A Little Garrison Part 14

"So," said she, letting the heavy window curtains down, "now at last we are again where we can have a comfortable, undisturbed chat together."

The first rosy dawn showed on the horizon as a heavy, lurching step was heard on the stone stairs outside. Frau Leimann blew out the lamp, and then resumed her seat on the sofa, leaning her head against the soft cushions.

Meanwhile Leimann had noisily opened the door leading into the corridor, and now stepped into the room where his wife was waiting.

For a moment he halted at the door. He thought he discovered the scent of cigarette smoke. Then he felt his way towards the table, found a box of matches, and lighted a candle. Then he saw his wife rec.u.mbent on the sofa.

The sight touched him. Had this faithful soul awaited his coming so long, in order to offer him a cup of coffee? Doubtless sleep had overtaken her, and she had not heard his step. So he cautiously approached her and imprinted a kiss on her forehead.

A nervous cry escaped her, and she quickly rose.

"Oh, it is you, Franz. Where did you stay so long?"

"Do not be angry with me, my angel, that I kept you awake so long; but I really never dreamed that you would do this. Why did you not retire long ago?"

The words sounded so full of affection,--almost like an excuse, like a prayer for forgiveness,--but they did not touch her; she simply yawned with some affectation, and stretched her arms as if dying for a sound sleep.

"Why, you know, Franz, that I had to wait for you; you were again in a fearful condition. When I saw you sitting in that way I felt so miserable that I could bear it no longer, and went home."

"Alone,--so late at night? Why did you not have one of the orderlies escort you?"

"Borgert took me as far as the door; he offered to be my escort."

"Well, I'll have to thank him for that to-morrow, and, come to think of it, he is always very attentive to you. Where did he go afterwards; I never set eyes on him again the whole night."

"He complained of a headache, and seemed to have had enough of the whole show. I suppose he went to bed long ago."

"Why didn't you offer him a cup of coffee?"

"But, Franz, what would the servants think if they heard me coming home with a gentleman so late at night? That would never do. Our maid, Marie, anyway, is listening and spying continually, and one has to take care not to let her hear things. I presume she has been telling tales out of school as it is."

"Send her away then, if you have no confidence in her."

"I would have done it long ago, but I can't let her go until we have paid her wages. We're several months behind with her."

"Then pay her to-morrow."

"What with? Have you any money?"

"I? What an idea. You know perfectly well that the few marks of my pay could never keep this household running. Hasn't your mother sent the allowance this month?"

"No, she hasn't anything to spare this time."

"Oh, of course,--the old story."

"Is that meant for reproach? You knew yourself that we were not rich.

Do me the favor, therefore, to spare me your hints and complaints. I find them tactless and inappropriate at this late time."

"Yes, you never want to hear about that. You ought to have known before you married me that to keep house without money is a beastly nuisance. Now we have this ceaseless dunning every day: one day it's the butcher, the next the baker, and the day after the laundress,--and they all want money. I can't cut it out of my hide."

"But wasn't it yourself who kept on urging and urging me until I promised to marry you? Didn't you gainsay all my objections and insist on our marriage?"

"True enough; but you and your mother ought to have known better. You never ought to have consented, even if I was fool enough to insist on it. Your mother knew how much it costs to keep house, and I didn't.

And now it is too late."

"That I know myself, and you needn't drive me crazy by constantly nagging at me. And it isn't my fault, either; for if everything had turned out the way my mother desired, you would not have had to complain to-day that you are married to a woman without money. You were not the only one from whom I had proposals."

"That you ought to have told me then," replied her husband, with an ugly sneer. "I'm awfully sorry if I have interfered with your fine prospects."

"You are more vulgar, Franz, than I thought you."

"Oh, yes, women can never bear the truth. If one doesn't flatter you the whole time and play on the tuneful lyre of love, you at once begin to find fault."

"Well, I haven't been surfeited with terms of affection by you."

"That is merely because I don't know how you have deserved them of me.

Is it perhaps because I don't know how to pay my shoemaker, or how to meet a whole bunch of bills that have come in the last fortnight? Oh, what a fool I have been! Instead of leading this dog's life with you, I might to-day attend the Academy of War and lead a decent existence."

"Hold your tongue, you vulgar brute; you have no right to insult me!

Leave my room, or I shall leave the house!"

"Instantly, and with the greatest pleasure, my gracious lady! Pleasant dreams to you!"

So saying, Leimann violently slammed the door behind him so that the windows shook, and then went to his own bedroom.

But his wife buried her face in the sofa cushions and sobbingly sought relief in tears. That gave a vent to her feelings of hatred and rage against her heartless husband. Her whole soul rebelled against this brutal man whom she had married because he had sworn on his knees to her that he could not live without her. And now he roughly stamped into the ground the affection which she once had borne him. He desecrated all those recollections which are so dear to a woman's heart, and which at critical points in her life are meant to be a stay and a comfort, and to make the burden of misfortune lighter to her.

And if, a short time before, when she had hastily parted from Borgert, she had felt something like remorse,--something of shame in having abused the confidence placed in her by her husband,--she now regarded herself as a victim, and her fault only in the light of a just revenge for his heartless conduct.

For at no time is the heart of woman more susceptible to temptation than at the moment when she feels herself betrayed and outraged in her best feelings.

CHAPTER VI

A SENSATIONAL EVENT STIRS THE GARRISON

It was plain daylight when the last guests left the Casino. Without exception, liberal indulgence in champagne and brandy had done its work, and the motley crowd that left the building thus "early" was in a decidedly boisterous mood, and the limits of decency and good manners had been pa.s.sed by them hours before.

The nearby church bell struck the hour of seven as Captain Stark and his wife, as well as the colonel and his better half, climbed into the capacious vehicle that had been waiting for them at the door of the club-house for several hours. The horses had become stiff in the joints, and, with a cold and raw bl.u.s.tering wind to chill them, they were now forced to pull their heavy load on the miry highway leading toward town. The coachman had to use his whip freely to make the poor beasts break into a sorry trot; but at last the human load had been deposited before their doors.

Lieutenant von Meckelburg and First Lieutenant Specht could scarcely keep on their legs; but, nevertheless, they walked straight from the Casino to the barracks, where they were to give, each of them, an hour's instruction to the recruits. They quickly doffed their fantastic gear--the organ had been left behind by the lieutenant; but when they appeared before their pupils the latter could scarcely suppress a shout of laughter. For Specht had in his hurry forgotten to remove his artificial moustache, and this gave him such an unusual appearance that it was only when his voice, somewhat shaken by alcoholic excesses, met the soldiers' ears that they felt sure whom they had before them. The "instruction" he thus imparted was certainly very far from enlightening their minds on the duties falling to the share of a defender of the fatherland.

Most of the other officers preferred, however, a good long sleep, and simply ignored the work of the day. It was only towards noon when the first captain showed his face at the barracks.