Major Frank Part 29

"'Behold the constraint with which he threatened me! And he imagines I shall give way? Never!' You should have seen her, how pale she was, but firm; when the men came to make the inventory of all there was in the Castle!"

"Afterwards she took me aside. 'Rolfie,' she said--it was her word when she wanted to get anything out of me--'Rolfie, now tell me honestly, have you not sacrificed the greater part of your fortune to the wants of my grandfather?'

"'Well, certainly not, Maj--Miss Francis; we have only spent that small sum which we won in the lottery. The General would make use of his part of it to try his luck once more; but I preferred spending my part on a few extras for the table that we might all enjoy it together.'

"'Then that story of yours about an inheritance was a pure invention?' she demanded severely.

"'Pardon, Freule, I have inherited a nice little farm in North Brabant, where I always intended to end my days, if the Freule should' (marry, I would have said, but I was afraid) 'wish to dispense with my services.'

"'And can you live comfortably on it, Captain?'

"'Very; and, besides, I have my pension. Living is very cheap in that part of the country; if the Freule can make up her mind to go with me, we should have a very pleasant life of it together. Though it is no castle, the best room in the house is set apart for your service.'

"'I thank you most cordially, my good Captain; I was most anxious to know whether you were provided for. But we must separate, my dear Rolf.'

"'And where will you go, what will you do?'

"'I cannot tell you that; but one thing is certain, you cannot go with me.'"

The Captain plied himself well with sherry to keep up his spirits, and concluded by saying--

"And so we parted, Jonker. But I thought to myself, I'll pa.s.s through the Hague; and here I heard of your illness, and said to myself, 'Probably the Jonker is ignorant of all that has occurred.'"

"Do you know what you must do, Rolf? Go back to the Werve at once. I shall give you a letter for the lawyers to stop all proceedings, and you will take command of the fortress until I come. Retain Fritz in the service, and try to find the packet. I shall be with you to-morrow or the day after, if my doctor will give me permission to leave my room."

"Oh, the packet will be at Overberg's with the rest of the General's papers."

"Then try to find out where Miss Francis is, and induce her to return to the Werve; but don't tell her I am coming there."

At the same moment my landlady brought me the following telegram from Overberg--

"Your immediate presence indispensable; no arrangement possible; F. M. has left the Castle."

I did not hesitate any longer. Without awaiting the doctor's leave, I got Rolf to pack my portmanteau, and we were off before he could stop us. These thick-coming events called forth all my strength, and I forgot how weak I really was.

CHAPTER x.x.xIV.

When I arrived at the hotel in Zutphen, I was surprised to find a letter awaiting me from Rudolf, who was still travelling through the provinces of Guelderland and Overyssel with his troupe, which was now performing at Laren fair. It ran as follows--

"If you wish to prevent Francis from committing the greatest folly she has yet been guilty of in life, try to meet me at the 'Half-way House,'

between Zutphen and Laren, to-morrow morning about nine o'clock."

I promised myself I would not neglect this appointment. I then sent for Overberg, who confirmed all I had heard from Rolf, and explained many things I thought inexplicable. It was Van Beek who had pushed matters to extremities, and he (Overberg) had been quite willing to grant any reasonable delay. He told me one thing I was still ignorant of. A lawyer had sent into Van Beek a copy of a codicil to Aunt Sophia's will, drawn up by her order on the eve of her death, by which she bequeathed to her grandniece, Francis Mordaunt, a yearly income of three thousand florins in case she did not marry Jonker van Zonshoven; and I was bound to pay this pension on condition she made no marriage without my consent. A very far-seeing woman this aunt of mine! I charged Overberg to make known this codicil, and to hand over to Francis the packet which he had found amongst the General's papers. He had sent it to the Castle, but too late; Francis was already gone. I requested him to do his best to find her out, and to deliver it into her hands.

Next morning, when I arrived at the appointed place, a little country inn, the landlady told me that a lady and gentleman were already awaiting me upstairs. I hastened into the large a.s.sembly-room, and at the bottom of it I could perceive Rudolf and Francis, almost hidden behind a platform which had been erected for the musicians. Francis stood with her back to the door at which I entered. I wished to give her warning of my presence, but I could not speak; and as I advanced all of a tremble, I heard Rudolf saying to her--

"Nonsense, my dear! you have no idea of the sort of life you wish to lead. You talk of liberty and independence; but I tell you it is slavery and the whip into the bargain. Do you know our bed-room is in the stable with the horses? Do you think the women are much respected because they are so politely a.s.sisted to mount their horses during the performance? I can tell you Madame Stonehouse herself is not spared by her gracious husband. And you would cast in your lot with us, susceptible and haughty as you are!"

"There's nothing else I can do," replied Francis. "I can manage a horse, but I cannot become a governess and undertake the care of young children any more than I could earn my bread with my needle. I will not be guilty of the sin of suicide. I have a duty to fulfil in life, though to me life is but a martyrdom. And this is my only resource."

"But, you foolish girl, why don't you seek a reconciliation with your Cousin van Zonshoven? You would then have all a woman could wish for--your castle back, a beautiful fortune, and a husband who would love you truly. Upon that I'll wager my head."

"Yes; he's a man of rare loyalty, indeed, and has shown himself such!" she answered with a choking voice.

"Bah! at the worst he has only acted a little insincerely; white lies, my dear, white lies may be pardoned. Forgive him his peccadillo. He will have much to forgive in you, as you have confessed to me yourself. Tell him you are sorry for what you have said. He will then embrace you and all will be well."

"It is impossible, I tell you; it is too late."

"Why too late, Francis?" I exclaimed, as I stepped forward, unable to restrain myself any longer.

"Leopold!" she cried, turning deadly pale, and covering her face with her hands.

"Francis," I went on gently, "nothing is changed; I still regard you as my betrothed wife."

And saying this I tried to take her hand in mine. But the touch pained her; she sprang back as if she had received the discharge of an electric battery.

"Your betrothed! You have given me to understand this by the manner in which I have been treated!"

"It grieves me to the heart, Francis--I cannot tell you how much. I come now from a sick-bed, and what the lawyers did whilst I lay insensible in the fever was in opposition to my wishes, and quite contrary to my intentions."

"And was it contrary to your intentions to cause my grandfather the shock which led to his death?"

"Most certainly it was, and I did my utmost to prevent it; but you would not a.s.sist me, and afterwards it was too late. It was the executors carrying out the last will and testament of the deceased, and it was out of my power to interfere with them. And if the consequences hastened your grandfather's death, you cannot blame me, Francis. For after a calm consideration of all the facts, you will be bound to agree that I was a better friend both to him and to you than you have been to yourselves. Because of a little misunderstanding which I could easily have explained, you have brought all this trouble on yourself, and caused me the most acute suffering. Still all may be well."

"All may be well! Oh, Leopold, Leopold! how can you say so, when the gulf between us is so wide," she replied, with a profound sigh. "You threatened me with force, and you have meanly carried that threat into execution! You had it in your power to drive me to extremities, your one fixed idea being to compel me to marry Aunt Roselaer's heir. I have heard this so often I am sick of the subject; and though I acknowledge you are right from a worldly and material point of view, I had given you credit for better things. Don't you understand, that were I to marry you now under constraint, I should tug at my chains until they made life unbearable to us both, or until they broke!"

"I agree with you, Francis, if you regard our engagement in this light, and I release you from your promise."

"Thank you, but I had already taken measures which render such generosity on your part unnecessary. I am going to travel about in the world, and I have taken steps to separate myself from the past entirely. I have made my contract with Mr. Stonehouse, to whom Rudolf is to introduce me as soon as he arrives here to sign the same."

"Your Uncle Rudolf came here, my dear, to dissuade you from such a step; and if you are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Stonehouse, you will have to wait a long time," responded Rudolf, coolly. "Did you think me such a fool, Francis, as to a.s.sist you in your insane idea?"

"Then you never delivered my letter to your master?"

"Certainly not, I did much better. I warned your Cousin Leopold that you were going to commit a folly which would lead to your inevitable ruin."

"Oh, I see! this is another plot against me. Enough; as I cannot trust any one but myself, I will ride off at once and ask to see Mr. Stonehouse in person."

"You will do nothing of the sort," I said, authoritatively, seeing that she rose to depart. "The General is dead, Rudolf civilly dead, and I am consequently, in the eyes of the law, your nearest male relation. Therefore I forbid your entering this abyss, from whence no one ever rises again, in the flower of your age."

"What am I to do?" she cried pa.s.sionately, yet with an accent of submission in her tone.