Waldfried Part 43

I was obliged to restrain her from expressing herself thus to Wolfgang.

On the following day, Ludwig returned; and this afforded her an opportunity to unbosom herself to him. At their first meeting, he conceived a great liking for her.

He told her of the great family gathering that was to be held.

As she was not related by ties of kindred, she did not wish to remain with us.

But Ludwig induced her to stay; and when he and I were alone, he said, "I cannot understand why Richard does not sue for her hand; she seems to be made for him."

I told him that, on her deathbed, mother had said, "He will marry her for all."

I now felt satisfied that Gustava had, in all likelihood, referred to Annette. Ludwig felt sure of it; but, as if at the same time marking out his own course, he said, "Father, do not let Richard notice our feelings in this matter, or we may frighten him away."

Wolfgang's desire to become a forester met with the glad approval of his father, who said: "It will soon turn out with the American forests just as it does with the fishes of the sea. One cannot always be harvesting and preying on others; it is necessary to plant and to cultivate as well."

He requested Annette, who was very much interested in Wolfgang, and spent much time with him, not to interfere with his wonted equanimity; for she was constantly trying to discover how Wolfgang felt when he saw a church-steeple, or heard the church-bells. She had just emerged from an atmosphere which was religious to the exclusion of all other considerations, and the youth was therefore a mysterious and marvellous contrast to all that she had left behind her. He seemed to her the representative being of later centuries; and she tried to discover how things would be after our generation. She was pleased to call Wolfgang 'Emile, and reminded us of Rousseau's work of the name.

Ludwig's wife avoided Annette, who, in her impulsive way, had at once desired to cultivate intimate relations with her. Conny, who was quiet and reserved, had a dread of the restless fluttering of such a being as Annette.

CHAPTER XI.

One evening, Martella came to me, and, with a timid manner to which I was quite unused in her, asked me to allow her to return to Jaegerlies, with whom she had formerly lived. She had heard that the old woman was sick, and at the point of death. She had left her quite suddenly, and now wanted to return; and thought it would be far better if she were not to come back until our guests had left.

She extended her hand to me, and said, "I promise you that I will surely return."

Her behavior puzzled me; and when I endeavored to find out why she really wished to leave, she said that it might be a stupid feeling, but she had a constant presentiment of some great misfortune near at hand.

I tried to persuade her that there were no grounds for this uneasy feeling, as Ludwig, his wife, and Wolfgang all treated her as one of the family. She persisted in her determination; and I at last reminded her that she had promised my wife never to leave me.

"I did not think you would remind me of that," she said; "but, of course, if you fall back on that, I shall remain here even if they try to drive me away."

Martella might well feel anxious, for she was a living proof that our family was incomplete; she, too, had been obliged to accustom herself to constant sorrow, and to learn to lead a life tranquil and resigned.

Nearly all to whom invitations had been sent, promptly answered that they would come. My sister wrote that she would bring her daughter, and her future son-in-law; but, that, on account of his duties, her husband would be unable to leave home. My brother-in-law, the pastor, who lived in Alsace, was also unable to come.

With every letter that came, I felt as if I must read it to my wife.

Who could so help me to celebrate such a day, as she would have done?

The life of the best of children is really for themselves. It is only the wife who lives entirely for and with her husband--one life consisting of two lives inseparably united. Inseparably! They have been separated, and a portion yet lives, leading a fragmentary existence.

I succeeded in repressing my emotions, and prepared myself for the great joy which was yet vouchsafed me.

On his return from his short trip, Ludwig had much to tell us, giving us quite a medley of merry and sad experiences. He had met many of his old comrades; and, among others, had visited his most intimate friend, a Professor at the teachers' seminary, in a town of the Oberland. The Professor was a model of quiet un.o.btrusive learning.

"I am shaping my block of stone," were the Professor's words: "what place it may occupy in the great Pantheon I do not know; but, nevertheless, I fulfil my little task as well as I know how."

He felt quite sad to find one of his old comrades in the very position he had occupied twenty-five years before. He might have become one of the best of men, for he has a good wife, and fine children; but he is the slave of drink, and is intoxicated from morning till night. Indeed, in the country one must constantly renew his intellectual life, or there is danger of giving way to drunkenness.

Ludwig had also visited his uncle, the Inspector of the water-works at the Upper Rhine, under whom he had worked for a year. He regretted his inability to attend our festival, but promised to send his son; and Ludwig was quite pleased when he told us how his uncle had said:

"The Rhine seems as if lost, and does not know whither it should flow.

It is against nature that one bank of a stream should belong to one country, and the opposite bank to another."

Sister Babette and her family were the first to arrive; and, shortly after their first greeting of Ludwig and his family, they inquired for Martella. She was delighted to find that they were so much interested in her, and also to obtain from them some little news in relation to Ernst's short stay with them. Even Pincher recognized the Alsatians.

The bridegroom-elect, who was now an officer of the customs, had come in his uniform, and was quite condescending in his manner, as if he intended, with every word, to say, "I am superior to you all, for I am a Frenchman." And yet, in spite of this, he had the very German name of Krautle.

Annette did him the favor to speak French with him. He was quite delighted, and Annette a.s.serted that he and his bride were ashamed of the Alsatian language; when speaking French, they evidently felt that they appeared at their best, and to ask them to forego that pleasure would be much the same as requiring one never to wear his Sunday clothes.

Annette was embroidering a silk ribbon; and Richard picked up the end of it and held it in his hands. But she generally managed to spoil the effect of her pretty speeches, and added that people could talk French without having ideas; but that, when speaking German, they noticed the absence of costume, and were ashamed thereat. When she uttered these last words, Richard dropped the ribbon he had been holding, and walked away.

Annette was happy whenever she could express her pleasure with any one, and Ludwig was not wrong in saying:

"She will be one of the best of wives when she is once a mother. Now she is fluttering about, hither and thither; is herself restless, and disturbs others."

With every hour, new guests arrived, and Martella said: "It was stupid of me to have wanted to go away; I am needed here, where there are so many strangers--no, not strangers--O dear Lord, so many beings who belong to one! If mother were only living yet, she could help me love them. O dear father, when we step over into eternity, and meet all the beings who belong to us--so many! so many! Indeed, father, you are now experiencing a part of eternity."

And it was so.

But I felt that age was coming on me. I could not walk about much, and was obliged almost constantly to remain seated in my room, where they all came to me. To see Wolfgang and Victor together, was to me joy unutterable. My sister a.s.serted that, when a child, I had looked just as these two now did. I cannot imagine that I ever looked so elegant and distinguished-looking.

After the Major joined us, the customs officer became much quieter in his manner; for the Major had come in full uniform.

Johanna, who, since Ludwig's arrival, had become even more reserved and austere, seemed to find the meeting with her son, the vicar, a pleasant change. Nothing daunted by my presence, she complained to him that, with a sister-in-law who had only been married by a civil magistrate, and with a nephew who had not even been christened, she felt as if living among heathens.

The vicar, who was more liberal in his views, and yet felt quite at home in his vocation, pacified his mother, and she concluded to take part in the family festival.

The eldest son of the inspector of the water-works came with his two sisters, and the Major was delighted to find that this young man, my G.o.dson, had determined to follow the sea.

Ludwig told us that a sea-captain had a.s.sured him that the naval cadets were princ.i.p.ally recruited from the inland provinces, while the sailors naturally came from among the dwellers along the sea-coast.

The medical counsellor, who had formerly been director of the jail in which Ludwig and Rothfuss had been imprisoned, but who had now retired on a pension, was also among the guests, and Rothfuss was delighted beyond measure to meet him again.

Baron Arven did not fail to offer his congratulations. He seemed quite surprised to find Annette dressed in colors. He cordially greeted us all, and constantly addressed Ludwig as "Colonel." He remained but a short time, and had probably only visited us in order to show that it was his desire to keep on good terms with us, and that he wished to have nothing to do with any enmities or unpleasant feelings which other members of his household might cherish towards us.

Ah, I thought I could have given the names of them all, but I find it impossible. The hearty greetings of so many guests had so fatigued me, that I slept until late on Sunday morning. When I awoke, I heard a lovely chorus, accompanied by an harmonium; and, after that, a quartette of female voices.

This was the first intimation we had of Conny's powerful and sympathetic contralto voice.

The other voices I recognized at once. They were Bertha's, Annette's, and Martha's.

If it was pleasant to see Wolfgang and Victor together, it was, perhaps, yet more lovely to see the sympathy between Conny and Bertha; and Martella expressed my own feelings, when she said, "Dear sister Conny, you did not have the happiness to know mother, but Bertha is very much like her."

When I at last joined all my kindred, there was a new surprise in store for me. Before retiring, I had inquired about Julius. I do not know whether you have already observed it, but he is a special favorite of mine. He is well-off in every respect--well provided for, both intellectually and in regard to the world's goods, though without great riches or luxury. He is like a healthy forest-tree; without bright blossoms, but silently thriving, nevertheless. I shall not indulge in further praise of him, for he dislikes praise.

And now Julius came and told me that Ludwig had obtained a dispensation for the marriage of the young people without the delay of publishing the banns. Rontheim and his wife had at first been disinclined to consent to such haste, but Ludwig had persistently urged them. And now it was determined that the wedding should take place to-day, and that his cousin, the vicar, should marry them, for Martha had insisted that they should be married by a clergyman. Whereupon Ludwig said: "We are certainly very tolerant towards these believers."