance
seems like black ingratitude. The world thinks us the
adopted children of a most generous man "
"And I, too "
"And yet he it is who has robbed us!" Charlotte
interposed, in desperation.
"Stay, such a man as Herr Claudius neither robs
nor deceives 1 I can much more easily believe you the
victim of some error I"
I could have embraced her Highness's knees for saying
that.
Charlotte raised her head. She was evidently sum*
moning up all her courage. She hastily closed the other
door, through which a loud, half-mocking conversation
between Dagobert and the maid of honour was audible.
" The matter at stake is not a question of money, that
is only a side-issue, your Highness," she said, firmly.
11 Herr Claudius loves wealth ; but I myself am convinced
that he would strictly avoid any unlawful gain On the
other hand, your Highness will admit that many an
originally fine character, when led on in the pursuit of
some idea, carried away by some obstinately-cherished
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 347
Illusion, has come not only to deceive himself but in the
end to be guilty of wronging others."
She pressed her hands to her breast and took breath,
while from the other room came pouring forth such in-
toxicating melody! For the first time for years Herr
Claudius was breathing forth his pent-up soul in music,
while here his fair name was being assailed. And I could
not even warn him, I must stay here stretched upon the
rack I How I hated his accuser in this moment of inde-
scribable torture !
" Herr Claudius despises the aristocracy ; yes, he hates
it!" she continued. "He naturally possesses too little
influence to affect the existing order of society; but
wherever it is in his power to diminish the importance
of the aristocratic class, he does so with all his might,
he does not even shun deceit to gain his end. Your
Highness, to my brother belongs a position as head of a
newly-ennobled family which, I say it with pride, would
have lent a firm support to the envied caste, for both my
brother and myself are thoroughly aristocratic by nature.
But for that very reason we are never to learn to whom
we owe our existence. Herr Claudius will not tolerate a
crest above the old bourgeois name."
The Princess's face suddenly became white as snow.
She hastily raised her hand and pointed to Lothar's pic-
ture. "And why do you tell me all this beneath the
protection of those eyes ?" she slowly asked, in a hoarse,
changed voice.
" Because they are the eyes of my dear father. Your
Highness, I am his daughter !"
The Princess staggered backward, and leaned for sup-
port against the corner of the table.
" Falsehoods ! detestable falsehoods ! Never say that
again !" she almost shrieked. How her lovely face changed,
348 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and how bard and angular was the arm she raised in m
nacol " I will not suffer a stain to rest upon his namel
Claudius was never married, never 1 the whole world
knows that I He never even loved, never loved I Oh,
God, do not rob me of this one consolation 1"
" Your Highness "
" Silence ! Do you actually maintain that that proud,
reserved man could ever have condescended And
if, but, God of heaven, it is not true ! but if it were,
would you insist upon rights that you owe to a temporary
infatuation, but not to love ?"
What biting scorn those trembling lips threw into these
words! Charlotte had been lost in speechless amaze-
meat, but the insult roused her like a blow, and restored
her self-command.
" He never loved ?" she asked. " Does not your High*
ness know why he sought death ?"
" From sudden melancholy ; he was ill ; ask all who
knew him," she murmured, covering her eyes w'th her
hand.
" He was ill ; he was frantic with despair at the
death "
" Of whom ? of whom ?"
Again Charlotte sank upon the ground, and, bursting
into tears, clasped the knees of the Princess.
" I conjure your Highness to listen to me for one mo-
ment with more composure," she implored. "I have
gone too far to retreat. I must tell the truth, even for
my brother's sake, for I cannot endure that you should
believe us illegitimate children. Lothar von Claudius
was married ; he lived in wedlock secret, it is true, but
sanctioned by the church's blessing in the Karolinenlust,
and there we were born."
"And who was the foTtxmfcte \uoraan whom he loved so
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 349
fondly as to die for her sake ?" asked the Princess, with
terrible composure ; she stood like a statue of marble, and
the words were hissed out between her set teeth.
" I have not the courage to name her," Charlotte stam-
mered, as if exhausted. " Your Highness has received
my communication so ungraciously I dare not continue.
That man," and she pointed over her shoulder to the
room where was the piano, "must not yet learn that
we know the secret, and we are rudderless, now that
your Highness turns from us persecuted and forsaken
orphans. I have already trembled at every loud word,
lest it should be overheard. I know you cannot hear the
name you ask for, with composure "
" How can you know that, Fraulein Claudius ?" the
Princess interrupted her, standing erect. Charlotte's last
words had roused all her princely pride. " You err
greatly if you attribute my momentary confusion to any-
thing save boundless amazement. What can it matter to
me who the woman was ? I would relieve you from the
task of telling me her name but that I must prove that I
can hear it with entire composure, and therefore I com-
mand you to finish your communication with the name I
ask for."
" 1 obey your Highness. His wife was the Princess
Sidonie von K ."
She had dared too much. The haughty Princess ! She
bad believed that she could retain the scornful smile upon
her lips and conjure the blood into her white cheeks, what-
ever the name might be ; it fell upon her ears like a thuu-
der-clap; she sank back against the wall, and gasped as
though her heart had been pierced with a dagger.
"This is the cruellest deception that ever heart of
woman was forced to undergo !" She breathed rather
than spoke the words. " Fie, fie, how false and black l"
30
350 ^ h nE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Charlotte would have supported her.
" Go ! What would you do ?" she said, thrusting away
the young girl's hands. "Some demon must have in-
spired you with the fiendish idea of making me your con-
fidante 1 Leave me 1 I give you back your secret ! 1
will have none of it 1 I never can or will aid you to
recover what you call your rights."
She tried to stand erect again, but was obliged to seek
the support of the table. " Have the kindness to call my
people, I am very ill !" she said, in a failing voice.
" Forgive me, your Highness," cried Charlotte, almost
beside herself.
The Princess, without a word, pointed haughtily to-
wards the door as she sank into the nearest arm-chair.
Charlotte flew out of the room whither every one instantly
flocked in the greatest consternation. The music instantly
ceased. Herr Claudius approached.
" I have had a sudden attack of an old complaint," the
Princess said to him, with a smile. " Will you lend me
your carriage ? I cannot possibly wait for mine."
He hurried away, and in a few minutes conducted the
noble sufferer down the staircase. She leaned heavily
upon his arm, and the manner in which she took leave of
him proved that Charlotte's revelations had produced not
the slightest diminution of her respect and esteem for him
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 351
CHAPTER XXIX
I took advantage of the universal consternation and
confusion to wrap myself in my cloak and hood and leave
the house. My knees trembled, and the blood was
coursing feverishly in my veins ; it had been a terrible
scene 1 The thoughtlessness with which I had thrust
myself into the midst of the secrets of the Claudius
family had been cruelly avenged. Link by link of the
mysterious chain was slowly passed before my eyes, and
a malicious hand seemed to thrust me forward to suffer
and sympathize with every new phase of the develop-
ment of this strange story. I had been obliged to listen
silently whilst he for whom I would have gladly shed my
hearts blood was accused of infamous deceit. Every
word had been a dagger-thrust to me, and had filled me
with a thirst for revenge upon his passionate denouncer,
and yet I had been forced to remain with streaming eyes
and clasped hands in my hiding-place. In addition, I
was burdened with a weight of repentant shame. Had
I not formerly at court tried with all my might, as Char-
lotte was then doing, to heap opprobrium upon Herr Clau-
dius ? Had I not then with cruel courage declared that
I could not endure him ? If 1 were to serve him as his
handmaiden all my life long, I could never atone for
the injury I had done him in my silly blindness ! This
it was that drove me from his house out into the quiet
garden. Oh, if I could only wander on along the smooth,
snow-covered roads I on and on, far into the moor where
Use and Heinz were now sitting peacefully beside the
great stove ! If I could only sit d nvu upon the footstool
852 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
beside my shaggy Spitz and feel Use's dear, hard hand
stroke my hair, perhaps I might be at peace once more
At peace I For the first time I learned how to prize my
former inward and outward quiet, now that my wayward
nature drove me hither and thither, first transporting me
to a heaven of delight, and then plunging me into depths
of remorse and self-accusation.
A dazzling white light lay broad upon the spacious
gardens. The disk of the moon was clearly cut against
the cold, glassy sky. I crossed the bridge. Below me
wound the glittering, frozen stream between the leafless
bushes lining its banks, and a silvery shimmer seemed to
drift down from the branches of the trees in the grove.
-The marble Titans in the pond no longer stood upon blue
velvet, they were set in the midst of a diamond of ice ;
turbans of snow crowned their bearded faces, and the
airy garment of the frozen Diana was edged with a
wintry fabric of frost. And Frau Holle had shaken abroad
her feathers to imitate every architectural decoration of
the little rococo castle, and laid down a spotless white
pillow upon the balcony outside of the glass doors. How
innocent and childlike had been my first interpretation of
the mystery of the sealed apartments! fairy folk had
peopled them for me. And now they were the casket for
a handful of papers which two human beings, possessed
of boundless ambition, believed could open for them the
golden doors admitting them to an enchanted world with
its treasures.
I looked up at the windows of the library. The lamp
was still burning upon the writing-table, but across the
ceiling a shadow passed rapidly to and fro : it wa3 my
father, he seemed more restless and agitated than ever.
Much distressed, I hurried up-stairs ; the library door was
locked. Amidst the aouwd of \\& pacing footsteps inside
7\IE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 353
I could Lear my father muttering to himself, and now
and then striking his clinched fist upon the table.
I knocked and begged him to open the door.
" Let me alone 1" he cried, roughly and angrily, from
within, without approaching the door. " Counterfeit, do
you say ?" He laughed shrilly. " Come here and prove
it ! but take away your cane. Why do you strike me on
the head with it ? Oh, oh, my head 1"
" Father, father 1" I cried, imploringly, and repeated my
prayer for admission.
" Go away ; do not trouble me 1" he said, impatiently,
from a distant part of the room.
I obeyed, rather than vex him still further, and I re-
tired from the door for awhile. I lighted a lamp and went
into his room to see that all was arranged for the night.
There in a pile lay the newspapers that he had received
during the day, apparently still unopened, one only
was crushed into a ball upon the floor. I smoothed it
out, and found a long red line drawn along the margin
of a certain article. The name Sassen instantly caught
my eye and filled me with a dread presentiment. I ran
through the introduction, but I could not understand it ;
it was full of technical phrases. But here it was, I
passed my hand across my failing eyes, and read :
" This coin swindle has placed an axe at the root of
all faith in authority. One of our first names is compro-
mised forever. Doctor von Sassen with incredible want
of perception has recommended the counterfeiter and his
coins, not one of which is genuine, to all courts and uni-
versities. Professor Hart, of Hanover, who first detected
the imposture, declares, however, that the counterfeit ia
most masterly "
Professor Hart, of Hanover ! That was the long-
worded professor at the Hun's grave, the man with the
X 30*
854 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
good faco and the rattling tin box slang around his shoal*
ders. I liked him because he defended my moor so warmly ;
and now that gentle, kind old man was my father's
most violent opponent The coins were those for the
purchase of which I had demanded my money of Herr
Claudius after so unmannerly a fashion, and, upon his
well-founded refusal, had denounced him at court as a
conceited ignoramus. I seemed to see him before me as
he had stood at his cabinet, wise and modest, but firm in
his opinion. And because he had disdained to parade his
scientific attainments in the market-place, Dagobert had
called him insolent, and I had echoed the hateful word.
How complete -was his justification ! These very coins
were about to cause my father's disgrace at court ; that
was what Dagobert had hinted to-day in his sneering,
senseless way. My poor father 1 This one error would
hurl him from his lofty position beneath the feet of
those who envied and disliked him. It was enough
to bewilder the brain of a delicately - organized man
who had spent his life in hard labour in the interests of
science.
How powerless I was in view of this trial ! I could
easily understand that even the most fondly-loved voice
must fail of giving consolation to a man at such a time.
And what could I say to him ? But I must not leave
him alone. I would not grate upon him with spoken
words, but he must feel my watchful love around him.
I hastily left his room to go up-stairs, and entreat for
admission until the library door should be opened for
me. All at once I paused and listened. There was a
noise in my sleeping-room as if furniture were pushed
aside. I opened the door ; a dazzling flood of moonlight
filled the place, for both windows were wide open, in the
Agitation caused by my aunt's arrival I had forgotten to
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 355
elose them. With a cry I started back; a man was
pushing the wardrobe to one side, and already the door
behind it was fully revealed. He turned round ; I saw
the gleam of Dagobert-s white forehead, and his eyes
flashed as he saw me. With one stride he had closed
the door behind me, and drawn me farther into the
room.
" Be reasonable for once, and remember that the happi-
ness of my life and yours depends upon this one moment I"
he whispered. " Charlotte has made a terribly bad begin-
ning : she has told our secret to the Princess, and it is
all up with us. The worst that could happen to us is
this insane love of her old Highness, who grudges my
father even in his grave to any one else ! Now we have
two enemies to contend with, who may have entered into
a secret league, the devil trust such an insane old maid !
Who can insure us against the removal of the seals on
the doors some fine night? Of course no one would
ever suspect Uncle Erich in such a case, every one
knows how strictly he guards the seals. They may
have fallen off accidentally ; and if the papers have dis-
appeared from the writing-table, who will be any the
wiser ? Don't be a child. The key is in this door, I
only need to turn it ; there is no force needed to go
quietly up-stairs and take what belongs to me of
right."
I do not know myself how I managed just at that
moment to slip behind him like a flash of lightning, seize
the key from the little door, and put it in my pocket.
" Yiper 1" he muttered between his teeth, " you wish
to sell yourself at a high price ; you think yourself
still more desirable in my eyes with that key in your
pocket 1"
I did not then in the least understand the meaning of
356 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
those hateful words, or I could not have condescended to
look at or speak to the wretch again.
"I wish to prevent you from committing a crime," I
said, firmly, leaning with my back against the door. "Be
frank and open with Herr Claudius ; you will gain your
end far more surely than if you break open the writing
table in the room above us. I will go with you now ;
we will tell him everything at once "
I stopped abruptly, for his eyes measured me with an
insulting look, and a contemptuous smile played about
his mouth. " You are wonderfully lovely, little Bare-
foot ; a few short months have made a perfect siren of
the slender lizard with the Princess's crown, but what
has become of the lizard's wisdom?" He laughed aloud.
" A charming programme, by Jove ! We betake our-
selves to the gracious presence of Uncle Erich, offer him
our precious secret upon a salver, and withdraw, greatly
edified 1" He came so close to me that I retreated, ter-
rified, pressing as near as possible against tho wall.
" And let me tell you this ; that I still control myself, and
do not touch you, is owing entirely to my weakness, my
secret adoration of you 1 I do not want to irritate you ;
I know what a spiteful little imp you are. I believe you
might even be provoked to deny what I, fortunate man
that I am, have long known perfectly!"
What did he mean ? I must have appeared bewildered,
for he laughed again. " Come, don't look as if I were the
wolf and you Red Riding-Hood staring foolishly at the vil-
lain with innocent, inquiring eyes !" he cried. " Everything
has gone wrong to-day. Your chattering tongue, that I
thought I had trained sufficiently in our common interest,
has thrown the taint of Jewish origin upon your descent;
your father is in disgrace, or nearly so, at court, but my
passion for you surmounts all obstacles, and I fancy my
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 35f
mother's title will cover much." He almost touched my
ear with his lips. " I should like to see who, my charm*
ing little Lenore, will dare "
At last I understood him. How bitterly I was pun-
ished for the blind enthusiasm with which I had devoted
myself to the brother and sister 1 Scarcely conscious of
what I was doing, I turned away my face and raised my
arm in menace.
"Aha, there is the demon once more ! Don't you long
to strike me again ?" he sneered from between his set
teeth. " Take care ! I told you once before "
" I know perfectly well that you could strangle me by
a single effort Doit!" I cried, undismayed. "I will
never willingly let you have the key! You are a villain !
I am no longer the silly child who can be befooled by such
a gaud as that." And I pointed to his epaulette glitter-
ing in the moonlight " I know that the honour lies in
the wearer ! And this gallant officer who comes like a
thief in the night to threaten a defenceless girl "
"Aha, the little reptile tries to sting 1" he muttered,
and threw his arm around me ; but my agility stood me
in stead, I slipped from his grasp, and, with a leap, stood
upon the window-seat.
" In Heaven's name, what is the matter ?" cried old
Scbafer from without, he was just crossing the bright,
snowy plain on his way home.
" Come in quickly, come, come I" I called, wavering
between a burst of tears and joy at my delivery.
With an oath Dagobert sprang through the other win*
dow, whilst the old gardener ran along the front of the
house and entered by the hall-door.
" What has happened ?" he asked, looking searchingly
around the room. " Good gracious, Fraulein von Sassen,
you look like my canary-bird when the cat is in the room!
358 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Were there strange noises here ? Don't be afraid, it is
only the mice. There are no ghosts here, whatever
people may say about the Karolinenlust."
I let the good old man, whose gentle voice reassured
me, believe that I had been startled by some strange
noise, only begging him to bolt the window-shutters as
firmly as possible. After which I closed all the doors
and went up to the library. I was weary of the battle :
the last atom of antagonism and defiance that I had
brought out into the world with me was exhausted, and
I was still so young, so young ! Was human life nothing
else but a strife with the inexorable consequences of
our own errors? And was I, anxious and frightened
as I was, forever to be tossed hither and thither, helpless
and defenceless, in the night and storm ? I shivered with
dread, I should fail and be lost in all this misery if
there were no strong hand stretched forth to me.
" My plaidie to the angry airt,
I'd shelter thee."
Oh, for some shelter 1 Some refuge where I could
rest, and breathe freely once more ! And I had prided
myself upon the strength with which I had faced the
moorland storms 1 Now, wearied and helpless, I was
groping for some support and aid 1
The library was still locked when I reached the door,
and to all my knocking and entreaties for admittance, I
received no reply. At first I thought my father was not
there, all was so quiet inside. But then I heard a dull
fall, followed by a chuckling laugh, it came from the
antique cabinet, the door of which leading into the library
was always open. It sounded as if some heavy body
were overthrown, and the laugh was so strange that
my blood seemed to c\it&\s m ra^ v*\us. Then somo
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 359
object was hurled into the library, and was broken into a
thousand fragments upon the floor there. The crash was
accompanied by a loud burst of exultant laughter. I
beat upon the door with my clinched fists, and in my
despair continually repeated my father's name.
A door above on the next landing of the wide staircase
opened, and Herr Claudius came out of his observatory.
The moonlight flooded all the place. I hurried up to
him, and struggling convulsively with my tears, told
him of my misery. Amid a sudden silence in the
library, I also told him in a whisper what I had read in
the newspaper.
" I know it," Herr Claudius interrupted me, quietly.
" Grief is robbing my father of reason, oh, how
wretched I am for him !" I cried. " In one night his
brilliant reputation has vanished."
" There you are wrong. It would be sad indeed if a
single error could make of none effect a lifetime of inces-
sant devotion to science and art. Herr von Sassen's
services in this direction can never be forgotten, and for
this very reason malice seeks to sting him with the dis-
covery of a moment's mistake. It will all pass over. Be
composed, Lenore; do not cry." Involuntarily he raised
his hand as if to take mine, but instantly dropping it
again, he went to the library door and rattled at the
latch.
Just then there was a dull crash upon the floor inside.
"Agasias had no part in you!" cried my father, I
scarcely recognized the shrill voice as his, " Sassen lied 1
Ask Hart in Hanover: he knows I Down with you I
You, too, are counterfeit!" And we could hear him
violently thrust from him the object on the floor.
" Oh, that is the sleeping boy, his admiration, he is
writing volumes to prove that it is from the chisel oi
860 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Agasias !" I gasped, trembling. "He is destroying the
antiques !"
Herr Claudius knocked loudly. " Pray open the door,
Herr Doctor I" he said, in a clear tone of command.
My father burst into wild laughter. "All that is
written is false, false from beginning to end. Defend
yourself if there is any of God's immortal truth in you t
Look how the yellow flame devours them ! See them
whirl to the ceiling, lies, lies that have been the pride
of the famous man of science. Smoke, nothing but
smoke !"
Herr Claudius started back in dismay, a thick vapour
and a stifling odour came pouring through the keyhole
and the cracks of the door. Something woollen was
burning.
" He is burning his manuscript, and the flames have
caught the curtains I" I cried, bursting into a loud wail
of terror, as in my despair I threw myself against the
door. Of what avail was my weak force against the
massive lock that resisted me ?
Herr Claudius rushed back to the observatory; and
then I remembered the little tapestried door in the library
leading, through a spacious room filled with lumber, to the
observatory. Even if it were locked, a slight exertion of
strength would suffice to break it open. But there was
no need of such exertion, a quick step within the library
and an angry exclamation from my father told me that
Herr Claudius had entered without trouble. The key
turned in the lock, and the library door was flung open.
What a sight I Clouds of smoke, with tongues of flame
shooting through them, and a crackling shower of sparka
issuing from them, filled the cosy corner where my father's
writing-table stood. The fire burned but slowly among
the heavy cloth curtains, but devoured all the more
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 361
greedily the old pamphlets and manuscripts upon the
book-shelves near the window. And there stood my
fatheT, madness in bis voice and eye. He turned and
tried to escape from Herr Claudius, who endeavoured to
seize his arm and lead him from the room. Beneath his
tread were crumbled the fragments of costly antique
vases of earthenware lying everywhere upon the floor
as they had been hurled about the room.
I ran in. " Go, go, Lenore ! Remember how inflam-
mable your dress is 1" Herr Claudius cried out to me, in
a voice of agony, as be prevented my father from casting
himself, with a wild burst of laughter, into the flames.
" Run to the other house for help 1"
As I hurried away I saw my father stumble and fall
over the marble figure lying in his path. Herr Claudius
seized him, and in spite of his resistance bore him in his
strong arms towards the door ; scarcely had I reached
the hall when I heard them struggling at the head of
the staircase.
" Murderer, wretched murderer I" shrieked my father,
so shrilly that the marble hall re-echoed. And then
came a terrible crash.
How I retraced my steps I cannot tell, a whirlwind
seemed to transport me to the foot of the staircase, where
lay a dark, motionless heap upon the marble floor.
Herr Claudius was already upon his feet ; he was hold-
ing himself erect with one hand grasping the rail of the
banister, and as the moon shone full upon the face that
he turned towards me, I saw that it was deathly pale.
" Unfortunately we fell," he said, breathless with ex-
ertion, pointing to my father. " He is unconscious, and
1 cannot carry him any farther. My poor, poor child,
you can hardly stand, and yet you must go for assist*
31
862 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
But I was already flying through the gardens. The
fiery tongues of flame burst from the windows of the
library behind me, and clouds of smoke floated away over
the tops of the trees.
" The Karolinenlust is on fire!" I screamed, as soon as
I reached the other house.
In an instant all the household was roused. There
was universal dismay when the fiery glow was discerned
above the poplar grove by all who hurried into the court-
yard, and every one who could be of any assistance hur-
ried with buckets and tubs to the Karolinenlust, while
two fire-engines were brought out of the carriage-house.
The fire had also been observed from the side street, and
crowds of men came pouring through the gate, so that
in a short time the gardens and the space before the
Karolinenlust swarmed with willing hands that broke
the ice of the pond and carried water to the burning
room.
When I returned, Herr Claudius was still leaning
against the banister ; his right hand held his left pressed
to his breast. Grief hindered me from speaking as I knelt
down beside my father, whose head was lying on the
lowest step. His eyes were closed, and his thin face
looked so shrunken and wan that I thought he must da
dead. With a sob I hid my face in my hands.
"He is only stunned. As far as I am able to dis-
cover, there are no bones broken," said Herr Claudius.
How I had learned to rely upon that voice in moments
of distress, the voice so calm and self-possessed and
the owner of which I had once called an icicle because
of it 1 It gave me fresh courage.
" To Herr von Sassen's room I" he ordered those who
took up my father from the ground. " It is remote from
the library, the walls are thick, and with the assistance
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 363
now at our command the fire will shortly be extinguished.
There can be no danger in Herr von Sassen's room."
A crowd of men passed us and rushed up-stairs.
"And you V } I said to Herr Claudius, as we stepped
aside, and the two men bearing my father were conducted
by Fraulein Fliedner to our apartments. " I know you
are in pain ; you are hurt I Oh, Herr Claudius, how you
must repent taking my father and myself into your
house "
" Do you think so ?" An almost sunny smile for one
moment chased away the expression of suffering that
contracted his brows. " I can hardly admit that, Lenore.
I recognize the wisdom of the Providence that leads us
through various stages of experience before we attain
Paradise, but each one brings us nearer the goal, thank
God !"
He went up to the library and I hurried to my father.
He was lying quiet and motionless upon his bed, although,
when one of the fire-engines came thundering across the
bridge towards the house, he opened his eyes, and cast
an unconscious glance around the room. From that
moment he whispered perpetually to himself. Fraulein
Fliedner was tenderly kind, and even Frau Helldorf, who
had never been near the house since that unhappy Sun-
day morning in the grove, conquered her dread of en-
countering her father, and came to me immediately.
I sat beside the sick man, holding his burning hand in
mine. His ghostly whispering, in which there was no
pause, the sight of his suffering face, from which all trace
of reason seemed forever fled, and my racking fears for
Herr Claudius, whom I knew to be in the burning apart-
ment, all together had reduced me to a state of dull
despair.
In the corner of the room a shaded night-lamp was
364 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
burning; the bed was in deep shadow, but the ojrcn
space outside the window was all the brighter for the
contrast. The smoke-clouds flitted above the silvery
summits of the trees, and when the water from the engine
sparkled in the air from the midst of the crowds below,
the fluttering banners would half disperse, only, to my
terror, to expand again more majestically than ever.
" Take care !" was shouted out continually in the turmoil,
as the most valuable articles, vases, mirrors, marble
figures were carried past the windows and laid down
beside the Diana on the little lawn ; piles of books were
heaped up at the feet of the goddess, and the damask
furniture and silken cushions looked oddly enough in the
snowy, wintry landscape.
Gradually the intense blackness of the clouds began to
pale before my eager gaze ; the noise of running up and
down stairs was less frequent ; nothing more was carried
past the windows.
" The fire is subdued," said Fraulein Fliedner, with a
sigh of relief, and I buried my streaming eyes in the pil-
lows.
Charlotte entered the room. The skirt of her dress
was torn in great rents, and the heavy braids of her hair
were tumbling down upon her neck. She had been dobg
the work of a man in the extinguishing of the fire.
" This has been a charming evening for us, little Prin-
cess," she said, sitting wearily down upon a footstool at
my feet, and resting her head upon my knee. " Oh, child,
if you knew all that is going on within me ! I tell you
I have wondered whether it would not be better to let
the fire swallow me up and put an end to all this torment
here," and she pressed her hand upon her breast "As
I passed those sealed doors it seemed to me that they
must open and th&t m^ mote would stand upon the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 363
threshold and stretch forth her arms to snatch her un-
happy child from among that crowd of men. For the
first time I feel to-day that I cannot forgive my father for
leaving us so unconditionally to his brother's care, trust-
ing so absolutely in his faith and honour. However he
may have suffered, he ought not to have died ; he should
have lived for us, he played a coward's part."
By degrees the crowd without dispersed; it grew
quieter, and the hissing of the stream of water, still
directed now and then towards the burned apartment,
struck more sharply upon the ear. At last the physi-
cian made his appearance. Whilst he was making a
silent examination of the sick man, a powerful voice was
beard distinctly in the sick-chamber from the corridor
outside.
" Did I not declare, Herr Claudius, that the heathenish
idols which your predecessor wisely hid from view, were
an abomination in the sight of the Lord ?" asked the old
bookkeeper, with a truly prophet-like intonation.
" The old fanatic is incorrigible 1" muttered Char-
lotte.
"Did I not foretell that fire would fall from heaven ?"
" It did not fall from heaven, Herr Eckhof," Herr Clau-
dius interrupted him, impatiently.
" You wilfully misunderstand, my dear sir," said an-
other voice, softly.
" Oh, there is that hypocrite of a diaconus, the worst
of the whole tribe ; they have just come from one of
their pious gatherings, and this fire will delight their
souls," whispered Charlotte.
" Brother Eckhof knows perfectly that in our times the
Lord does not send his judgments as directly from heaven
as formerly," the voice continued. " But his ways are
always plain, if we only open our minds to understand
31*
866 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
them. Yes, Herr Claudius, I am deeply grieved for this
visitation, but I cannot but praise the Lord unceasingly
for making known his will to you thus distinctly. In his
justice and wisdom He has seen fit that the heathen
abominations should be destroyed. I have just seen these
miracles of art, as they are called, lying on the lawn much
shattered and blackened with smoke "
He had no time to finish his exhortation; for Herr
Claudius, without wasting a word upon him, opened the
door of my sitting-room, and I heard him enter. The
physician went to him. Herr Claudius stood beside the
table upon which a lamp was burning that illumined his
features ; he still held his right hand pressing the left
against his breast in the same strange way that I had
noticed before. From where I sat I could see his look
grow grave at the physician's whispered words.
" You are suffering, also, Herr Claudius," I heard the
doctor say to him.
" I have injured my arm," he quietly replied ; " after
awhile I will place myself under your care in the ether
house."
"That's right; and we must commit those eyes to
darkness for a short time, I see," said the doctor, sig-
nificantly.
"Hush, hush! you know that is my vulnerable
point."
My pulses seemed to stand still. What if he should
be blind ? Surely no mortal heart ever suffered as mine
was suffering to-day.
Charlotte arose hastily and went out. Almost imme-
diately the door of my sitting-room was violently flung
open, and quick footsteps entered.
" Herr Claudius, Herr Claudius, oh, such villainy !"
I heard the old bookkeeper gasp out. He came within
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 367
my range of vision. All unction, all hypocritical pietism,
had utterly vanished from his agitated countenance.
Herr Claudius signed to him to moderate his voice;
but he was in a state of too great excitement to pay any
heed to the gesture.
"That it should happen to me, to mel" he cried,
indignantly. " Herr Claudius, some scoundrel has taken
advantage of the general confusion to break into my
room and carry off the box containing all my little
savings. I can scarcely stand still, so great is my wrath.
Mark what I say, this will be my death !"
"There is a sinful heat in your manner, Brother
Eckhof," the diaconus gently rebuked him. " Remember
that you are speaking of the mammon of unrighteous-
ness. It is by no means certain, either, that the thief will
not be discovered and your money restored to you. And,
if not, remember that it is easier for a camel to go through
a needle's eye than for a rich man to enter the kingdom
of God." As he spoke, I saw him regard Herr Claudius
fixedly. " Is not this precious consolation for those who
are visited by the loss of worldly possessions ?"
" But there were a thousand thalers for missionary
purposes in the box ; the money was to be sent off three
days hence !" the bookkeeper groaned in despair, running
his fingers through bis smoothly-brushed hair.
Now it was the turn of the Herr Diaconus to be startled.
" Oh, dear, dear, that is very unfortunate, my dear Herr
Eckhof !" he cried, in dismay. " Pray how could you take
so so forgive me so little care of money intrusted
to your safekeeping ? You know that the soul's welfare
of a fellow-being depends upon every groschen. What
is to be done ? The money must be dispatched at the
stated time. Our congregation has always been a pat-
tern of punctuality ; it must not lose its reputation upon
368 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
your account ; that you can easily see yourself. I am
excessively sorry, but there is no help for it ; the money
must be forthcoming at the appointed time."
" Good heavens, it is impossible 1 At this moment
I am a beggar !" He held out his delicate white hand
towards the lamp. " Even my diamond ring, the gift of
my former employer, has gone ; it was in the box also.
I always put away from me all vain, worldly adornment
when I go to church. Oh, gracious Lord, how have I,
Thy most faithful servant, deserved this blow ?"
The diaconus approached and laid a hand upon his
arm. " Come, come, do not despair, my dear Eckhof ;
affairs look very dark, it is true, dark, and grievous to be
borne, but let me tell you that with such a master as
yours there is no need to despair. Herr Claudius is a
noble man, a wealthy man, it will be a trifle for him to
rescue you from your perplexity. He will risk nothing,
he can suspend your salary until he has repaid himself."
" I cannot readily decide upon such a course, Herr Dia-
conus," said Herr Claudius, calmly. "In the first place,
I entirely disapprove of such arrangements, and then
you declared a short while since that, in His wisdom and
justice, the Almighty bad seen fit that some of the noblest
ancient memorials of the human mind that He himself has
created should be miserably destroyed. Well, then, I will
speak for once from your own standpoint. I will declare,
in your own one-sided and presumptuous way, that the Lord
has seen fit to cause the disappearance of the money des-
tined to admit to Christianity a pagan soul, each of these
doubtful converts costs a thousand thalers, I believe, and
further desires to show you, Herr Eckhof, that the church
to which you have sacrificed those affections that He has
implanted within you, is the most inexorable of creditors."
He looked with proud composure ever his shoulder at
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 36$
the little diaconus, who replied, with venomous emphasis,
" We must be inexorable : it is our sacred duty. What
would become of the church if Zion's faithful watch
men did not gather and save while the day lasts ? And
the more sweat and blood and poverty each groschen
costs, the more acceptable is it in the eyes of the Lord.
You are one of us, Herr Eckhof ; you know the laws
that govern us, and will have the money in readiness. I
wash my hands of the matter. I have done more than
my duty : I have humbled myself before an unbeliever I"
And with head erect, he walked to the door.
Suddenly Frau Helldorf stood beside her father.
" Father," she said, and her voice trembled, " I can help
you ; you know I have seven hundred thalers that were
my mother's, and I am sure my brother-in-law will let me
have the rest, he has laid by a little sum."
Eckhof started as the gentle tones fell upon his ear
more crushingly than the severest denunciation. He
looked into his daughter's face for an instant, and then
thrust her from him. " Go, go, I will not have your
money!" he almost shrieked, and staggered from the
room after the diaconus.
11 Do not be troubled, my dear Frau Helldorf," Herr
Claudius said soothingly to the weeping woman. "It
would be the drop too much if your mite were to be
swallowed up by their insatiate greed. I was compelled
to be obdurate ; one cannot be too firm with people of
that class. But take courage ; all will be well."
Whilst the others were discussing the matter, he came
into the sick-room, where I sat in the dim light by my
father's bed, and, leaning over the sick man, listened to the
incessant, monotonous murmur of his pale lips.
" He is happy in his delirium, he is in sunny Greece,"
Herr Claudius whispered to me after a pause. He was
T
370 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
standing close beside me, I hastily took his right hand
in both my oven and pressed it to my lips. My sin
against him my former rudeness was expiated.
He actually staggered ; not a word passed his lips for
a moment, but he laid his hand upon my head and in-
clined it backward so that he could look full into my
eyes. Ah, how heavily the lids lay upon those deep-blue
orbs of his !
" Is all right between us now, Lenore ?" he asked at
last, in a low tone.
I bent my head in assent, never even thinking of the
gloomy mystery that still lay between us.
CHAPTER XXX.
Fob several days my father hovered between life and
death. The attack of frenzy, under the influence of which
he had fired the Karolinenlust, was not, as I had feared,
the beginning of insanity, but the first paroxysm of a
nervous disease that had been lurking in his system for
some days. I could not but be fully aware that his life
was in danger, and I sat day and night by his bedside,
almost fancying, in my old, defiant way, that death would
not dare to extinguish the feeble spark of life while I
kept watch and ward. And the time came, after a
week of indescribable anxiety, when I knew that the
dread messenger had passed by, and the physicians pro-
nounced my father out of danger. Besides Frau Helldorf,
I had a professional nurse to assist me, and the Duke's
physician, sent to us by his Highness, spent hours at a
time in the Karolinenlust, watching over "the precious
T1TX? LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 371
life o\ thu distinguished scholar." The gossiping sus*
picion of the capital that the affair of the counterfeit coin
would damage my father's position at court, was proved
to be without foundation. The Duke had never been more
kind and sympathetic than during this sad season ; hia
messengers appeared several times daily, with inquiries
as to the state of the invalid, and, of course, in their train
came numerous other liveried lackeys of the cringing
court-coterie.
There was a sick-room also in the other house. Herr
Claudius's fall had caused a painful dislocation of bis left
arm, and the smoke and dazzling light of the fire had
brought on an inflammation of the eyes, from which at
first the physicians feared the gravest consequences. I
was wretched, for I could not see him. Whenever the
physicians sent me from my post by my father out into
the fresh air, I used to run across to the other house and
insist upon seeing Fraulein Fliedner, and getting her
personal testimony as to the state of the patient. With
all his suffering he never forgot me. The window-sills
and flower-tables in my room were perfect beds of violets,
May-bells, and hyacinths. The atmosphere was filled with
the fragrance of spring. The Duke's physician declared
that the little moorland Princess would surely die a poetic
death, smothered in the odour of flowers, and old Schafer
confided to me, with a grin, that bare places in the green-
houses began to be apparent, and the head gardener was
not at all pleased. Frau Helldorf, the physicians, and
the nurse were all glad to seek refreshment in my gayly-
decorated apartment from the adjoining darkened room,
only one person regarded it ungraciously, and that was
my Aunt Christine.
While my father lay unconscious, she came to see me
daily. I must confess that I always trembled at her
372 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
light footfall, her first visit to the sick-room had so dis-
tressed me. Gracefully turning away from an inspection
of the shrunken, suffering face upon the pillow, she
whispered in my ear, " You may as well prepare your-
self for the worst, child ; he will soon be gone." Since
then I had feared her ; but indignation took the place of
fear when she came to my room one day and began:
"Heavens, how exquisite!" And she clasped her white
hands. "You must have an abundance of pocket-money,
iny love, to be able to afford such luxuries ?"
" I did not buy the flowers, Herr Claudius had them
arranged here," I said, in an offended tone. " 1 allow
myself luxuries !"
She turned upon me, and I saw for the first time that
those lovely eyes could shoot glances sharp as daggers.
" Is it your room, Lenore ?" she asked, in a cutting tone.
I assented.
" Oh, then, my child, you are under a mistake. Well,
well, it is perfectly excusable, you are such a child!"
she added, with a good-natured smile, stroking my cheek,
caressingly, with her velvet finger. "Old Scbafer is a
fool about his flowers, and yet he brings all these to
adorn your room. Ah, you rogue, you have stolen the old
man's heart ! A man like Herr Claudius, so grave and
stern, and so devoted to the memory of a melancholy
past, as I have heard him described by Frau Helldorf
and yourself, would hardly take the trouble to bury such
a little forgive me, dear bread-and-butter miss as your-
self in the bloom of his green-houses."
I did not reply, but swallowed my vexation as best 1
might. Her words might have depressed me, for I cer-
tainly was a most insignificant little creature compared
with the Juno that she was herself, had I not possessed
the blissful conviction in \tafc deaths of my heart that the
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 373
flowers did come from Herr Claudius. My aunt never
entered my room again ; she said that even the few mo-
ments she had spent in its close, " hot-house" atmosphere
had given her a terrible headache.
Strangely enough, the beautiful woman with the melo-
dious voice was never able to ingratiate herself with the
inmates of the Swiss cottage ! Old Schafer, whenever I
mentioned Aunt Christine, looked reproachfully at me,
and said his pretty room was a sight to see, the lady
never touched a dust-cloth, and did not seem to know
what the presses were for ; her clothes were left lying on
the floor. Frau Helldorf scolded me one day when she
had seen me giving my aunt money.
" You are really doing wrong," she said, " for you are
encouraging idleness and extravagance. The table in
her room is covered with confectionery of all kinds, and
things to eat. The woman ought to be ashamed to eat
oysters and pickled meats as she does, with a row of
champagne bottles behind the sofa, and you paying for
everything I You must not do it ! Let her earn her
living by giving singing lessons, her voice is worn out,
but her method is very brilliant."
Fortunately, I could assure her that Aunt Christine
would not depend upon me much longer, she had laid
out a course of action for her future life. She was in
great need of the counsel and assistance of some mascu-
line intellect ; she had hoped to receive both from my
father, but since he had repulsed her so pitilessly, she
had resolved to wait until Herr Claudius had recovered
his health ; from all that she heard of him she was con-
vinced that he would aflford her the aid and advice of
which she stood in need. I thought all this very sensi-
ble, and was a little provoked when Frau Helldorf with
a shake of the head observed that for her part she thought
32
374 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS
Herr Claudius would have very little to do with a woman
with such a painted face. The little Frau was an un-
speakable comfort to me all through this anxious time.
What a sacrifice it was to her to come to the House of
which her implacable parent was an inmate! Sue always
entered my room out of breath with the haste that the fear
of meeting him had enjoined upon her. ^.nd yet in spite
of all she loved her father dearly, and was in great dis-
tress when 8 he heard that he had pledged everything
that he possessed to raise the missing money for the
missionary fund. Not a trace of the thief could be dis-
covered. The old bookkeeper seemed to me greatly
altered, he saluted me now, whenever he encountered
me, and even came two or three times to inquire after
my father. Charlotte confirmed me in my opinion of
aim. She angrily maintained that he avoided Dagobert
and herself, that " the old fool" repented betraying his
master's secret, and would in the end, she clearly fore-
saw, fail them at the decisive moment. The passionate
girl was wretched. The Princess was ill and had been
in strict retirement since the evening in the other house,
which she appeared entirely to ignore. What was to be
done ? Charlotte rejected with indignation my proposal
to confide in Herr Claudius himself, remarking with a
sneer that the fragrance of the flowers in my room had
bribed and bewildered me. I desisted from all further
reply to her complaints.
Five weeks had passed since the fire, and my time of
nursing was over. My father had left his bed, and was
recovering rapidly. The physicians had judiciously in-
formed him of what had occurred, and, to the surprise of
every one, he had made no great lament over the loss of
his in nn user ipt. He was far more deeply affected by the
knowledge that a nximtoT of valuable books and papers
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 375
bad been burned, that some of the finest specimens of
antique pottery were destroyed, and that it had been im-
possible to recover the broken hands of the marble boy.
He shed tears of distress and almost refused all consola-
tion when he thought that he had been the cause of such
losses to Herr Claudius and the world. The Duke paid
him frequent visits, thereby insensibly leading him back
into his old grooves of study and labour, and he began
to meditate fresh tasks and undertakings.
He treated me with infinite tenderness : his illness had
brought us very near to each other ; he could not bear
to have me away from him, although he often and seri-
ously assured me that when the spring came he should
send me to the Dierkhof for a month. I had grown pale,
and needed change of air.
It was a gloomy afternoon in March. For the first
time for five weeks, I started to go to the Swiss cottage.
My aunt had written me a short note, reproaching me for
my continued neglect of her, now that my father was re-
covered. In the hall Charlotte came rushing towards me.
I recoiled from her, I had never seen such wild ecstasy
of triumph in any eyes before. She took a paper from
her pocket and held it out to me.
" There, child!" she gasped, out of breath. " At last,
at last, my sun is rising! Ah " She opened her
arms wide as if to embrace the world. " Look at me,
little one. I am happy. To-day, for the first time, I can
say ' My aunt, the Princess. ' Oh, she is so good, so
noble ! Only the high-born can so triumph over them-
selves ! She writes me that she will see and speak with
me. I am to go to her to-morrow. If our claims are
well founded, ah, I should like to see who can dispute
them! everything shall be done to reinstate us in
Dur rights. She has already consulted the Duke in the
376 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
matter, the Duke, do you hear f Do you know what
that means ? We shall be acknowledged as the children
of the Princess Sidonie, and take our rank as members
of the family of our sovereign."
I shuddered, the crisis was at hand.
"Are you really going to bring matters to a point
while Herr Claudius is still ill ?" I asked in an uncertain
voice.
"Ah, bah 1 he is not ill now. There is light in his
room ; he wears a shade over his eyes ; but to-day he is
to move into the small room next mine, where the cur-
tains are not at all thick. He indulged himself to-day
in giving Eckhof a birthday present, a charming porte-
monnaie containing a thousand thalers, so the old man
can redeem his possessions again. He was so over-
whelmed, that I had a terrible fright lest he should fall
at Uncle Erich's feet and confess his tattling to us. For-
tunately, his emotion deprived him of utterance. For my
part, I have grown as hard as a stone, these last weeks
have been terrible, and Dagobert has scolded me from
morning until night for what he calls my ' clumsy con-
duct of the affair.' I have no compassion in me, and if
Uncle Erich were to be summoned up for trial at thia
moment, I would not lift a finger to prevent it."
She accompanied me to the woodland gate, and as I
left her, I saw her rapidly ascending the wooded hill,
the joy that filled her soul drove her up that mountain-
height where she could breathe it abroad, while I would
gladly have shrunk into the darkest corner of the Karo-
linenlust, there to conceal my pain, my fears for Herr
Claudius.
I slipped past my Aunt Christine's room, whence, to
my amazement, sounded the barking of a dog, and went
ap-steirs. la Feoai "ELeMox? a sosy sitting-roQm I had
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 377
t.
always found peace and consolation. I was welcomed
with delight. Herr Helldorf held out both hands to me,
Oretchen embraced my knees, and little Hermann sat
crowing upon the floor, holding up his arms to be taken.
The little Frau instantly made delicious coffee, brought
out a cake that had been put by for my special benefit,
and we soon made a happy circle around the table.
Now and then our conversation was interrupted by a
bold roulade, or a trill like a string of pearls, from the
room below. Aunt Christine was singing, or rather
trilling, whenever she struck a note and tried to hold it
firmly, my heart sank within me, the voice that must
once have been so enchanting was utterly broken.
"That woman must soon go to work at something,
she leads a perfectly idle life," Herr Helldorf said,
with a slight frown. " Her method is good, and I offered
to procure her scholars; she can very easily earn a
handsome living. But I never shall forget the arrogant
glance, the scornful smile, with which she thanked me for
my 'kind patronage.' Since then she has never been
near us."
" Blanche is barking ; some one is coming, mamma,"
said Gretchen.
" Yes, Blanche, a new inmate of the Swiss cottage,
has yet to be presented to you, Lenore," said Frau
Helldorf, smiling. "Your aunt purchased a charming
little silky lapdog yesterday. Schafer is very angry;
he says he cannot endure the cross little thing "
Suddenly she paused and listened ; a firm, manly tread
was heard upon the stairs ; it approached the door of the
room and waited for a moment outside. Frau Hell dor fa
face grew ashy pale ; she scarcely breathed, but stood
motionless as a statue, entirely unable to move a step
towards the door to open it. A hand was laid upon the
32*
378 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
latch outside; it was lifted, and a tall figure stood hes*
tating upon the threshold.
" Father, dearest I" cried the young wife, and her voice
rose almost to a shriek between an agonized sob and a
8hout of joy. Eckhof held out his arms and clasped her
to his heart.
" I have been cruel, Anna ; forgive me," he Baid, in a
failing voice.
She made no reply : she only buried her face deeper in
the bosom from which she had so long been an outcast
The old man held out his hand without a word to his
son-in-law. Helldorf, with moistened eyes, took it and
shook it cordially.
"I will givn you my hand, too, grandpapa," said
Oretchen, standing on tiptoe and holding out her chubby
little hand.
I stole to the door and slipped out noiselessly. Inti-
mate as I was with the Helldorfs, now that those so
long sundered were again meeting as father and daugh-
ter, I did not belong among them ; the moment was too
sacred to be intruded upon by a stranger. But there was
sunshine within me at the sight, sunshine like that which,
strange to say, broke forth from the cloudy March sky at
the moment, and illumined, with its wintry ray, the pleas-
ant room and the family portraits on the walls, making
them smile, in sympathy with the joy of reconciliation.
My aunt was lying upon the sofa as I entered her
room. Blanche, in a fury, flew at me and buried her
teeth in my dress. I gave her a little tap upon the head
that sent her whining back to her mistress's lap.
" No, no, Lenore, you must not strike my pet!" Aunt
Christine called out to me, with a pout. " Now Blanche
is offended with you, and you will have to try very hard
A" make her love you."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 379
I inwardly determined that my efforts in that direction
ghould not be fatiguing.
" Look, isn't she a charming creature ?" She stroked the
long silken hair caressingly away from the eyes of tho
really beautiful little animal. "And only think, I bought
her for almost nothing. The man who sold her was very
poor ; I only paid him four thalers for her, it was really
giving her away."
In my amazement I could not utter a word. I had
very lately honestly divided my money with Aunt Chris-
tine, whose half had amounted to eight thalers !
" I used to have just such another little silky darling;
he was a present from Count Stettenheim, and cost more
louis-d'ors than Blanche did thalers. Nothing more lovely
could be imagined than that creature upon his blue satin
cushion. Poor thing 1 he was choked at last by the wing
of a pheasant. "
So she talked on, with a smile that deepened the lovely
dimples in her cheeks, and parted her lips so as to show
the perfectly uniform little teeth, white as mother-of-
pearl. The beautiful woman's hair was dressed to per-
fection, but I was actually shocked at her attire. A
worn violet silk dressing-gown, much soiled, hung loosely
about her graceful form, and at the neck and through the
holes in the elbows there appeared a night-dress of very
doubtful hue. But her toilet was quite in harmony with
her surroundings. On the floor in the middle of the room
was a pair of white satin slippers, evidently used alike
for dressing-slippers and playthings for Blanche. Thick
dust lay everywhere upon the tables and chairs that had
been so faultlessly neat, and behind the bed-curtains
pillows and clothes were all tossed together in a dis-
orderly heap. The air was heavy with the delicate
odour of violets.
380 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
" I'm sure you think my room very disorderly," she
said, interpreting my look ; " I did not want to complain
to you while you had so much to worry you. Those
little shoulders had enough to bear. But now I must
tell you that I am wretched in this hole. Schafer is a
perfect fool ; the man has not the faintest idea of the re-
quirements of a woman like myself, who has been made
an actual idol of by all the world her whole life long.
Instead of providing, as all owners of lodgings do, for
his room's being taken care of every day, he seems to
expect that I should dust his furniture and sweep his
floor myself I Ridiculous I"
She began to crack some almonds which she took from
a china basket filled with almonds and grapes.
" Take some," she said to me, giving Blanche a
grape. " I cannot offer you much, to be sure, but only
a rogue gives more than he has. All will soon be differ-
ent, and then you shall see what charming dinners I can
arrange. Apropos, to go back to Schafer. The old hypo-
crite can be very impertinent. Only think, while I was
buying Blanche and giving the man the money, he had
the insolence to rebuke me and demand that I should
instead pay him his rent for the room, and the money
he has spent for fuel and light since I have been here.
Surely I have nothing to do with that, my love. You
lodge me here, do you not ?"
Here was fresh trouble! What would become ot
me? If I wrote night and day for Herr Claudius I
could not possibly make enough to support my aunt. A
vision of Use's face arose before me, how often I had
blamed her as hard and cruel because she did all that she
could to prevent my having anything to do with my
aunt ! I was paying the penalty for all that
"Aunt I I must te\\ ^yow U\ttt my means are very
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 381
limited," I began in great confusion, but very firmly. "I
will be frank and confess to you, what even my father does
not know, that I earn the money for our little housekeep*
ing by writing labels for Herr Claudius."
At first she looked at me in bewilderment, and then
she burst into uncontrollable laughter. "And these,
then, are the poetical relations existing between you ? It
is too delicious I And I was so childish as to fear
Well, little one," she gayly interrupted herself, " there
shall be no more of that when my affairs improve, rely
upon it ! I won't have it ! Fi done, how prosaic ! You
should see how I would manage that man. Writing
labels ? why, it must be very hard work ; I cannot pos-
sibly live any longer upon your earnings ! But what is
to be done ? My child, I am counting the minutes until
Herr Claudius is well enough to speak to me!"
" He leaves his room to-day for the first time."
" Heavens 1 And you never told me that before ?" She
started up from her reclining posture. " Don't you know
that every moment lost is misery to me ? Have I not
told you repeatedly that I have determined to place
my future in this man's hands, and that my weal and
woe will depend upon the counsel that be gives me ?"
"I do not think, my dear aunt, that he can prove a
better adviser than Herr Helldorf," I said. " Herr Clau-
dius holds himself quite aloof from society, while Hell-
dorf as a teacher has a very wide acquaintance in the
capital. He told me very lately that you could make a
handsome living if "
"Pray," she interrupted me, very coldly, "reserve
your wisdom for your own use. How and where I
begin my future career is my affair, and I confess that I
wish to have nothing whatever to do with those people
Dp-stairs, still less to place myself under the slightest
382 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
obligations to them. Such very low bourgeois acquaint,
auces are sure to be a drag upon one, and enfin, child,
they move in a very different sphere from the one in
which my life has been passed. And now let me entreat
you tc procure me an interview with Herr Claudius."
I arose, and she, putting her feet down from the sofa,
slipped on the satin slippers, giving me an opportunity t%
remark that her small feet were clad in flesh-coloured silk
stockings.
" Oh, you little puss 1" she laughed gayly, as, standing
erect in all her slender grace, she stroked my hair. We
were facing the mirror, into which involuntarily I cast
a glance. My dark complexion, although fresh and
clear, did not shine, in contrast with my aunt's smooth,
white brow, but to-day for the first time I saw the
disgusting paint that was thick on some parts of her
face. I felt deeply ashamed for her when I thought
that Herr Claudius's keen, stern gaze would rest upon
her ; but although I repeatedly opened my lips to beg her
at least to wipe her face with her pocket-handkerchief,
the words would not come at my bidding, especially when
she called me "a little brown hazelnut," and wondered
how I came by "that velvet gipsy skin," since the
Jacobsohns had always been noted, as her own face
could testify, for a lily-white complexion.
I withdrew from her caresses, and left the room, as-
suring her that I would go directly to Fr&ulein Flieduer,
and advise with her as to how the desired interview was
to be obtained.
Then with a fervent kiss I was dismissed.
TUE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 383
CHAPTER XXXI.
''My dear Lenore, the best thing to do is to ask
Herr Claudius himself," Frfiulein Fliedner interrupted
me, smiling, when I was only half through with an ex-
planation of my mission.
" Is he to be seen ?" I asked, in some disquiet.
" Certainly, by any one. Go up-stairs to the room
where Lothar's picture hangs; there have been many
visitors there to-day; it serves as a counting-room at
present."
I went up-stairs. At the door I paused and pressed my
hands to my heart. I thought its wild throbbing would
stifle me. Then I entered very softly. The room was not so
dark as I expected to find it. The green stuff curtains at
the windows admitted a mild, pleasing light. Herr Clau-
dius was sitting in an arm-chair, turned from me, his
Head leaning against the back of the chair ; his eyes were
covered by a shade. He did not seem to notice that any
one had entered, or perhaps he supposed that it was Frau-
lein Fliedner, for he did not change his attitude in the
least.
My longing desire was fulfilled. I saw him again ! I
could not speak ; I dreaded the sound of my own voice
in the quiet room. My approach was almost inaudible,
and I timidly took his left hand as it hung over the arm
of his chair. The blonde head never stirred from where
it calmly reclined, but quick as thought the right hand
was raised and I suddenly felt my own imprisoned.
" Aha ! I know whose little brown hand this is that
trembles in my clasp like a shy bird," he cried, without
moving. " I heard its owner come tripping up the stairs,
384 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
and the footsteps said distinctly, ' Shall I go in or not f
Shall pity for the poor prisoner triumph, or shall the old'
waywardness have sway that bids me wait until he can
leave his prison and come to me V "
" Oh, Herr Claudius," I interrupted him, " I was not
defiant !"
He turned his face towards me without letting go my
hand.
" No, no, you were not, Lenore," he said, in a low voice.
"I know it. Those about me never dreamed why I al
ways grew so impatient of every noise as twilight came
on, and ordered that the most profound silence should
reign in the house. At that hour I listened, with an in-
tensity that came from my heart, for the girlish footstep
that I knew was just leaving the Karolinenlust and com-
ing swiftly through the gardens. I heard it upon the stairs,
and waited with breathless eagerness for the half-whis-
pered * How is he ? Has he much pain V Certainly that
was anything but defiant. And then I could see how the
dark curls would be tossed back from the brow with that
gesture that I know so well, and the large eyes that I so
love would be riveted upon Fraulein Fliedner's face, wait-
ing for her reply."
I forgot everything that interposed between us, and
resigned myself to the magic of the moment.
" Ah, she did not understand me so well," I said, with-
out stopping to think what I was saying. " I longed so
to have her bring me to see you. I should have been
comforted if I could only have looked into your poor
eyes, and you could have told me, 'I see you.' Please lift
the shade once for me."
He sprang up, took off the shade, and threw it upon
the table, standing before me as firm and elastic in his
tearing as ever, " Now, then, I see you !" he replied,
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 383
smiling. " I see that my little Lenore has not grown
a hair's breadth in all these five long weeks, and that
her curly head will always just reach to my heart. I
see, too, that she can toss this same head as indignantly
as ever; but what affair is it of hers if nature chose
to see an actual fairy among her creations ? I see, be-
sides, that you have grown pale, pale from anxiety and
long night-watches. My poor Lenore, we have much to
atone for, your father and myself !"
He took my hand, and would have drawn me towards
him, but the action restored me to full consciousness of
my guilty conscience.
I drew my hand from his. " No," I cried, " do not
be kind to me ; I do not deserve kindness at your hands.
If you knew what a detestable creature I am, how treach-
erous, false, and cruel I can be, you would thrust me from
your doors "
" Lenore !"
I ran from him to the door. " Do not call me Lenore.
I would rather a thousand times hear you call me wild,
defiant, and unmannerly, enren unfeminine, than to have
you pronounce my name so gently and kindly. I have
injured you ; I have done you wrong whenever I could ;
1 have aspersed your character, and taken part with your
enemies. You will never forgive me, never I I know
it so well that I do not dare to ask "
I put my hand upon the handle of the door, but in a
moment he stood by my side. " Do you really suppose
that I shall allow you to leave me in your present agi-
tated condition ? with those pale, trembling lips that so
distress me ?" he said, gently taking my hand from the
door-handle. " Try to compose yourself, and listen to me.
You came hither utterly untried, undisciplined, looking
out upc^ the world with the innocent eyes of a child. I
z 33
386 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
take great blame to myself that I did not instantly rid
my bouse of the evil influences that you found here, since
I knew from the first that a crisis in my life was at hand,
and that all must be different. True, your dislike of me,
so distinctly announced from the first, partly induced me
to resign myself to things as they were. I was too proud
to forget, and contented myself with simply warning
you. I delayed too long the doing of what seemed piti-
less, and yet was the only right course to take ; there
was no room for both Charlotte and yourself in my
house, she should have been removed. Whatever
happens now, whatever injury you may have done me
from simple ignorance of circumstances, needs not one
word of forgiveness ; it is as much my fault as yours.
There is only one way in which you can really hurt
me, and that is, if -.as you have often done before
you should turn coldly from me. No, I cannot bear
this 1" he interrupted himself, as I burst into tears. " If
you must weep, my darling, it must always be here."
He drew me towards him, and laid my head upon his
breast. "There, and now be comforted, and tell me
everything. I will look straight up at the curtain and
listen with half- averted ears."
" I must not speak," I said, with a sob. " How glad
I should be if I might only tell you everything ! But the
time will come, and then One thing I may tell you, for
I did it all myself: I slandered you at court; I said you
were cold as ice, and thought you knew better than any
one else "
He smiled; " What a terrible tongue my little Lenore
has 1" he said.
I raised my head, and tried to free myself from his
arm. " Do not think that all the injury I have done you
has been the woAl oi ixvy ofoMvata tongue !" I cried.
THE LITTLE UOjRLAND PRINCESS. 387
"I do not think bo at all," he said, soothingly, whilst
a sunny smile still played about bis lips. "I will pa-
tiently await the issue of all these terrible machinations,
and then pronounce sentence upon you, does that satisfy
you V*
I assented.
" But you must submit unconditionally to the penalties
] shall impose."
With a sigh of relief I replied, " Oh, how willingly !"
And then I dried my tears and began to speak of my
aunt.
" I have already heard from Fraulein Fliednei of the
strange guest who has taken shelter beneath the ving of
the thoughtless moorland lark," he interrupted my com*
munications. " Is she the person to whom you sent the
money ?"
II Yes."
" Hm ! that does not look well. I have the greatest
confidence in Frau Use, and she had a very poor opinion
of this aunt. What induced the lady to propose seeing
me, what can she want with me ?"
" She wants you to advise her. Oh, please, Herr
Claudius, be kind I My father has cast her off 1"
" And yet she wishes to live in a place where she is
in constant danger of meeting him. It does not please
me. But, at all events, I must receive her, as I cer-
tainly cannot allow the little moorland Princess to be
drawn into any relations that I do not thoroughly investi-
gate. Frau what is her name ?"
" Christine Paccini."
" Frau Christine Paccini, then, is invited to tea in the
Claudius house this evening. You can go and tell her
bo. Now, do I not deserve even a clasp :* the hand for
my compliance ?"
588 TUB LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
I turned and put my hand in his with a warm pressure,
and then flew down-stairs.
I think that my feet had never been so winged with
joy, even when I had been free from care upon my
darling moor, as upon this afternoon as I passed through
the gardens. I could never more wander lonely in the
wide world; that hand would protect me everywhere.
No terror could assail me, for I would flee from it to the
shelter of those arms. How timidly I had resigned my-
self to them, and what i\ blissful sense of repose had then
stolen over me 1 just so when I was a child, Use's arms
had been my happy refuge.
When I entered Aunt Christine's room, I found her
making a cup of chocolate. Blanche was running about
on the large round table, licking at the pieces of chocolate
and eating cakes from the plate. Heavens ! what a con-
fusion there was among Blanche, the chocolate, and the
cakes when I told my aunt that Herr Claudius requested
her to take tea in the other house this very afternoon ! I
saw then how she had anticipated and longed for this
interview. With a half-triumphant, half-absent smile,
she opened by turns trunks, drawers, and boxes, and I
had a glimpse into a chaos of faded flowers, ribbons, and
lace.
" My love, I must of course dress immediately, and
really this room is so small, you had better go up to the
Helldorfs and wait for me," she said, hurriedly. " But
you must do me one favour: go to Sch&fer, I cannot
speak to him, he is so impertinent; he has some magnifi-
cent yellow roses in bloom : tell him to cut me some, and
pay him whatever he asks for them, you shall have it
again to-morrow. Go, go I" she cried, hastily, and thrust
me from the door as I looked at her in surprise. " I always
carry flowers in my laa-ud ^w\\^w I make an evening visit"
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 389
Schafer gave me the roses, and I took them to her, and
then went to my father and asked his permission to take
tea in the other house.
An hour later, I walked through the gardens beside my
Aunt Christine. When I called for her, I found her al-
ready equipped in cloak and hood with her veil over her
face. It was nearly dark, and a fine rain was beginning
to fall, as we took the path towards the bridge.
"Where are the lad'es going ?" asked a voice behind
us. It was Charlotte, who was just returning from her
walk.
" I am going to introduce my aunt at the other house,"
I replied.
The young girl said not a word in reply, and Aunt
Christine was also silent. I suddenly felt a distressing
presentiment of evil. The two ladies crossed the bridge
in advance of me. Strange ! it looked almost ghostly,
so great was the resemblance between their figures : both
had the same proud, scornful turn of the head, the same
formation of the shoulders, the same gait, and it seemed
to me there was not a hair's breadth of difference in their
height. They looked precisely alike, and yet how far
aloof they were in all beside ! Charlotte maintained a
haughty reserve.
"Pray take off your wraps in my room," she said,
coldly, in the corridor up-stairs.
We entered the apartment, where all was warm and
bright. Fraulein Fliedner was arranging the tea-table,
and received us rather distantly.
" Where is Herr Claudius?" my aunt asked me, in a low
voice ; they were the first words that had passed her lipa
6ince we left the Swiss cottage.
I pointed silently to the drawing-room door.
" Heavens, a grand piano !" she cried, gleefully, and
33*
890 TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
ran to the instrument. " How long it is since I have had
the delight of even seeing one ! Allow me only to touch
the keys for a moment 1 Please, please ! I shall he as
happy as a child if I may only strike a couple of chords 1"
In an instant cloak and hood were thrown upon the
nearest chair, and, to my unspeakable amazement, Auut
Christine appeared in full evening dress. A long train of
heavy, white satin swept the floor, and from the laco
tucker of the de*collete*e waist of the dress arose a bust
that vied in colour and outline with the loveliest Grecian
goddess in the antique cabinet. How heavily the long
curls lay on neck and bosom, and how dreamily lovely
were the fresh, dewy roses scattered among the masses
of blue-black hair 1
" Rather too loud I" Charlotte murmurtd, dryly. But
my aunt sank upon the piano-stool, the instrument thun-
dered beneath her touch, and the walls re-echoed a pow-
erful but no longer melodious voice, as she began " Gia la
luna in mezzo al mare."
The door of the drawing-room was flung (pen, and Herr
Claudius, pale as a ghost, stood upon the tires hold, while
Pagobert's face of surprise appeared over iiis shoulder.
" Diana !" exclaimed Herr Claudiun, in a tone of actual
horror.
Aunt Christine flew to him and foil up l her knees.
"Pardon, Claudius, pardon!" she implored, almost
touching the carpet with her forehead. "D^gobert, Char-
lotte, my children, aliens to my aching n.aternal heart
for so long, help me to entreat him to restore me to the
place I once held in his affection !"
Charlotte uttered a cry of dismay. " IctressI" she
stammered. " Who has hired you to pi* r this part so
well, madame ?" she asked, with bitter em j basis. Then
she turned to me, angcWy " \j&\iaca, y ou kave betrayed
us I" she almost screamed.
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 391
Instantly Herr Claudius stood between us, and mo-
tioned her from me. " Take Fraulein von Sassen away/'
he said to Fraulein Fliedner. How his voice trembled,
how he struggled to master the terrible emotion 4 hat
threatened to overwhelm him I
Fraulein Fliedner put her arm around me, and led me
into the room where Lothar's picture hung; tho door
was immediately closed behind us. The old lady trembled
like an aspen-leaf; her teeth chattered with a nervoun
chill.
"You have brought an evil guest to our house,
Lenore," she said, listening anxiously to the tones of
Aunt Christine's melodious voice, which continued to
sound almost uninterruptedly in the adjoining room.
" But you could not know that she is the false, faithless
Diana who caused him such suffering. God forbid she
should ever regain her power over him 1 She is still
enchantingly lovely 1"
I put my hands to my head, was not everything fall-
ing to ruins around me ?
"How cunningly she has contrived it!" Fraulein
Fliedner continued, bitterly. " How she bursts upon all
concerned I She reminds her children of her ' aching
maternal heart,' when she forsook them so shame-
fully "
" Is she really Dagobert's and Charlotte's mother f" I
gasped.
"Child, can you doubt it after all that you have seen
and heard?"
"I thought they were his" I pointed to Lothar's
portrait "and the Princess's children," I murmured.
She stared at me. "Ah, now I begin to under-
stand 1" she cried. " This is the key to Charlotte's
incomprehensible conduct and bearing! She thinks as
you do J She thinks she was boTn \n \Jaa 1LwcX\\v^^V
392 TjSS little moorland princess
does she Dot ? I should really like to know who dis-
covered and betrayed, so recklessly and foolishly, a secret
so carefully guarded. Let me tell you that there cer-
tainly were two children born in the Karolinenlust, both
boys ; but one died a few hours after its birth, and the
other within a year. Dagobert and Charlotte are the
children of Oaptain M^ricourt, to whom your aunt was
married in Paris, and who was killed in Algeria. My
poor child, your good angel deserted you when you took
this woman under your protection. She will bring mis-
fortune upon all of us, all of us 1"
I buried my face in my hands.
" When Erich first knew her," the old lady continued,
" she was already a widow, and prima donna of the French
opera. Her children were under the care of a Madame
Godin. Erich was as fond of them as if they were his
own ; and although the mother caused him such suffering,
he was so magnanimous as to adopt them when the
worthless woman forsook them, leaving them without
any means of support Madame Godin died soon after-
wards, and he enjoined the strictest silence upon me, to
whom alone he confided the secret of their birth; he
wished to spare the children the humiliating pain that
the knowledge of their mother's dishonour would cause
them ; he has been but poorly rewarded for his kindness."
She wrung her hands silently, and walked to and fro.
" Not that, not that 1" she murmured. " The beguiling
power of that voice is actually demonic, I hear it im-
ploring, caressing, lamenting, she will cast fresh spells
around him."
"Oh, uncle, Uncle Erich, I am in torture, wretched,
ungrateful creature that I am !" we heard Oharlotte cry
out in tones of heart-piercing anguish.
I ran out of the door, down-stairs, and through the
gardens. My own foWy n&& ^^ ^^ ^toausk \^s fowa
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 393
my Paradise. In spite of Use's energetic opposition and
warning, in spite of my father's will, I had secretly per-
sisted in maintaining relations with this miserable aunt
of mine I had restored to the man whom I loved with
all the force of my nature, the evil genius of his youth,
she would regain her old influence and poison his future
existence !
In the hall of the Karolinenlust, where the bright lamp*
light fell upon me, I paused in my insane flight. I could
not go to my father with my hair and clothes dripping
from the March rain that was falling ceaselessly and
silently ; every nerve in my body was quivering, and my
cheeks burned feverishly. I went into my bedroom,
changed my clothes, and drank a glass of cold water. I
must be calm, perfectly calm, if I would attain what
seemed to me my only salvation.
My father was sitting in his room, in a comfortable
arm-chair, alternately reading and writing, with a steam-
ing cup of tea beside him. He looked more bright and
cheerful than I had ever seen him, since his illness, and
the same dear old absent smile hovered upon his lips. In
the next room, Fran Silber, the nurse, was preparing
his evening meal, and regulating the warmth of the
apartment by the thermometer, she even signed to me
not to enter too abruptly. She was the personification
of watchful care and kindness ; I could not commit my
father to better hands.
I seated myself upon the footstool at his feet, so that
my face was entirely in shadow. He told me, smiling,
that the Duke's physician had accorded him permission
to drive out the next day, and that the Duke himself wa*
to call for him ; and then, stroking my cheek, he said he
was glad that my stay in the Claudius house had not
been long, and that I was with him again.
" What will you do, then, father, YiYxeu Y m \ft ssowafcL
894 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
four weeks at the Dierkhof?" I asked, retreating stilt
farther into the shadow.
" I must make the best of it, Lorclien," he said. "You
must go back to your home for awhile to regain your
strength. Both my physicians tell me that you abso-
lutely require the change. As soon as it is warm *"
" It is warm to-night, very mild," I hastily inter-
rupted him. " Indeed, I am fairly pining for the moor.
I am getting ill, nothing, it seems to me, will do me any
good but the fresh moorland air. Why will you not let
me go this very evening, father ?"
He looked at me in surprise.
" It seems to you a hair-brained idea, does it not ?" I
said, with a poor attempt at a smile. " But it is more
sensible than you think. The air is deliciously balmy ; I
can leave by the night train, and to-morrow night be in
my own dear Dierkhof, drink milk, and breathe the
moorland air for a month, and then come back well and
strong when everything here is is beautiful, when the
trees are in full leaf, and all will be well. Let me go,
father. There need be no trouble. Frau Silber will be
with you ; you could not be better taken care of. Say
'yes,' father."
" What do you say, Frau Silber ?" he asked, in a tone
of indecision.
" Oh, let Fraulein Lorchen go, Herr Doctor," said the
good old woman, appearing on the threshold of the door.
" There is no use resisting nature, and if Fraulein Lor-
chen feels as if she should be ill, and only the moorlaud
air can cure her, for Heaven's sake, don't oppose her.
The train leaves in an hour. I will help her to pack, and
take her to the depot."
And so I left the Karolinenlust It was pitch-dark,
and my companion cou\d not ase the tears streaming
down mv face aa I waved a tecsraO\ \ VSaa ^^x^^sa^
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 395
wbere I had passed a moment of such exquisite happi-
ness. I tried not to look up at the windows of the other
house as we passed through the courtyard ; but what
availed mf trying when my heart was wrung with such
agony at leaving it ? My gaze was riveted upon the flood
of light in Charlotte's room ; they had forgotten to draw
the curtains. They were all there still, the flitting
shadows on the ceiling told me that. He was forgiving
her, the faithless woman whose treachery had once
caused him to wander so restlessly in grove and garden ;
they were reconciled : this had been a day of reconcili-
ations, while the " thoughtless little moorland lark,"
thrust forth from his heart, was flying abroad into the
gloomy night.
CHAPTER XXXII.
What a return it was ! I walked from the last village
to the Dierkhof, through the silent, leafless forest. It
was growing dark, and the dried leaves clung to the edge
of my skirt, they had rustled merrily in the morning
air when I began my pilgrimage out into the world,
and now they accompanied me upon my return with a
monotonous whisper and rattle. When I emerged upon
the boundless plain, when upon one side I saw the Hun's
grave looming up against the evening sky, and the light
in the Dierkhof twinkled afar through the gloaming, while
Spitz's familiar bark sounded, deadened by distance, on
my ear, I threw myself down upon the dry moorland
stubble and wept bitterly. I was coming back to my
moor wretched and broken-hearted.
And now the four oaks stood before me, taller and
taller as I approached them. I co\M fc^eti &*fetat.
896 T^E LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
spot among the topmost boughs of oae of them, that
was the dear old magpie's nest ; the young birds, whose
twittering had attended my departure, had long since
flown away, leaving only the two old onesf who were
keeping watch like Dierkhof sentinels from their heights,
their wise eyes doubtless observing the solitary figure
traversing the moor. Deep in the arch of the door-
way something glimmered like a coal of fire, I knew
the kettle was boiling on the hearth ; and the dear roof,
from which the smoke was ascending, a faint yellowish
column into the clear sky, seemed to grow directly out
of the ground, so shrunken and small had the Dierkhof
become in my eyes. Then I saw Spitz run like lightning
across the yard, at the gate of the inclosure he stopped
breathless for a moment, his ears pricked, and then he
rushed towards me barking for joy, and, leaping up, tried
to lick my face, it was all I could do to keep my feet, so
turbulent was his delight.
" What is the matter with the brute ? He seems
crazy I" Use cried, coming to the door Oh, that voice I
I ran across the yard and threw myself upon her broad
breast, the torments that had pursued me like furies to
the profound quiet of the moor, seemed to fall from me.
She did not exclaim or even speak, but her arms clasped
rue close. I was caressed and petted as in my childhood,
and I knew how she must have longed for me ; and when
we entered the Fleet, where the lamp was already lit, I
saw that she was very pale.
But Use never allowed her emotion to get the better
of her. She suddenly pushed me from her. " Lenore,
you have been burned out," she said, in the same tone in
which she used to reprove me for some childish fault.
In spite of my heartbreak I could not but smile. I
Bat down on Heinz's wooden bench, and told her all
About the fire and my faxW^a V^***^\i^ ^\* 3^A
TEE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 391
her hands in dismay repeatedly. But it did not prevent
her from building the fire afresh beneath the kettle on the
hearth, and feeding me, greatly against my will, with a
huge slice of bread and butter, mouthful by mouthful.
11 Yes, yes, that was best," she said, when I informed
her, in conclusion, that the physicians had sent me to the
Diorkhof. Then she vanished in the interior of the house,
shortly reappearing to conduct me to a towering bed that
she had prepared for me.
" There, child, now go directly to bed, and I will bring
you some elder-tea. I knew as soon as I saw you that
you had taken cold upon the journey ; you are very fever-
ish ; you must not talk any more to-night ; to-morrow
you shall tell me all the rest."
At my earnest entreaty I was spared the elder-tea, but
I was put to bed immediately. The smoky picture of
Charles the Great looked down unchanged upon me. I
sprang up, took it from its nail, and turned its face to the
wall. How I hated that face 1 How much frivolity, false-
hood, and deceit lurked behind the white brow that had so
dazzled me at the Hun's grave 1 It had been the light to
lure me into the unknown world, unconsciously I had
yielded to its attraction ; for its sake I had been recon-
ciled to leaving my old home. I now clearly understood
all my former sensations, and despised them ; they had
blinded me, and led me through paths of folly and error.
I sat down upon the foot of my bed as I had done
upon the night of my grandmother's death, and looked
out into the immeasurable distance. No, there was no
rest for me even at the Dierkhof : the deeper and moro
perfect was the stillness around me, the louder was the
cry of my lonely heart. Now I understood h nv my
grandmother could stand at the corner of the inclosure,
gazing abroad into the far horizon for hours at a time ;
34
818 THE LITTLE kOORLAND PRINCESS.
her veiled eyes had yearnsd to see it the misty distance
one, lost, dishonoured, whom her bleeding, maternal
heart could not forget And for me now the boundless
expanse of the heavens, sprinkled with its millions of
starry lights arched above one spot alone, the old mer-
chant house
The wind arose outside, and stirred the bare twigs of
the southernwood-tree, so that they tapped lightly against
the window. I leaned back, and covered my eyes with
my hand. Beneath the window stood the box whence I
had first taken Aunt Christine's letter. Now I had really
seen her upon her knees, that enchanting form, fairer than
the loveliest fairies that, in my old story-books, had ever
issued from their flower-cup homes ; and from the folds
of white satin she had stretched forth two white arms to
lure to her embrace once more the man whom she had
injured. Involuntarily I struck my clinched hands upon
my breast. I had been weak and cowardly at that most
critical moment ; I should not have left the room, but
have hastened to him and lain my head where it had
been a few hours before, upon his breast ; he had placed
it there himself, and I knew how tenderly his heart had
throbbed for me, how caressing had been his light touch
upon my hair, as I sobbed out my confession. I should
not have allowed those white hands to touch him, and
then the charm of the evil spell might have been broken.
At this hour all was brilliant in the other house, as
light as upon the evening of the Princess's visit. And
he was sitting at the piano, the time all forgotten, when,
because of her faithlessness, be never touched the keys.
She was singing the intoxicating, the demonic Taran-
tella. And in a few weeks a new mistress would walk
in the echoing corridors of the Claudius house, not with
a veil above her brow, but in a rustling silken train.
Bowers strewn in her \ia\x, fcu&*AT^\Y^\\\^Y\\^wid
THE LITTLE MOORLAXD PRINCESS. 399
ehere would be life in the old rooms again, guests com-
ing and going, and no one would blame Herr Claudius
for his choice, his wife was still "enchantingly lovely. n
Then he would be my uncle. I sprang up and hurriedly
p*ced the room. Mine was no angelic nature ; I could
ot smile with scalding tears in my eyes. I struggled
against the knife that was repeatedly and pitilessly
plunged into my breast! I would not go back to K ;
I would implore my father to select some other home ; I
never could bring my lips to call Herr Claudius " uncle ;"
never, never !
The gentle tapping upon the pane from without
changed to a violent beating and lashing, a spring
tempest was abroad upon the moor. I heard it once
more, the creaking and cracking of the old framework,
the whistling and roaring in the corners, and the ghostly
rattle of the dead leaves that were still clinging to the
oak boughs. The old Dierkhof trembled in the mighty
blast, the decaying shutters of the garret windows groaned,
and the window-panes jingled gently, as if the storm were
lightly passing delicate silver chains through his tempest
fingers.
Use entered with a lamp to look after me.
"I thought you would not be able to sleep," she said,
when she found me sitting upon the foot of my bed.
" Child, you have forgotten the old moorland song; it is
true the wind is tame there among the mountains, but I
do not like it half so well. Go to your warm bed again ;
it will not harm you."
Indeed it would not harm me. The cosy Dierkhof
would protect me from its fury.
1 had been three dayo upon the moor, and the tempest
had been whistling and roaring on, day and night, over
the spacious plain. Molly, Spitz, and the fowls all kept
^ uddled together in the barn, loosing out. & lb& to^&%
400 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
monster through the open door. But it was not a cold
wind, and now and then I could almost fancy that it
brought upon its wings a faint fragrance of flowers.
Heinz, too, did not leave the Dierkhof, for Use would not
have him sleep alone in his hut in " such a hurly-burly."
But bow changed it all was ! I no longer read aloud
when we were sitting together in the evenings in the Fleet;
the fairy-tales had lost their charm, and I could not tell'
about my life in town. Whenever Use spoke the name
of Claudius, I felt a terrible lump in my throat, and I
knew that if I once uttered the name myself, all my
hardly preserved self-control would vanish, and I should
shriek aloud my agony, to the horror of the two faithful
souls beside me. As it was, Heinz regarded me shyly ;
he did not quite understand me or my modes of expres-
sion ; and Use told me, laughing, that be declared that I
had grown to be a real Princess, and he could not under-
stand why Use did not hang up the curtains and bring
out the handsome sofa, just as she had done for Fraulein
Streit.
Towards the evening of the third day the storm abated ;
there was still a strong wind upon the moor, but I could
not endure to stay in the house any longer. I ran out of
the inclosure into the rushing breeze, and let it bear me
onward to the mound. Yes, there it stood, still firm,
the dear old fir, and as I clasped my arms around its
trunk, it rained a shower of needles down upon me. The
broom was tangled about my feet, but the place where
the Hun's grave had been broken into, the year before,
still lay bald and bare ; and there were little heaps of sand
blown about the spot where the human ashes had been
sprinkled. Above the strip of woodland the flaming
spikes of the evening glow shot upward to the zenith,
it would storm agam ou ita morrow : it was as if the
tempest meant to intetpo^ * \wxtit ^or^tora. \&r a&
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. ii)\
the outside world. And there wound the stream along
which the three gentlemen had hurried to leave the barren
moor, there the tall, well-built form of the " old gentle-
man" had strode through the stubble, while the spoiled
and handsome Tancred had picked his way along the
velvet turf nar the water.
Now all was so lonely around me, but no : I shaded
my eyes with my hand to be sure that I really saw such a
wonder as a moving object upon the narrow, sandy path
that Heinz dignified with the name of " road." Heavens 1
Use had fulfilled her threat and had sent for the doctor !
My pale face and evident depression distressed her.
The dark object tottered on,- the crimson evening light
illumined it : it was certainly the very same old vehicle
that had brought the physician to my grandmother's
death-bed. It made a turn ; the huge-limbed horse and
the old carriage stood out like a silhouette against the
glowing sky. I saw the glitter of the glass in the win-
dows, and the sturdy peasant upon the box. Suddenly
the carriage stood still, and a gentleman alighted. Al-
though the tall figure was muffled close from head to
heel, I should have recognized it at once among a
thousand others. My pulses stood still. I clinched my
teeth and gazed fixedly at the carriage - door, she
would issue from it, the beautiful woman in the velvet
cloak, with white ermine around her shoulders. My
uncle and aunt had come to take back the runaway. But
the door was closed, and the carriage turned to the strip
of woodland again. Herr Claudius strode across the
moor directly towards the mound, his cloak wrapped
closely about him. I loosed my hold of the fir, extended
my arms, and was about to rush down to him ; but an
uncle should not be received so warmly. I embraced the
rough trunk again, and pressed my forehead against it
2 A 34*
402 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Nearer and nearer he came ; I never stirred, I seemeu
to be bound to the stake, suffering eztremest tortures.
At the foot of the hillock he paused.
" Will you not come a single step to meet me, Lenore?"
be asked.
" Uncle l w came sobbingly from my lips.
With a few strides he stood beside me, a smile quiv
ring about his mouth.
" You strange child I what wild idea has taken pos-
session of you ? Do you really imagine that any uncle
would seek a little runaway niece with such passionate
longing ?"
He gently took both my hands and drew me down from
the hill. " There, let the wind sweep by us, I am not
your uncle, but I have asked your father, and he has
granted me a dearer right to you, the right to carry yoc
home with me, but not to the Karolinenlust, Lenore. If
you consent to go with me, there must be but one home
for both of us. Lenore, your own desire is. all that stands
between us. Have you still no other name for me ?"
"Erich!" I sighed, blissfully, and clasped my arms
around his neck.
" Naughty child !" he said, holding me in a firm em-
brace. " What misery you have caused me I I never
shall forget the moment when Fraulein Fliedner returned
from the Karolinenlust, and told me you had gone, gone
by the night train, my timid little moorland bird abroad
in the night and storm 1 How I mourned that you should
not have known what pain you were causing me ! Lenore,
how was it possible for you to think that I could clasp
the darling whom I loved so sacredly to my heart only to
thrust nor from me for the sake of that hateful, painted
sin ?"
I freed myself from YAa embrace.
44 Look at me I" I cited, fctov^vY^ wk \Ktast* Vvsl*
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 403
half laughing, half crying, " beside Aunt Christine I am
the most puny ' nothing/ as Charlotte always calls me I
I saw my aunt at your feet, begging for forgiveness,,
oh, in such melting tones 1 And I knew that you had
loved that beautiful woman dearly, so dearly "
His face flushed crimson. I had never seen him blush
bo deeply.
44 I know that Fraulein Fliedner's tongue did mischief,"
he said. " She accuses herself of having been the cause
of your flight in that she, oddly enough, expressed a fear
lest I should fall beneath the spell. My little one, I do
not mean to say one word to you of that time that was
followed by years of remorse. Keep those innocent,
childlike eyes, they are my pride, my life. I went wildly
astray then : it was my own fault. I mistook the fire of
passion for that pure, starry gleam that your coming,
my darling, first shed upon my life. The error of my
youth bore bitter fruit. I have suffered for it until now,
but now it is atoned. I demand my right !"
He kissed me, then wrapped his cloak about me.
44 You will find much changed when we reach home, my
child," he said, in a low voice, after a pause. " The
ground floor of the Swiss cottage is empty, the bird of
passage has flown southward again "
" But she was poor, what will she do ?" I asked,
anxiously.
44 She is provided for. She is your aunt, Lenore "
44 And Charlotte?"
44 She has had a terrible lesson ; but I was not mis-
taken in her : the girl has noble traits. At first she was
physically and mentally crushed, but she has made great
efforts, and the true pride and dignity of her nature are
beginning to show themselves. She takes shame to her-
self for her career at school ; in spite of her rare talents,
she learned but little, because she \m^\\x^^t^i\tf^
404 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINOESS.
to a station in life in which she would not need to labour.
She is going to enter another establishment to be trained
for a governess. I did not oppose her desire to do so ;
for intellectual activity is her best means of cure, of course
the Claudius house will always be her home. Dagobert
wishes to leave the army and go to America. The hopes
entertained by the brother and sister, and their conse-
quent disappointment, have got abroad in the town, who
was the first to tell of them, no one knows, and Dago-
bert's position would not be a very enviable one ; there-
fore he wishes to go. A few hours before I left to come
hither, I paid a visit to the Princess "
I hid my face on his breast. " Now comes my sen-
tence I" I whispered.
" Yes, yes, now I know everything !" he declared, with
feigned severity. "The little moorland Princess thrust
her little impertinent nose into the mystery of the Karo-
linenlust on the first day of her arrival there, and then
bravely helped on the intrigue against the unfortunate
man in the other house "
" And he does not forgive me "
He smiled down at me. " If not, how could he have
kissed those red lips that kept such heroic silence ?"
We left the shelter of the mound, the wind attacked
us. " Oh, wert thou in the cauld blast" I sang out clearly
amid its roar. It had all come true : I walked beside him
clasped by his strong arm, while his left held together
the cloak that he had thrown around me. The wind swept
past me with spring in its breath, and seemed to cry,
" Fast bound, fast bound 1" And I laughed aloud and
nestled closer to my guide. Let the wind and the bees
and the butterflies rove over the moor at will, I would
rove with them no longer I
lise was sitting mttifc^WX^Vve^ potatoes, and Heini
wan coming witb lighted ^Vp* from Wi* wutosv&^^^t
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 405
we entered the door. I had never seen my faithful nurse
in such consternation as when Herr Claudius unfolded
his cloak and I laughed out at her. The knife fell from
her hands into her lap. "Herr Claudius I" she cried,
transfixed. At that name Heinz instantly took the pipe
from his mouth and held it behind him.
"Good-evening, Frau Use!" said Herr Claudius.
" Tou have harboured a little deserter here, and I am
come to carry her home, she is mine I"
A light broke in upon " Frau Use." She sprang up, i
knife, potatoes, all fell upon the stones at her feet. " Gra-
cious goodness ! was that what ailed her ?" She clasped
her hands. " Elder-tea was not at all what she needed.
You have befooled me finely, Lenore, gracious good-
ness ! And do you want to marry that child, Herr
Claudius ?" She turned hotly upon him, while tears
of emotion were rolling down her cheeks. " Look at her
little hands and her childlike face, and her young, young
eyes "
Herr Claudius blushed like a girl. " But she loves
me, my little Lenore," he said, gently, with some hesi-
tation ; " she says she loves me, ' old as the hills' though
I be."
I nestled close at his side.
"That's not what I mean, Herr Claudius, God
forbid!" Use protested, apologetically. "I should like
to see the girl in her place who would not say 'yes' and
'amen' on the spot I But but all your people who
obey your orders, how can they respect such a little
wife whom you can carry about the house on your
arm ?"
He laughed. "They will respect her soon enough
when they see their master obey ' the little wife.' And
now, Frau Use, bestir yourself; we leave here to-morrow
morning, and you must go wvtti vx^
406 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
Use passed her apron hastily over her eyes. ''Bat
what is to become of the Dierkhof in the mean time, Herr
Claudius ? If you only knew how I found it when I
came back before 1" she said, with a decidedly sharp in-
tonation.
Heinz scratched his ear, and looked in some confusion
at his severe sister. But I ran up to him and put my
arm in his. " Heinz, you wicked Heinz, aren't you going
to wish me well ?"
14 Oh, yes, little Princess, but I'm sorry, too ; out there
there is no moor any more !"
I began the foregoing two years after my marriage.
A cradle stood beside my writing-table, and a tiny
creature lay within it, my lovely, fair first-born. I began
to write this for hiin. But since then a splendid fellow,
with brown curls and a lusty pair of lungs, has lain on
these rose-curtained pillows ; and now the place is occu-
pied by my little Lenore, the only daughter of the Glau
dius house. I have been married seven years. I am
sitting in Charlotte's former room. The dark curtains
have vanished ; it is bright and sunny here ; bunches of
roses, painted, woven, and embroidered, cover the carpet,
walls, and furniture ; the windowed recesses are actual
banks of flowers. Lenore is asleep, her cheek resting on
her chubby hand ; it is so quiet that I can hear the flies
buzzing outside the window ; and now for the conclusion !
Suddenly the door is thrown open ; they come rushing
in, the two hopes of the Claudius race.
" But, mamma, you write too much," cries the fair
haired boy, reproachfully. "We are to have tea in the
garden. Aunt liednei \& Vol \3aa *xtour now, and we
went for grand papa."
THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS. 407
I look in his face with a delight that is not unmingled
with fear, he grows tall and strong but, oh, dear, what
will become of my authority when he grows taller than
his little mother? My dark-haired darling stands on
tiptoe, and lays a piece of rope as thick as my finger, and
a slender willow twig, directly across my manuscript, and
begs, in his lovely, childish voice, " Please make me a
whip, mamma I"
" Go down and wait for me in the garden," I say, while
my fingers are busy in an attempt to produce a whip from
such unpromising materials. " I want to write a little
about Aunt Charlotte."
" And little Paul, too ?" I assent, and they both run
down-stairs again.
The day after my return from the moor, Charoltte left
the Claudius house to enter a normal school, and shortly
afterwards young Helldorf went to England. He had
asked Charlotte to be his wife, and h#d been rejected
She confessed, in a letter to me, that as she had once
treated him so arrogantly, she could not in her humilia-
tion yield to her love for him. We did not allow her, when
her studies were completed, to go among strangers, at
our entreaty she returned to the Claudius house, where
she was a fondly-loved aunt to our children. Helldorf s
name never passed her lips, although she was on terms
of great intimacy, as are we all, with his brother's family.
Then came the war of '66. Max Helldorf was severely
wounded at Koniggratz. An hour after his brother, in great
agitation, had brought us the news of his misfortune,
Charlotte entered my room in a travelling-dress. " I am
going as a Sister of Charity, Lenore. Explain it all to my
uncle. I cannot do otherwise."
Claudius was away from home. I dismissed her with a
blessing. Four weeks afterward I received a long, happy
letter from her, signed " Charlotte BgWAot^ *" *\W ^uk$i
408 THE LITTLE MOORLAND PRINCESS.
lain of the regiment had united the convalescent and his
faithful nurse. They are now living in DorotheenthaL
Helldorf has a high position in the firm of Claudius & Co.,
and since little Paul opened his large eyes upon the world,
Charlotte cannot understand how there should be such
wretched divisions of rank in a world where all are born
equal.
And now I hear the study-door close, and a firm step
upon the stair. I write on and pretend that I do not
hear him coming, the husband who spoils me beyond all
telling. What can I do but laugh when he puts his arm
around me and says, looking over my head apologetically
at my father, " She is the oldest and most thoughtless of
my children?" My father assents with his absent smile,
he is still very absent-minded, my dear father, but we
cherish him fondly, and his last work has been received
with enthusiasm by the scientific world. Perhaps his
grandchildren have had something to do with it, they
are admitted at all times to the restored library, and climb
into his lap while he is writing. His relations with the
court are pleasanter than ever, and the Princess often
comes to the Claudius house ; but a curtain hangs before
Lothar's portrait, and the door behind the wardrobe in
the Karolinenlust has been walled up.
The step upon the stair has softly entered, its owner
is bending over the cradle, looking at his little sleeping
daughter.
" This child is wonderfully like you, Lenore."
I spring up proudly, for he says it with a delighted
look. Away with pen and paper! they are powerless to
paint the sunshine of happiness that rests upon the life
of the "Little Moorland Princess."