The Lost Manuscript: A Novel

Above lay a thick book, bound in parchment. Quickly the Professor pounced upon it, like a lion on his prey, but he laid it down again immediately. It was an old missal, written on parchment, the cover damaged and torn, the layers of parchment hung loosely in the book. He put his hand again in the chest, a torn hunting net filled the remaining space; beside that some damaged cross-bows, a bundle of arrows, and small iron-work. He raised himself, his cheeks were pale, his eyes glowed.

"This is No. 2, where is No. 1," he exclaimed. He hurried back into the room, the Princess followed. "Forward, men," he cried out, "fetch the other trunk."

The men continued their work.

"There is something here," said one of the workmen; the Professor hastened to the spot, raised and drew it out, it was only an empty chest.

The work went on. The Marshal also had been brought here by curiosity; he eagerly viewed the old furniture, and caused those pieces to be placed together, which, according to his idea, might be mended and used in the castle. The staircase was filled with household goods, and one of the servants' rooms was opened that the old things might be deposited in it. An hour had passed, the room became more empty, the sun was sinking, its rays reflected the image of the opening in the wall on the opposite side; the other chest was not to be found.

"Remove everything," said the Professor, "even to the last piece of wood."

A heap of old lances, broken glasses and pottery were fetched out of the corner, also broken legs of tables, split pieces of veneered wood, and in the corner a great pewter tankard: – the space was clear. On the floor lay gnawed pieces on which the death-watch had already done its work.

The Professor entered the door again.

"This room is cleared," he said, with forced composure, to the Castellan. "Open the next room."

"I do not believe that you will find anything in it," replied the weary man. "You will only find old shelves and stoves there that formerly stood in the castle."

"Let us go in," said the Professor.

The Castellan opened the door hesitatingly; a second room, still larger and less inviting, came to view; sooty earthen pans, bricks, and slabs of slate, lay mountain-high at the entrance, and over these were wooden tools that probably had been used in the last repairs of the castle.

"I am glad to see this," said the Marshal; "such a load on the upper story is wrong. This lumber must be taken out of the tower."

The Professor had ascended a hill of slate slabs, and was seeking in the darkness for another trunk, but the chaos was too great.

"I will have it cleared out immediately," said the Marshal, consolingly, "but it may take a long time; we shall hardly get through to-day."

The Professor looked imploringly at the Princess.

"Get more people," she commanded.

"Even with that it will soon be dark," replied the Marshal, prudently. "We shall see how far we can get. At all events the Professor may betimes to-morrow find the entrance prepared."

"Meanwhile let us shake the dust from our clothes," said the Princess, "and come into my library; it lies just under us, you can there overlook the work of the people who are clearing away. The chest shall be conveyed into my library. I will take it with me, and shall expect you."

Two men carried No. 2 into the library, and the Professor went unwilling to his room to dress.

The Princess walked about the room where the old chest had been placed, awaiting the return of the scholar. With a heavy heart she looked forward to meeting him; she concealed in her soul a wish and a commission. The Sovereign had taken leave of her this time with more kindness than he had done for years; before her departure, he had led her into a side room and spoken to her about Werner.

"You know that one cannot leave too much to honest Bergau; I should be glad if you will also do your best to keep the learned man with us. I have got accustomed to him in this short time and would unwillingly miss his enlivening society. But I do not think of myself alone. I am becoming old, and such a man would be of the greatest value to your brother for his whole life-a man in full vigor, who is always collected and calm in the midst of our distracting doings: I therefore wish this intimacy to be preserved and increased for you both: for you also, Sidonie. I have seen with especial satisfaction how enthusiastically you enter into the studies of our learned men. Your mind will not be sufficiently interested with the twittering of the well-mannered birds who surround us; some assistance from a talented person will open to you a nobler conception of the world. Endeavor to gain this man: every kind of burdensome duty shall be spared to him; what now makes his position uncertain shall be removed as soon as he is installed with us. I do not insist upon your speaking to him, I only wish it; and I wish you to believe that in this also I am thinking of your future."

Without doubt this was the case.

The Princess had listened to the words of her father with the quiet criticism that was customary between such near relations. But the words of the Sovereign on this occasion met with such an echo in her soul, that she expressed her willingness to speak to Mr. Werner.

"If you undertake this," the Sovereign said, in conclusion, "you must not do it by halves. Employ all the mild influence that you can exercise over him, obtain his square word and promise for whatever he is inclined to accede to."

The Princess now thought over these words with disquietude. Ah! she would gladly have conveyed to the heart of this much valued man the wishes of her own, but she felt annoyed and perplexed that her secret feelings should be made subservient to the will of another.

The Professor entered the library of the Princess; he gave a glance at the casts and books which were lying about, just unpacked and unarranged, and began:

"When one's hopes have been so much raised, it is difficult to bear suspense. One cannot help laughing over the mocking accident which brings us in contact with a monk whose work is of no value, and withholds from us that of the other which is of immeasurable importance."

The Princess pointed with her hand to the door: outside were heard the steps of people carrying something.

"Only have a little patience; if there is nothing more to-day there may be to-morrow."

"To-morrow!" exclaimed the Professor; "a whole night lies between. Meanwhile the worm gnaws incessantly, and all the powers of destruction are at work. Numberless are the possibilities that separate us from our hope: that acquisition alone is certain which we have in our hands."

He examined the chest.

"It is much smaller than I imagined. By what accident did the missal lie in it? It is not even certain whence it came, and it is still very doubtful what may lie concealed in the other chest."

The Princess raised the top.

"Let us meanwhile pay attention to the little we have found."

She took up the parchment volume, and put it in the hands of the learned man. Some leaves slipped out; the Professor caught hold of them; his eyes contracted, he jumped up and hastened to the window.

"These leaves do not belong to it," he said, reading them. At last he exclaimed: "A piece of the manuscript is found."

He held out the leaves to the Princess; his hand trembled, and the agitation of his countenance was such that he was obliged to turn away. He hastened to the table and searched the missal, opening it leaf by leaf, from beginning to end. The Princess held the leaves in her hand in eager expectation, and approached him. As he looked up he saw two large eyes fixed on him with tender sympathy. Again he seized the two leaves, "What I have here, he cried, is both valuable and discouraging; one could almost weep that it is not more; it is a fragment out of the sixth book of the annals of Tacitus, that we already possess in another manuscript. These are two leaves of a parchment volume, but between them many are lost. The writing is well preserved-better than I should have expected. It is written by a German, in the characters of the twelfth century."

"He looked quickly over the contents in the light of the setting sun. The Princess glanced over his shoulder curiously at the thick letters of the monk's hand.

"It is correct," he proceeded, more calmly, "the discovery is of the greatest interest. It will be instructive to compare this manuscript with the only one extant." He looked at it again. "If it is a copy," he murmured, "perhaps both indicate a common source. Thus the manuscript that we are seeking must be torn; these leaves have fallen out, and perhaps during the packing up have been shoved into a wrong book. There is much still that is mysterious; but the main fact appears to me certain, that we have here a remnant of the manuscript of Rossau, and this discovery ought to be a guarantee that the remainder is at hand. But how much of it?" he continued, gloomily, "and in what condition will it be?"

He again listened anxiously to the steps of the men who were clearing away in the loft. He rushed out of the room up the stairs, but returned in a few minutes.

"The work goes on slowly," he said; "as yet there is nothing to be seen."

"I do not know whether to wish that it should go on quickly," exclaimed the Princess, cheerfully; but her eyes gave the lie to her smiling mouth. "You must know that I am very selfish in helping you to find the manuscript. As long as you are searching you belong to us. When you have obtained the treasure, you will withdraw yourself into your invisible world, and the retrospect alone will remain to us. I have a mind to close the remaining rooms of the house, and only to open one to you each year, until you have become quite at home with us."

"That would be cruel not to me alone," replied the Professor.

The Princess stepped up to him. "I do not speak mere empty words," she said, in a changed tone. "My father wishes you to make your home with us. Bergau is commissioned to enter into business arrangements, but they are not of the nature to determine your decision. Yet when I express the same wish, that you should remain with us, I do it from my own heart."

"This demand upon me is very unexpected," answered the learned man, with astonishment. "My custom is to weigh such proposals calmly, and from different points of view. I therefore beg your Highness not to require an answer."

"I cannot let you off," exclaimed the Princess. "I should like to gain you in my own way. You shall choose your office and occupation here as freely as is compatible with our different relations: you shall have every kind of distinction, and every wish that it is in the power of the Sovereign to satisfy shall be fulfilled."

"I am a teacher in the University," replied the Professor. "I teach with pleasure, and not without success. My whole nature and the course of my education fit me for this vocation. The rights and duties which enclose my life have a firm hold on me. I have pupils, and I am engrossed with the work in which I wish them to partake."

"You will never find pupils that will be more truly devoted, or cling more warmly to you, than my brother and myself."

"I am not a tutor who can for any length of time oversee the duties of a prince; I am accustomed to the rigid method of the professor, and to quiet labor among my books."

"This last part of your occupation, at least, will not be lost to the world by your remaining here. This is just the place where you would find leisure, perhaps more than among your students."

"This new life would bring me new duties," replied the Professor, "which I should feel called upon to fulfill. It would occasion me also distractions to which I am not accustomed. You invite a man whom you regard as firm. True, in his own circle of life, that character he possesses; but you have no surety that in another sphere of life he will continue to be so. Do not believe that under changed circumstances I shall retain the repose and calmness of effort that the mind of a worker needs; and my dissatisfaction at inner disturbances would certainly make itself felt upon those about me. But even if I could hope for all regarding my home and my private relations that would make life satisfactory to me, I must still take into consideration where I can personally be most useful; and I am not at present convinced that this would be the case here."

The Princess looked down sadly. The steps of the men who were to free the manuscript from the piles of rubbish still continued to sound above.

"Yet," continued the Professor, "if we were to be fortunate enough to find the manuscript, many days, perhaps many years of my life would be taken up by a new task, which would be so great that I might find my University occupations a burden. Then I should have a right to ask myself, in what surroundings I should best be able to advance this work. In this case, I should also have a right to leave the University for a long time. But if I do not find it, it will be painful to me to part from here, for my soul will long hover restlessly about this place."

"I will not let you off so easily," cried the Princess. "I hear only the words, duty and manuscript. Is the liking that we show to you, then, of no value to you? Forget, now, that I am a woman, and consider me as a warm-hearted boy, who looks up to you devotedly, and is not quite unworthy of your interest."

The Professor looked at the student who stood before him and did not wish to be considered a woman. The Princess had never looked so attractive. He gazed on the blushing cheeks, on the eyes which were fastened so expressively on his countenance, and on the rosy lips which trembled with inward emotion. "My pupils generally look different from that," he said, softly, "and they are accustomed to criticize their teacher more stringently."

"Be content for once," said the Princess, "with finding pure admiration in a susceptible soul. I have before said how much I value your acquaintance. I am no empress who governs a kingdom, and do not wish to employ your powers in my interest. But I should consider it the highest happiness to be in intimate relations with your mind, to listen to the noble words you utter. I feel a longing to look upon life with the clear eyes of a man. You have easily, as if in play, solved riddles that have tormented me, and answered questions with which I have struggled for years. Mr. Werner, you have taken a kind interest in me; if you go from here, I shall find myself alone in those pursuits with which I should most prefer being occupied. If I were a man I should seek you as my teacher; but I am fettered here, and, I beckon you to me."

The learned man listened, entranced, to the soft voice that spoke so persuasively.

"I do not beg for myself alone," continued the Princess, "my brother also needs a friend. It will be his task to take charge of the welfare of many. What you could do for his mind would be for the benefit of others. When I look away from the present, and dream of the future of our princely house and of this country, I feel proud that we, brother and sister, have a presage of what will be demanded in our time from princes, and I feel an ambition that we should both, before all others, show ourselves worthy of this high calling. I hope to see a new life developed in my home, and my brother and myself surrounded by the best minds of our nation. Thus we should live sensibly and earnestly together, as our times require; it should be no pleasure-loving Court after the old style, but a hearty intercourse between the Sovereign and the mind of the nation. That will make us freer and better in ourselves, and will be an advantage to the whole people; it will also be a bright remembrance for future times. When I think of such a future, then, Mr. Werner, I see you as the dear companion of our life, and the thought makes me proud and happy."

The sun was setting, and its last rays fell glowing upon the Princess and the head of the scholar. Sweetly sounded the song of the nightingale among the elder-bushes; the Professor stood silent opposite the beautiful woman who painted life to him in such rosy colors; his heart beat and his strength failed him. He saw before him two eloquent eyes, and the sound of the entreating words, "Remain with us," rang with entrancing magic once more in his ear.

Something rustled near the Princess; the leaves of the manuscript which she had taken fell to the ground. The Professor bent down to pick them up, and as he raised himself again began, in a feeble tone:

"Your Highness takes a bright look into the future; my eye is accustomed only to read single lines in the history of past ages. Here lies my first task; my dreams hover about these leaves. I am only a man of the study, and I should become less were I to endeavor to become more. I know that I deprive myself of much, and in this hour, when a vision of a brilliant life shines before me so invitingly, I feel this more deeply than ever. But my greatest happiness must be, from within quiet walls, to impress upon the souls of others what will there blossom and bear fruit. My greatest reward must also be that in hours of triumph, when filled with the consciousness of power, some pupil of mine will give a fleeting thought to the far-distant teacher, who has been but one among the thousands that have formed him, but one among the many sowers in the limitless fields of science."

Thus spoke the scholar. But while speaking, with a severe struggle for composure, what was true and honorable, he did not think only of the truth, nor only of the treasure which he was seeking, but of the greater one which he had left in order to pursue his quest with the beautiful fairy of the tower. He heard the beseeching words, "Do not go, Felix," and they were a timely warning. "When I return to her, will she be contented with me?" thought the innocent man. He was spared the necessity of asking the question.

The rolling of a carriage was heard below, and the steps of the servant who was coming to announce an arrival.

"Is your will so inflexible, your intention so firm!" exclaimed the Princess, passionately. "But I am also obstinate; I shall continue my entreaties. War between us two, Mr. Werner! Farewell, till evening."

She hastened down the steps. The evening light disappeared behind dark clouds; the mist hovered over the meadows and hung on the tops of the trees; and the daws flew croaking round the walls of the tower. The door of the room above creaked on its hinges, and the Castellan rattled his keys, while the scholar looked lovingly at the leaves which he held in his hand.

CHAPTER XXXVI.

ILSE'S FLIGHT

Ilse was awakened by her husband's parting kiss; she sat at her bed-side and listened to the sound of the rolling wheels.

"This has been a fearful night," she said; "after tears and anguish there came bad dreams. I was hanging over a precipice; from the depth below, concealed by fogy arose the noise of a waterfall. Felix standing above, held me by a handkerchief; his strength was giving way; I felt that, but I had no anxiety about it in my dream. I wished that Felix would let me go, and not sink with me. Pass away in peace, my dream, to thy portals of ivory; thou wast a good dream, and I have no cause to be ashamed of thee.

"He is on his journey, and I am alone. No, my Felix, you are with me, even when I do not hear your voice. Yesterday I was angry with you; I am sorry for it. I bear you within me, just as you have taught me, that the soul of man passes into and rests in others. That part of Felix which I preserve within me I will keep honorably, and quietly cherish in this hateful house."

She opened the curtains.

"It will be a gloomy day again; the finches are already sitting at the window, crying for the dilatory woman who has slept beyond the breakfast hour of her little ones. Outside all is in bloom, and the large leaves of the Schubart-plant blow about joyously in the moist air. But this rain will be more than my father likes; the seed will suffer. The good God cannot please us all at the same time; we are indeed covetous.

"At home they gossip about me; my neighbor did not say the worst that she knew. I have not been used to this. When I became the wife of my Felix I thought myself raised above all the meanness of the world, but I now feel its sting in my soul."

She passed her hand over her eyes.

"No tears to-day?" she cried springing up. "When my thoughts course wildly through my brain I will prove to myself that I have something of the scholar's character in me, and will calmly look into my own heart and quiet its beatings by prudent reflection. When he first came to our house, and the noble spirit of his conversation aroused me, his image pursued me into my room. I took a book, but I did not know what I read; I took up my accounts, but I could not put two and two together; I observed that all was confusion within me. Yet it was wrong to think thus about a man who was still a stranger to me. Then in my anguish I went into the nursery, tidied all my brother's and sister's things, and saw whether the boy's clothes needed mending. I was then a regular home body. Ah, I am so still; I hope it will help me now. I will put all my things together for I feel as if I should take a journey to-day, and that it will be well to have all prepared."

She opened the closet, drew out her trunk, and packed it.

"But where to?" she asked herself. "Far away? How long it is since I had wings like a swallow, and could gaily fly with my thoughts into foreign parts! And now the wings of the poor little swallow are broken. I sit alone on my branch; I would gladly conceal myself in the leaves, and I dread the fluttering and the chattering of my neighbors."

She supported her weary head with her hands.

"Where should I go to?" she sighed; "not to my father; nor could I now look with pleasure on mountains and old monuments. How can one have a heart for the forms of nature and the achievements of past nations when one's own life is racked and disturbed?

"My Felix said that one should always consider oneself the child of the whole human race, and be elevated by the high thought that millions of the dead and living are united to us in an indissoluble unity. But who of those who were and are about me will relieve my tormented soul of the pangs that constantly trouble me? Who will deliver me from dissatisfaction with myself and from fear about the future? Ah me! It may be a teaching to inspire man in hours of exaltation, when calmly contemplating all about him, but for him who is writhing in torment and affliction, the teaching is too high, too high!"

She took from the shelf her little Bible, which had been given her by the good Pastor on her departure from her father's house, and drew it out of its cover. "I have long neglected to read you, dear book, for when I open your pages I feel as if I had two lives; the old Ilse revives who once trusted in your words; and then again I see myself, like my husband, criticizing many passages, and asking myself whether what I find in you is according to my reason. I have lost my childish faith, and what I have gained instead gives me no certainty. When I fold my hands in prayer, as I did when I was a child, I know that I dare pray for nothing but strength to overcome, by my own exertion, what now casts down my spirit."

The gardener entered the room, as he did every morning, with a basket of flowers which the lord of the castle sent her. Ilse rose and pointed to the table.

"Set it down," she said, coldly, without touching the basket.

She had, at other times, frequently expressed to the man her pleasure in the beautiful flowers he had cultivated. It had always given him pain that the illustrious personages of the castle never noticed his rare plants, and he had been so pleased with the warm interest taken by the strange lady that he brought the flowers every morning himself, and pointed out to her the new favorites of the conservatory; he had cut for her the best he had.

"The others do not notice them," he would say; "and she remembers the Latin names too."

He now placed the basket of flowers down with a feeling of mortification.

"There are some new specimens of the calceolaria," he began, reproachfully; "they are of my own raising: you will not see others of this kind."

Ilse felt the disappointment of the gardener. She approached the table, and said: