Vineta, the Phantom City

"You are dreaming," said the princess, with an air of affected superiority; "Frank has prejudiced you even against your mother."

"I have not trusted to his reports, I have made close scrutiny with my own eyes; and now I ask you, who has transferred the leased estates from German to Polish hands, and that, too, upon ruinous terms and without guaranties or security? Who has confided the management of the forests to a body of men who care nothing for my interests, but who will render good service to your cause? Who, finally, has made the superintendent's position so intolerable that his only alternative was resignation? Fortunately he had the energy to summon me to the rescue, and I have come at this late hour to find all in revolt against me. You have recklessly sacrificed everything to the interests of your family and your cause,–my servants, my property, and even my reputation, for I am supposed to be in league with you. Your four years' control of my estates has brought them to the verge of ruin. You know this as well as I; you have known it all along, but your only aim has been to prepare Villica for the Revolution."

The princess had listened in silent and ever increasing astonishment; this was not the first time that she had heard just such words in these very rooms. The elder Nordeck had often enough reproached his wife with sacrificing everything to family traditions, but bursts of fury had been his only method of opposition. He had sought to attain his end by torrents of threats and rude invective which had only elicited contemptuous smiles from his proud, fearless wife. She had well known that this parvenu possessed neither mind nor character, that both his likes and dislikes sprang from the basest impulses, and her disdain for the man was only equalled by her indignation that she had been compelled to accept him as a husband. She would not have been at all surprised if Waldemar had enacted a similar scene before her eyes; the fact that he did not, confounded her. He faced her with perfect composure, and with annihilating certainty hurled at her accusation after accusation, proof after proof. That mental excitement which he so powerfully repressed was only too evident; the vein on his right temple swelled portentously, and he clutched convulsively at the back of the chair near which he stood. His look and voice, however, betrayed nothing; they were entirely under control.

Some moments elapsed before the princess answered; her pride would stoop to no denial or concealment, and both, in fact, would have been useless. She could rely no longer upon Waldemar's blindness; she must resort to new tactics.

"Your fears are exaggerated," she said; "do you really apprehend that all Villica will break out in revolt, merely because I have now and then used my influence in favor of my protégés? I am sorry if any of them have abused my confidence and failed in their duty to you; but unreliable people abound everywhere, you have only to discharge all such as are in your service here. Why do you reproach me? When I came here, the estates were virtually without a master; as you did not concern yourself about them, I felt justified in assuming control, and my management has been better than that of your agents. I have certainly managed in my own way. I have always openly sided with my family and my country. My whole life bears witness to this, and I require no justification at your hands. You are my son, as well as the son of your father; the blood of the Morynskis also courses through your veins."

Waldemar started as if impelled to protest vehemently against this assertion, but controlled the momentary impulse.

"For the first time in your life you concede to me a share in your own blood," he rejoined, bitterly; "hitherto you have only regarded me as a Nordeck, and despised me accordingly. What if this sentiment has never been expressed in words, are not looks fully as eloquent? I have often observed the glance with which your eyes have turned from Leo or from your brother to rest upon me. You have sought to banish every remembrance of your first marriage as a humiliation and a disgrace; as the wife of Prince Zulieski, and the mother of Leo, you did not trouble yourself about me; you would never have come to me if circumstances had not compelled you. I do not censure you in the least; my father may have wronged you deeply, so deeply that you cannot possibly love his son; let us not therefore appeal to emotions and sympathies which have never existed between us. I shall very soon be compelled to prove to you that not a drop of the Morynski blood courses through my veins. You may have bequeathed it to your Leo–I am made of other material."

"I see it," said the princess, half despairingly,–"of other material than I thought. I have never known you."

Waldemar did not seem to notice the remark. "You understand perfectly that I shall henceforth assume control of my estates," he said. "I have one question to ask you: What was the object of the conference you held last evening, and which was protracted until nearly dawn?"

"That is my own affair," replied the princess, in an icy, repellent tone. "I am at least mistress in my own apartments."

"Certainly, in so far as you yourself are concerned; but I shall not allow Villica to be used any longer as an insurrectionary focus. Here you have held your conclaves, from here orders have been sent to and fro over the frontier. The castle-cellars are full of arms; you have collected a whole arsenal."

The princess turned deathly pale, but this blow did not shake her confidence. Not a muscle of her face moved as she asked, "Why do you say all this to me? Why do you not go to L– and reveal your discoveries? You have displayed such remarkable talent as a spy that it would be very easy for you to turn informer."

"Mother!"

This one word, a furious, indignant outcry, escaped the young man's lips, and his clenched hand descended upon the back of the chair in a blow that crushed the frail, delicately carved wood to atoms. The old passion again blazed forth, threatening to bear along with it all that self-command so painfully acquired through these four past years. The princess saw that this her eldest son, who stood before her, was his father's true heir in violence and fury; his whole frame trembled, and his face was so distorted by rage that his mother involuntarily placed her hand upon the bell-knob to summon help. This movement brought Waldemar to his senses; he turned hastily away and walked to the window.

A few silent, painful moments followed. The princess felt that she had gone too far; she saw how mightily her son wrestled with his anger and what the struggle cost him; she also saw that the man who could thus control an unfortunate natural disposition, the fatal inheritance he had received from his father, was an opponent not easily silenced or overthrown.

When Waldemar again stood face to face with his mother, the struggle was over, the victory won. His arms were crossed over his breast, his lips still quivered, but his voice was calm and steady.

"When you confided my brother's future to my 'magnanimity,' I did not dream of this result. 'Spy!' You call me so because I seek to unveil the secrets of my castle. I could apply to you a word of more evil import. Who enjoys hospitality in Villica, you or I, and who has betrayed it?"

The princess frowned. "We will not contest this matter," she said. "I have merely done what right and duty demanded, and now, what do you intend to do?"

Waldemar, after a moment's silence, replied in a subdued voice, and with an emphasis upon every word: "To-morrow I shall go to P– on business, and remain a week. Before my return, Villica must be freed from every semblance of disloyalty. Transfer your arms and your secret assemblies to Radowicz or wherever you will, my domains must be rid of them. Shortly after my return I shall give a large hunting-party, in which the governor of the province and the officers of the garrison at L– will participate; as mistress of the house, you will of course have the courtesy to join your name with mine in the invitations."

"No!" replied the princess, emphatically.

"Then I will sign them alone, as the invitations must be issued in any event. The time has come for me to take my stand upon the question now agitating our whole province. You are at liberty to keep your room from feigned illness on that day, or to go to your brother's; but you must consider whether it is best to have the breach between us become public, and therefore irreparable. It is in our power to forget this interview. If you comply with my demands, I shall never again remind you of the matters we have discussed to-day. You must decide upon your own course of action. You can tell Leo and your brother what I have said to you,–they had better hear it from your lips than mine; I certainly desire no rupture."

"And what if I will not obey the orders you so tyrannically impose upon me?" asked the princess defiantly. "Supposing I should contest your claim to the entire inheritance, and assert my right to Villica, which should have been my widow's dower? The courts would never do me justice, but there is a public opinion higher than all law; do you dare defy it by breaking your word to your mother and brother, and exposing them to the bitterest poverty and dependence, while you revel in luxury?"

"Do as you please," returned Waldemar; "but do not hold me responsible for what may happen."

They stood face to face, eye to eye, and that similarity between the two which had hitherto escaped the notice of all but Wanda, was now fully evident. Both faces wore the same expression: an iron will that was ready to stake everything in the furtherance of its plans. Now, as they stood there confronting each other, ready to engage in a life-and-death conflict, for the first time they showed that they were really mother and son, perhaps for the first time they felt this truth.

Waldemar stepped close to the princess, and laid his hand upon her arm.

"I have left the way open for my mother to retrace her steps," he said, emphatically; "but I forbid the Princess Zulieski's concocting party schemes upon my estates. If she goes on doing this, if she forces me to extreme measures, I shall carry them out, even if I must see you all–"

He stopped suddenly. His mother saw how he trembled, how the hand which held hers with an iron grasp instantly relaxed and fell powerless at his side. In mute surprise she followed the direction of his glance which was fixed upon the study-door. Wanda stood upon the threshold. Unable longer to keep back, she had come forward with a sudden impulse, and thus revealed her presence.

A flash of triumph shot from the eyes of the princess; she had found at last the vulnerable spot in her son's heart. Although the next moment he had mastered his emotion, and stood there self-poised and imperturbable as before, it was too late–that one unguarded moment had betrayed him.

"Well, Waldemar," she asked, and a tone of irony vibrated through her voice, "are you offended because Wanda has been a witness of our interview? A large portion of it concerned her. For her sake as well as mine, you must complete your threat: 'Even if you must see us all–'"

"As the Countess Morynski has witnessed our interview, no explanation is needed; I have none to make." Then turning to his mother, he added, "You have a week for your decision. I leave early to-morrow morning." He then bowed formally to Wanda as was his wont, and left the room.

Wanda had stood motionless on the threshold. She now entered the room, and approaching her aunt, she asked in a low and strangely tremulous voice,–

"Do you believe me now?"

The princess had sunk back upon the sofa. Her eyes were still fixed upon the door through which her son had passed; she seemed neither able nor willing to comprehend what had just taken place.

"I have always judged him by his father," she said as if speaking to herself; "the error is a fatal one to us all. He has shown that he is–"

"That he is more like you, Aunt Maryna," interrupted Wanda. "Leo inherits your features, but Waldemar is the true heir of your character. You have just been confronted by an energy and a will that are your very own. Waldemar resembles you more closely than Leo ever did."

There was a tone in Wanda's voice that arrested her aunt's attention.

"And who taught you to read this character so accurately?" she asked. "Was it your enmity toward Waldemar which made you see so clearly when all the rest of us were deceived?"

"I do not know," returned Wanda, casting down her eyes. "I think it was intuition rather than observation that guided me, but from the first I knew that he was our enemy."

"That does not matter," replied the princess, confidently; "he is my son and must remain so. You are right; he has shown me to-day for the first time that he really is my son, but for this very reason his mother can cope with him."

"What will you do?" interposed Wanda.

"I will take up the gauntlet he has thrown down. Do you imagine that I shall yield to his threats? We will wait and see if he really means to resort to extreme measures."

"He means what he says, depend upon it. Do not count upon any relenting or submission in this man. He will sacrifice you, Leo and us all, to what he considers right."

The princess gazed searchingly into the excited face of her niece. "He may perhaps sacrifice his mother and brother," she said, "but I now know where his strength falters; I know what he will not sacrifice, and it shall be my care to present this test at the decisive moment."

Wanda gazed at her aunt without comprehending her; she had observed nothing further than Waldemar's sudden silence, which her unexpected appearance fully accounted for, and his cold, repellent manner toward her and his mother.

"Prompt action is necessary," said the princess. "My brother first of all must be informed of the state of affairs. Waldemar's unexpected departure removes the necessity of your leaving us at once; you will therefore remain, and immediately summon your father and Leo back to Villica. No matter what other business demands their attention, they must come, for vital questions are at stake. I will send your letter this very day by a courier, and they can be here by to-morrow evening."

Wanda assented. She re-entered the study, took a seat at the escritoire, and again wrote to her father, little suspecting the part she was to act in the execution of her aunt's schemes. That "childish folly" long since overcome and forgotten, assumed a new importance when it became evident that Waldemar still remembered it, and was influenced by it. It had once aided the princess in obtaining control of Villica, why should it not again aid her? The mother could not forgive her son for having so decidedly and offensively disclaimed all ties of kindred with the Morynskis. For this very reason he should be thwarted by a Morynski, even if he could not be thwarted by his mother.

CHAPTER XVII.

THE FRENCH LESSONS

Doctor Fabian and Margaret Frank sat in the superintendent's library with an open book before them. The French lessons had really begun. The teacher was grave, earnest, and enthusiastic, but the pupil seemed listless and indifferent. She had agreeably relieved the monotony of the first lesson which had been given a few days before, by asking the doctor all sorts of questions about his past history, his position as Waldemar Nordeck's tutor, the manner of life at Altenhof, etc. To-day she was bent upon finding out what study so absorbed this incorrigible book-worm, and the retiring scholar, who wished to keep his "History of Ancient Germany" a profound secret, was driven almost to distraction by her pointed questions.

"Would it not be well for us to begin our lesson now, Fräulein Frank?" he asked, imploringly. "We shall accomplish nothing if we go on in this way; we are not speaking French at all."

"Pshaw! who wants to pore over stupid French lessons, when so many interesting and amusing things are going on here?" exclaimed Gretchen, impatiently turning over the leaves of her French reading-book. "My head is full of entirely different things; life at Villica is wonderfully exciting just at present."

"I do not think so," returned Doctor Fabian, patiently turning back to the page, where they had left off reading.

The young lady gave him an inquisitorial glance.

"Then you must be blind and deaf, Doctor Fabian," she said. "You, above all others, ought to know what is going on in the castle, for you are Herr Nordeck's friend and confidant. Something has occurred, you cannot deny it; now that the young landlord has left, everything over there is in a great commotion. Messengers are flying to and fro, Count Morynski and Prince Leo are passing back and forth from Villica to Radowicz, and our haughty, domineering princess looks as if the end of the world were just at hand. And such goings-on as there are all night in the park! There is a constant fetching and carrying, a continual tramping up and down. You must know all about it, for your windows open on the park."

Herr Frank had stipulated that French only should be spoken at his daughter's lessons, and here Gretchen was rattling on glibly in her native tongue, as if no French phrases were in existence.

Doctor Fabian turned uneasily on his chair, and said, despairingly, in his best French, that he knew absolutely nothing of these matters, and that they were no concern of his.

"Papa says the very same thing," persisted Gretchen, "whenever I ask him; he cannot possibly be involved in any conspiracy, and yet his silence would lead one to believe that he was, Don't you think so?"

"My dear mademoiselle, my best efforts to teach you will be useless if you are constantly absorbed in these outside things. I have been here half an hour, and we have not read a single page. Attend to your lesson, I entreat you."

He offered her the book certainly for the sixth time. She finally took it with a resigned air, and said in an injured tone,–

"Ah, I understand! I am not to be let into the secret; but I shall discover it, and then you will all be sorry you placed so little confidence in me. I certainly know how to keep a secret."

She began to read a French poem, but in an exasperated tone and with a purposely wretched pronunciation which almost drove her teacher to despair.

She was in the midst of the second stanza, when a carriage entered the yard. No one was in it, but the coachman seemed perfectly well acquainted, for he unharnessed immediately. A maid-servant entered with the announcement that Assessor Hubert, being detained by business in the village, had sent on his coachman to inquire if he might again presume on the superintendent's hospitality.

There was nothing unusual in this request. The assessor always passed the night at the superintendent's house when official duties' brought him to Villica, and he managed that this should occur pretty often. Herr Frank had driven out into the country, but would return at evening. Margaret gave orders that the coachman and his horses should be cared for, and that the guest-chamber should be put in order.

"When the assessor comes, our French lesson will be over," said Margaret to the doctor; "but, never mind, he shall not disturb us long. Before he has been here five minutes, I will drop a remark concerning the secret doings in the park, and he will hurry over there and hide behind a tree; then we shall be rid of him."

"For heaven's sake, don't do that! Don't send him over there!" cried Fabian, in the greatest terror. "Keep him here by all means."

Margaret was startled. "What does this mean, Doctor Fabian? I thought you knew nothing, absolutely nothing; why, then, are you so alarmed?"

The doctor lowered his eyes and looked like a detected criminal with no hope of escape. But he was incapable of falsehood, and finally said, looking the young girl full in the face,–

"I am a peace-loving man, Mademoiselle Frank, and I never intrude into the secrets of others. I actually know nothing of what is going on in the castle, but during the last few days I have been forced to see that something is going on. Herr Nordeck has only given me a hint now and then, but I have no doubt that the proceedings here involve great danger."

"Not for us?" replied Gretchen, with a feeling of the utmost security. "Herr Nordeck is away, the assessor cannot seize him; you are beyond suspicion; and as for the princess and Prince Leo–"

"They are Waldemar's mother and brother; do you not see that every blow directed against them will strike him too? He is master of the castle, and responsible for all that occurs there."

"And so he should be," exclaimed Gretchen, excitedly. "Why does he go away, leaving every gate and door open to conspiracy? Why does he side with his relatives?"

"He does not side with them," returned Fabian; "on the contrary, he opposes them. His journey has the sole purpose–but, my dear young lady, do not force me to speak of things which I dare not mention even to you. This much I do know: it is Waldemar's earnest wish to protect his mother and brother. At his departure he made me promise to see and hear nothing of what took place in and around the castle; your father received similar instructions. I heard Waldemar charge him to see that the princess remained unmolested during his absence; and now, when the superintendent is away, some ill chance brings the assessor here; he is bent upon making discoveries, and will do so, unless we can manage to prevent it. I am perfectly helpless."

"That comes from concealing things from me," pouted Gretchen. "If confidence had been placed in me, I should have had a timely quarrel with the assessor, and he would not have come here for many a day. But I shall think of some plan."

"Do so by all means!" entreated the doctor. "You have great influence over the assessor; keep him here; he must not go near the castle."

The young girl shook her head dubiously. "You do not know Hubert," she said; "nothing will detain him here if he once scents conspiracy or mischief, as he surely will if he stays at Villica. He must not remain in this house. Ah, I have it now! I'll let him make a proposal to me, (he always begins one, but I never allow him to finish it,) and then I will refuse him. He will be so furious that he will rush headlong back to L–."

"I will upon no consideration consent to such a thing," protested the doctor. "Whatever happens, your life's happiness must not be sacrificed."

"Do you suppose that my life's happiness is at all dependent upon Assessor Hubert?" asked Gretchen, with a scornful curl of the lips.

Fabian certainly believed this to be the case; he had received the assurance from Hubert's own lips.

"Such things are too sacred for trifling," he said, reproachfully. "The assessor would sooner or later learn the truth, and would be deeply wounded, perhaps estranged from you forever."

Although nothing would so much have delighted Gretchen as an eternal estrangement from the assessor, her conscience reproved her for the trifling part she had contemplated acting. After a moment's reflection, she said: "Then the only alternative left us is to set him upon the wrong track. All Villica is involved in intrigues, why should we not follow suit? But, seriously, do we not conspire against our own government when we prevent its representatives from doing their duty?"

"The assessor has no special orders," replied the doctor, growing courageous all at once. "In coming here he pursues only his own ambitious schemes. We do no wrong in averting an unnecessary calamity which might result from the inordinate zeal of an official."

"Well, then we will have recourse to a little piece of strategy. The assessor must not remain here over fifteen minutes; if he does, he will be out on the chase for conspirators. There he is now coming across the yard. Leave all to me;–now let us resume our French lesson."

When the assessor entered a few moments after, Fräulein Frank was reading the third stanza of her French poem. He was delighted to find that Doctor Fabian had kept his word, and that the future counsellor's wife was diligently acquiring that higher culture so indispensable to the exalted position she would one day occupy. He greeted both tutor and pupil very graciously, and after some polite inquiries after the superintendent, took the proffered seat.