On the Heights. Auerbach Berthold

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CHAPTER II.

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      "How radiant you look!" said Countess Irma, as she met the doctor.

      "Perhaps I do," he replied, "for I've just beheld that divine sight,--a heart overflowing with pure love of its fellow-beings;--but excuse me for a moment!" he said, interrupting himself and leaving the countess, while he went into an adjoining apartment and dispatched a telegram to Doctor Sixtus, instructing him to prepare himself for an eight days' journey, and to come to the summer palace forthwith. He then returned to the countess, to whom he gave an account of what had happened.

      "Shall I tell you what I think?" asked the countess.

      "You know very well that none dare say you 'nay'."

      "Well, then, I can't help thinking that it was far better in olden times; for then royal children were born in some lonely, out-of-the-way palace, as quietly as if it were to be kept a secret--"

      The doctor interrupted her: "You are indeed a true child of your father. For, although my dear friend Eberhard was full of strange fancies during his younger years, he would at times manifest sudden and surprising diffidence."

      "Ah, do tell me of my father! I know so little about him."

      "I've known nothing of him for many years. Of course you know that he has broken with me, because I am at court; but, in the olden times, in our youthful, enthusiastic days--"

      "Then you, too, were once enthusiastic!"

      "I was; but not to so great a degree as your father. When I see you, it seems as if his ideal had become realized. In those days, when I was a young army surgeon, and he a still younger officer, we would indulge in fantasy pictures of the future, and what it might have in store for us. He never thought of a beloved one, or a wife, but would at one bound, as it were, clear all that lay between, and indulge himself with brain pictures of a child; a daughter, fresh, tender and lovely beyond comparison. And now, when I behold you, I look upon his ideal."

      "And so my father's only ideal was a child?" asked Irma with pensive air, and looking earnestly into the doctor's eyes, "and yet for all that, he left his children to grow up among strangers, and all that I know of him I am obliged to learn from the lips of others. But I don't care to speak of myself at present, dear doctor. I have a presentiment of the queen's secret. I think I know what makes her so quiet and reserved."

      "My dear child," said the doctor, "if you really have a presentiment,--and that, moreover, in regard to a secret of their majesties--take my advice: Don't impart it to any one, not even to the pillow on which you lay your head at night."

      "But if your knowing would be of service to the queen? You ought to be her guide."

      "We can only lead those who desire to be led."

      "All I ask of you is to have an eye on certain signs. Did the queen say nothing when she was before the church a little while ago and heard the mass? Wasn't she startled by a certain tone? Didn't you observe a certain inclination--"

      By a motion of his hand, the doctor signified that Irma had better stop, and added:

      "My child, if you desire to live comfortably at court, you had better not try to solve riddles which those to whom they belong don't care to solve for you. But, above all, let no one know--"

      "Discretion, discretion; the same old text," said Irma, roguishly, her beautifully curved lips quivering with emotion.

      "You are of a creative temperament, and are therefore out of place at court," said the doctor. "You desire to assert your individuality, instead of giving way to prescribed forms; but it can't be done. Just observe Councilor Schnabelsdorf, who will be used up much sooner than he imagines. He is constantly offering or preparing something new--cooking, roasting, or stewing all sorts of interesting information for his masters--and his memory is an everlasting 'table, table, cover thyself.' Take my word for it, before a year goes round, they'll all be tired of him. He who wishes to remain a favorite must not thrust himself forward."

      Irma assented to this opinion, but saw through his attempt to change the direction of the conversation, and at once returned to what she had intended to say.

      "Pray tell me," said she roguishly, "when one takes a false step, and, at the same time, injures himself, is it not called a misstep?"

      "Certainly."

      "Well, then, let me tell you that the queen is in danger of making a misstep, which may be fraught with irreparable injury to her--"

      "I'd prefer--" interrupted the doctor.

      "Ah! you'd prefer. Whenever you say that, you've something to find fault with."

      "You've guessed it. I'd prefer your leaving the queen to divulge her secrets at her own pleasure. I thought you were a friend of hers--"

      "And so I am."

      "Well, and since I am your morning preacher to-day, let me give you another warning. You are in danger of becoming one of those ladies who have no friends of their own sex."

      "Is that really so dreadful?"

      "Most assuredly. You must have a female friend, or there is some fault in your disposition. Isolation, such as yours, warps one's character, and, consciously or otherwise, results in vanity. If, from among all the ladies here, you can't make even one your friend, the fault must lie in yourself."

      "But there's no harm in my having a male friend, СКАЧАТЬ