THE
OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
AFFTER THIE GERIIMAN
OF
E. MARLITT
Y MRS. A. L. WISTER
THIRD EDITION.
PHILADELPHIA:
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO.
1868.




Entered, according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
J. B. LIPPINCOTT  &  CO.,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States in and
for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
CHAPTER I.
"-. — but, for Heaven's sake, Hellwig, where are you
g sing now?" 
"Directly to X —, with your kind permission," was
the half-contemptuous reply.
" But there is certainly no road thither over such a hill
as this. You know nothing about it, Hellwig. Hallo Istop — I'll get out; I have no desire to be upset and
have all my bones broken. Will you be kind enough to
stop?"
"Upset you?  II'Twould be the first time in my
life," were the words upon the lips of the other; but a terrible crash interrupted' him, and the voice of the speaker
was silenced effectually. For a moment, the snorting and
stamping of a horse were audible; then the animal, having
recovered his footing, galloped madly away.
"This is an upset indeed," growled the first speaker
at last, sitting upright on the damp, freshly-ploughed field.
"Hellwig I Boehm! are either of you alive?"
"I am," said the voice of Hellwig, not very far off, as he
crept about on the sodden ground searching for his hat.
Every spark of self-confidence, of jeering superiority, had
utterly vanished from that feeble voice. The third victim,
too, was now heard complaining, as he tried to -lift his
unwieldy form upon all-fours from close contact with his
(3)




4         }THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
mother-earth. At last all three regained that posture
whereby nature distinguishes man as the noblest of God's
creatures, and began to reflect upon what had happened,
and what was best to be done.
In the first place, the light wagon in which the three
gentlemen had left their homes on that morning upon a
hunting expedition, was now lying completely overturned
by the side of the little hill which had caused the disaster,
displaying its four wheels to heaven; the sound of the
horse's hoofs as he galloped off had died away some moments before, and pitchy darkness brooded over the consequences of Hellwig's. rash self-confidence.
"Well, one thing is certain, we can't spend the night
here. Let us go forward," said Hellwig at last, with some
reviving animation in his tone.
"Oh yes, resume the command," growled his stout
friend, privately assuring himself that the splintered remains of his beautiful meerschaum, and not of one of his
ribs, were making that mysterious rattling sound in the
region of his heart, —"resume the command, do,-it becomes you so well, just after you have been within a
hair's breadth of murdering two fathers of families with
your confounded self-conceit, —no, I will not spend the
night in this den of lions-but you shall devise some way
out of it. A dozen horses shall not drag me from this spot
without a light. I am up to my knees in mud, and the
night air will, I know, fill my bones with rheumatism for
the next six months,-that I must resign myself to, and
it is all your fault, Hellwig. But I will not be so insane
as to risk putting out my eyes or breaking my arms and
legs in the thousand holes and ditches that abound in this
confounded country."
"Don't be a fool, doctor," said the third; "you can't
stand here like a milestone, shifting from one leg to the




THE OLD MAM'SEL.LE'S SECRET.           5
other, while Hellwig and I grope our way to the town and
procure help. I knew some time ago that this famous
Jehu was driving too much to the left. We have only to
go directly back across this ploughed field, and we shall
certainly come to the road again,-so come along without
any more grumbling, and think of your wife and children,
who are perhaps drowned in grief at this moment because
you are not at home at supper."
The stout man muttered something into his moustache
about'wretched management,'-but left his post and
groped his way with the others. The task of finding the
road was indeed laborious and disagreeable enough. The
earth stuck in great clods to their hunting-boots, and every
now and then a foot put forward with unwary confidence
would splash into some deep puddle, sending the dirty
water like a fountain over the coats and faces of the three
wretched wanderers. Still they regained the road without any serious mishaps, and strode forward bravely when
they felt firm ground beneath them,-even the doctor's
good humour gradually returned, and he hummed aloud,
in a terrible bass, " Merrily jog the footpath way!"
In the vicinity of the little town a light appeared in the
darkness —it advanced toward the travellers with agitated
haste; and Hellwig recognized in the broad laughing face
on which the light of the lantern shone, his servant Hlemrich.
"Ah, gracious powers  Herr Hellwig, is it really you?"
shouted the man. " My mistress thinks you must be lying
stone-dead outside of the town."
"But how comes your mistress to know of our misfortune?"
" Why, you see, sir, a wagonload of players drove into
the town to-night," —to the honest fellow all actors, jugglers, rope-dancers, &c. were always'players,' —"and
1*




6        THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
when the driver pulled up before the'Lion,' there was our
horse, poor beast, trotting behind as though he belonged
to them. The host of the' Lion' knows the old horse well
enough, and brought him home himself. Ah, what a
fright Madame had I She sent me off directly with the
lantern, and Frederika is brewing a cup of chamomile
tea."
"Chamomile teal Hm-I think a glass of Burgundy,
or at least a good foaming mug of beer would be more
appropriate."
"Yes I thought so too, Herr Hellwig; but you know
how Madame   "
" Very well, Heinrich, very well,-now go forward with
the lantern. Let us get home as soon as possible."
When they reached the market-square the three companions in misery separated with a silent shake of the handone most dutifully to drink his chamomile tea, and the
others in the humiliating consciousness that curtain lectures awaited them at home. For their respective wives
were never very gracious toward the'noble passion for
the chase' which distinguished their lords, and now their
only propitiatory offerings, their hunting bags, lay crushed
under the overturned wagon, while the sight of their
muddy hunting coats would surely call forth exclamations
of dismay in place of any welcoming embrace.
The next morning bills printed in huge red letters were
found posted up at all the street corners, announcing the
arrival of the'renowned juggler Orlowsky, of great artistic fame,' while a young woman went from house to
house in the town offering tickets for sale. She was very
beautiful, this young creature, with her wealth of magnificent golden hair, and a commanding figure full of grace
and dignity; but her lovely face was pale,'pale as death,
people said, and when she lifted her darkly fringed eyelids,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           7
which, indeed, she did but seldom, a wonderfully touching
tearful glance shot from the dark-gray eyes.
She came at last to Hellwig's house, the finest on the
market-square.
"Madame," said Heinrich, opening the door into the
sitting-room on the ground-floor, and holding it ajar, with
his hand upon the highly polished door-handle, —"the
player's wife is here."
"What does she want?" called out a stern, hard voice
from within.
"Her husband is to playto-morrow, and she wishes to
sell Madame a ticket."
"We are respectable Christian people here, and have
no money for such folly,-send her away, Heinrich."
The man closed the door again. Then he pinched his
ear thoughtfully and made a wry face, for the'player's
wife' must have heard every word. She stood still for a
moment as if crushed-a fleeting blush coloured her pale
cheek, and a heavy sigh escaped her. Just then the sash
of a little window opening upon the passage was gently
lifted, and the suppressed voice of a man was heard desiring a ticket, —a hand received it, and placed a shining
thaler in the young wife's palm. Before she could look
up, the window was shut down, and a heavy green curtain hung in thick folds behind the panes.  Heinrich
opened the street door now with a smile and an awkward
bow, and the young woman took up again her weary way.
Heinrich then picked up a pair of freshly blacked boots
that he had put down upon the woman's appearance, and
went into his master's room, which master reveals himself to us by daylight as a little elderly man with a world
of kindness and good humour in his thin, pale face.
"Ah, Herr Hellwig," said Heinrich, while he was put
ting the boots in their place, "I am glad that you bought




8        THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
that ticket. The poor woman looked so unhappy, I am
heartily sorry for her, though her husband does earn his
living so disreputably. He'll have no luck in this place,
mark my words, Herr Hellwig."
"And.why not, Heinrich?"
"Why? because our poor beast of a horse, which had
just caused such an accident, stuck so close to his wagon
when it entered the town. No good can come of that.
Depend upon what I tell you, Herr Hellwig, those people
will have no luck here I"
As his master returned no reply to this gloomy prophecy, he shook his shock head and left the room, stooping in the hall to readjust the mat before the door of his
stern mistress's room. The'player's wife' had pushed
it a little aside with her foot.
CHAPTER II.
THE town hall was crowded with spectators, and fresh
throngs were continually arriving. Old Heinrich stood
where the press was greatest, trying to gain comfortable
standing room by squaring his elbows and making private
attacks upon the toes of his neighbours.  "Gracious
powersI if Madame only knew that, there would be a
stormI" he whispered grinning to an acquaintance, as he
pointed a horny finger toward one of the elevated seats
at the side of the hall. "My master will be brought to
confession early to-morrow morning, I'll warrant." In
the direction of his finger sat Herr Hellwig, with his
former companion in misfortune, Dr. Boehm.
Honest Heinrich had really had some difficulty in dis



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            9
covering his master, so closely crowded were the benches.
The programme for the evening's entertainment promised
much that was new and wonderful, and concluded as follows:'Madame d'Orlowska will appear as an Amazon. Six
soldiers with loaded muskets will fire upon her, and with
one flourish of her sword she will divide in two each of
their six bullets in the air.'
The inhabitants of X-    had been attracted chiefly by
the hope of seeing this performance. The beautiful young
creature had excited universal interest, and every one
wished to see how she would look when the six muskets
were pointed at her. But the previous performances of
her husband were also received with applause. He was
what ladies call an interesting looking man. Of middle
size, with great grace of movement, regular but strikingly
pale countenance, and most expressive eyes, his peculiarly
accented German indicated his Polish nationality at once,
and made him still more attractive as a son of that unhappy down-trodden land which has for so long excited
the sympathies of the civilized world But all this was
forgotten when the six soldiers, under the command of a
sergeant, marched into the hall.  A murmur like the
sound of the sea arose among the crowd, and was fol,
lowed by a dead silence.
The Pole stepped to a table and made up the cartridges
in sight of the audience, tapping each ball with a hammer, that all might be convinced of their reality. Then
he presented one to each soldier, who loaded his musket
in full view of every one present. An anxious pause
ensued. The juggler rang a little bell, and from behind
a screen his wife stepped upon the stage, walked slowly
forward, and placed herself opposite the soldiers. She
was a strange and wonderfully beautiful apparition. A




10       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
shield covered her left arm, in her right hand she held a
glittering sword. The white folds of some heavy texture fell to the floor from under the shiny scales of the
armour which covered her hips, while a dazzling breastplate concealed her magnificent bust. But the dazzle of
her armour faded beside the rich glimmer of those waves
of golden hair that rolled down from under her helmet
until they almost touched the border of her robe.
The pale, anxious look rested full upon the barrels of
the deadly weapons which were all pointed toward her.
Not an eyelash quivered, not even the faintest motion in
the folds of her white garment could be discerned-she
stood there as if hewn out of marble. The last word of
command rang through the listening hall-six shots
sounded like one-the sword whistled through the air,
and twelve half-bullets rolled upon the floor.
For one moment the tall form of the Amazon stood immovable; -the smoke of the powder obscured her features;
through its thick clouds her armour shone but dimly.
Then she suddenly tottered, her sword and shield fell
clattering upon the floor, she clutched wildly at the air
with her right hand as if seeking some support, and, with
a heart-rending shriek,-" Oh, God! I am wounded!" she
fell into the arms of her husband, who hurried to her assistance. He carried her behind the screen, and then
rushed back like a madman to interrogate the soldiers.
It seems that they had received strict directions to bite
off the balls while biting their cartridges, and keep them
in their mouths-this was the simple explanation of the
trick. One of them, however, a stupid country fellow,
had become utterly confused at the sight of the crowd,
and had lost his head at the critical moment. When the
five others at the passionate command of the juggler produced the balls from their mouths, he, to his horror, found




THE OLD iAM'PSEILE'S SECRET.          11
in his only a little powder-his ball had entered the unfortunate woman's breast.
At this discovery the wretched husband, beside himself
with rage and despair, struck the involuntary criminal in
the face.
Immediately the wildest confusion arose. Several ladies
fainted, and countless voices called out for a physician.
But Dr. Boehm, who had comprehended matters at a
glance, was already behind the screen in attendance upon
the wounded woman. When, at last, he came back to
Hellwig with a face pale with dismay, he whispered:
"There is no hope. That beautiful creature must die."
An hour later the juggler's wife lay dying on a bed at
the'Lion.' They carried her from the hall on a sofaold Heinrich insisting upon being one of the bearers.
"Ah, Herr Hellwig, was I right or wrong about that
unlucky beast of ours?" he asked as he passed his master, with the large tears rolling down his cheeks.
The woman lay quite still, with closed eyes. Her
unbound hair fell in masses over the pillow and covering of the bed-the golden ends lying in curls upon the
dark floor. By her side knelt the juggler, with her hand
resting upon his head which was buried in the cushions
of the bed.
"Is Fay asleep?" asked the woman almost inaudibly,
as she wearily opened her eyes.
"Yes," he murmured through his white lips. "The
daughter of the host has taken her into her room; she
is sleeping gently there in a little white bed —our child
is well cared for, Meta, dear love."
The woman looked with an indescribable expression
of anguish at her husband, in whose eyes shone the light
of despair.
"Iasko," she sighed, "I am dying."




12       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
The juggler sank back upon the ground and writhed
as in acute physical agony.
"Meta  Meta I" he cried, beside himself, "do not leave
mel Thou art the light upon my gloomy way; thou
angel who hast pierced thine own breast with the thorns
that spring from my despised calling-that mine might
receive no sting!l Meta, how can I live if thou art not
beside me with thine ever-watchful eyes, and thy heart
full of unspeakable devotionI How can I live never to
hear again thine intoxicating voice, to look into the
heaven of thy smile I How can I live with the torturing
consciousness that I have snatched thee to my arms only
to crown thy life with misery  O thou God above us,
canst thou plunge me into such a hell?"-Then, more
gently, "I will atone for my sin against thee, Meta, I
will work for thee, support thee by hard, honest labour
-together we will seek out some quiet retired spot, and
there live happy and contented ~" he tore the spangled
velvet mantle from his shoulders-" away with this vile
stuff! It shall never touch me againl Meta, stay with
me,-we will begin a new existence together!"
A painful smile hovered upon the lips of the dying
woman. She raised her head with difficulty; he put his
arm under it, and with the other hand pressed her pale
face convulsively to his breast.
"Iasko, be composed-be a manl" she gasped, and her
head fell back; but again she opened her eyes, as though
her parting soul made one more despairing effort to cleave
for a while to the dying body-those lips so soon to
crumble into dust must speak once more; the heart could
not cease to beat and sink into the earth with the yearnings of maternal anxiety unsatisfied.
"Thou art unjust to thyself, Iasko," she said after a
pause, during which she had collected all her remaining




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           13
strength-" thou hast never caused me misery,-I have
had love such as few other women can boast. I knew
what I was doing when I gave my hand to the juggler,
-and I left my father's house, where they rejected me on
account of my love, with a happy heart to wander through
life at thy side. If shadows fell upon that life, I only was
to blame,-I who had overestimated my strength which.
failed sometimes beneath the disdain that thy position
calls forth. Iasko," she continued still more gently, "a
man is exalted above the assaults of the narrow prejudices of the world by the thought that his art, whatever
it may be, ennobles him,-but a woman writhes beneath
the sting of the world's contempt. Oh, Iasko, anxiety
for Fay makes my death-bed a bed of thorns. I conjure
thee, —let the child know nothing of thy calling!"
She seized his hand and pressed it closely. Her whole
soul gazed once more from her beautiful eyes, whose light
death would so shortly extinguish.
"I know what a cruel thing I ask of thee, Iasko," she
went on imploringly,-"part from Fay,-give her into
the charge of simple, honest, kind people, that she may
grow up to lead a quiet happy home-life. Oh, promise
me this, my only love!"
In a voice choked by sobs her husband promised what
she asked. A terrible night ensued-the death-struggle
was long and agonizing, but the dawning morning threw
the roses of its ray through the window upon a fair dead
form whose transfigured features showed no trace of anguish. Orlowsky had thrown himself upon the stiffening
body, and the exertions of several men were necessary to
drag him from it to another room.
On the evening of the third day a great crowd followed
the body of the player's wife to its last resting-place.
Kind hands had covered the coffin with flowers, and Hell2




14       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
wig walked after it among the most respectable men of
the place. The juggler staggered and would have fallen
as the first shovelful of earth fell dull upon the coffin, had
not Hellwig supported him, and led him back to the inn.
There he remained several hours alone with the brokenhearted man, who until then had repulsed all attempts to
express sympathy, and had even tried to lay violent
hands upon his own life. Those who passed the door
of the room from time to time afterward heard the agonized sobs of- the unhappy man, interrupted by bursts of
passionate tenderness, which were replied to by the gentle voice of a child. It was a heart-rending sound-the
mingling of the tear-choked voice, and the silvery, laughing, childish tones.
CHAPTER III.
THE evening was far advanced. A keen November
wind swept through the streets, and the first winter
snow-flakes were whitening the roofs of the houses and
the dark freshly-made mound which covered the fair body
of the wife of the Pole.
The table was spread in the sitting-room at the Hellwigs. The service was of massive silver, and the pattern
upon the white damask table-cloth shone like satin.
The lamp stood upon a little round sofa-table, behind
which sat Frau Hellwig knitting a long woollen stocking. She was a tall broad-shouldered woman, just over
forty. Perhaps, while surrounded by the golden light of
youth, her face might have been thought handsome, for
even now it possessed the classical outline demanded as
a condition of regular beauty. But it could never have




THE OLD MAMZSELL.SE  SECRET.          15
been charming, for spite of the large well-shaped eye and
the fair, smooth complexion, the want of what only true
sensibility of soul can give to a face must always have
been felt. That countenance could never have stiffened
into such a hard stony expression if it had been informed
by any warmth of heart. Those bright-gray eyes could
never have shone so icily after a youth full of the joys
and sorrows which every susceptible kindly nature must
experience. Smooth bands of hair were laid above a
brow still fair, and the rest of the head was covered by
a spotless muslin cap. This cap and a black dress of the
plainest cut with tight sleeves and narrow white cuffs at
the wrists gave a puritanical air to her whole appearance.
Now and then a side door opened, and the wrinkled
face of the old cook peeped through the crack.
"Not yet, Frederika I" said Frau Hellwig, each time in
a monotonous voice, without looking up, but her needles
flew more quickly, and the thin lips were compressed with
a peculiar expression of self-control. The old cook knew
perfectly well that' Madame' was impatient-she liked to
aggravate the mood-and at last said in an almost tearful
tone as she peeped into the room:
"Ah, gracious Heaven! where can the master be? The
roast will be spoiled, and when shall I be through with
my work?"
This remark did her no good, for Frau Hellwig never
suffered her subordinates to express any opinion in her
presence, but the old servant retired with her reproof,
very well satisfied, for she had seen the proof of her power
in the wrinkle that had appeared between Madame's eyebrows.
At last the street door was opened as the full, deep
sound of the bell rang through the house.




1 6      THE OLD MAX'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Ah, what a pretty noise l" cried the clear voice of a
child outside.
Frau Hellwig laid the stocking she was knitting in a
basket at her side, and arose. The impatient expression
of her features was succeeded by one of astonishment, as
she looked across the light of the lamp toward the door.
Some one outside was rubbing his feet long and carefully
upon the mat-that was her husband.
Immediately afterward he entered the room and approached his wife with rather uncertain steps, for he carried in his arms a little girl about four years old.
" I have brought you home something, Brigitta," he said,
coaxingly, —but he stopped short as he met his wife's eye.
"Well?" she asked, without moving.
"I bring you a poor child-. "
"Whose is it?" she coldly interrupted.
"She is the child of the unfortunate man who has just
lost his wife so distressingly.  Dear Brigitta, receive. the
little one kindly."
" But only for this night?"
"No; I have given the father a sacred promise that the
child shall be brought up in my house."
These words were spoken quickly and firmly, as though
the speaker wished them well over.
The white face of his wife was suddenly coloured by a
deep flush, and a sarcastic expression wreathed her lips.
She left her place and came slowly forward, saying, as she
touched her forehead with malicious significance:
"I am really afraid, Hellwig, that you are not quite
right here. To require of me that I should accede to such
a proposal, that I should convert my house, which I endeavour to render worthy to be a temple of the Lord, into
an asylum for players' children, implies something more
in you than mere folly."




THE OLD AIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           17
Hellwig started, and a most unusual flash sparkled from
his kindly eyes.
"You have deceived yourself grossly, Hellwig," she
continued. " I shall not receive beneath my roof this child
of sin, the child of a lost creature overtaken in her iniquity
by the visible wrath of the Lord."
" Indeed I is that your view of it, Brigitta? Let me ask
you then what iniquity your brother was guilty of for
which he was killed by a stray shot while hunting? He
was pursuing his own pleasure, while this poor woman
died while fulfilling a hard duty."
The flush suddenly left the cheeks of his wife, and she
became ashy pale. She stood silent for a moment, with
her astonished eyes resting upon her husband, who had
so suddenly developed such an amount of energy in her
presence.
In the mean while the little girl whom Hellwig had set
down upon the floor, had taken off her pink hood, and exposed to view a charming head covered with thick chestnut curls. The little cloak too had fallen off. How stern
and hard Madame's heart must have been not to have taken
the child at once to her arms I Was she entirely blind to
the inexpressible grace of the little figure tripping about
the room upon the prettiest feet in the world, gazing at
the new surroundings with childish wonder? The rosy
shoulders contrasted charmingly with the light-blue woollen dress, the delicate embroidery of'which had perhaps
been the last work of loving hands now cold in death.
But the tasteful dress, the careless, lovely flow of the
curls upon brow and neck, and the graceful movements o,
the child, only excited Madame's dislike.
"I will not have this puppet an hour in my presence i"
she said suddenly without returning a syllable to her husband's striking reproof. "The forward little thing, with
o*




18       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECR ET.
its curled hair and bare shoulders, has no place in our discreet serious household-it would be opening our doors
to all levity and dissipation.  Iellwig, you will not cast
this apple of discord into our midst, but will see that the
child is taken hence to where she rightly belongs."
She opened the door which led to the kitchen and called
in the cook.
"Frederika, put this child's hood and cloak on," she
said, pointing to the little garments upon the floor.
" Go back instantly to your kitchen I" said Hellwig in a
loud angry voice, motioning her to the door.
The wondering servant vanished.
"You drive me to extremities by your sternness and
cruelty, BrigittaI" cried her angry husband. "Ascribe
it to yourself and your own narrow prejudices if I now say
to you what otherwise had never passed my lips. Whose
is this house which, as you falsely declare, you have tried
to constitute a temple of the Lord? Mine I Brigitta, you
came to this house a poor orphan-in the lapse of years
you have forgotten it-and, alas that I must say it I the
more labour you have spent upon this temple, as you call
it, the oftener that the words God and Heaven, and Christian Love and Humility are upon your lips, the more hard,
self-righteous, and uncharitable do you become I This
house is mine, I pay for the bread which we eat, and I
declare to you now that this child shall stay where she is.
And if your heart is too narrow and loveless to feel a
mother's tenderness for the poor little orphan, I can at
least require from my wife that she shall, in conformity
with my will, afford her the requisite feminine protection.
If you do not wish to lose all authority with our servants,
give the necessary orders now for the reception of the
child, otherwise I shall give them myself."
Not another word did Madame's white lips utter. Anv




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          19
other woman would at such a moment of utter helpless.
ness have resorted to a woman's last weapon-tears, but
that relieving fountain seemed dried for those cold eyes.
Her entire silence, her freezing manner, enveloped her
whole form like a suit of armour, and struck a chill into
all around her. She took up a basket of keys, and, still
silent, left the room.
With a deep sigh Hellwig took the little one by the
hand, and walked up and down the room with her. He
had fought a hard battle to assure this forsaken little being
a home in his house. He had mortally offended his wife.
Never, never, he knew well, would she forgive him for
the bitter truths that he had just spoken, for she was implacable.
CHAPTER IV.
MEANWHILE Frederika placed upon the table a little
pewter plate, a child's fork and spoon, and a fresh napkin.
The bell rang without, and Heinrich admitted a little boy
of about seven years of age.
"Good evening, papa," cried the boy, shaking the snowflakes from his fur cap.
Hellwig took his child's head fondly between his hands
and kissed his brow.
" Good evening, my boy," said he. "Well, have you
had a pleasant afternoon with your little friend?"
"Yes, but that stupid Heinrich came for me much too
soon."
"Your mother sent him, my child. Come here, Nathanael, see this little girl-her name is Fay."




20       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Nonsense! How can her name be'Fay'? That's n.o
name at all I"
Hellwig's eyes beamed tenderly upon the little creature
to whom a mother's tenderness had given the fanciful petname which suited her so well.
"Her dear mother called her so, Nathanael," he said
gently, "her real name is Felicitas. Is she not a poor,
dear little thing? Her mother was buried to-day,-she is
going to live with us, and you will love her like a little
sister."
"No, papa, I don't want a little sister."
The child was the image of his mother. His features
were fine, and his complexion remarkably fair and clear,
but he had a habit of resting his chin upon his breast and
peering at you with his large eyes from under his eyebrows, which gave him a peculiar expression of cunning
and slyness. His head sank now deep upon his breast,he lifted his right elbow, as if in an attitude of defense,
and looked crossly from under it at the strange little
girl.
She stood opposite him, shyly plucking at her little
dress,-the'big boy' evidently impressed her, but gradually she approached him, and without allowing herself to
be terrified by his defiant attitude, she seized, with sparkling eyes, upon the toy sword which hung at his belt. He
pushed her away angrily and ran to his mother, who at
that moment entered.
"But I don't want any sister!" he repeated almost
with tears. "Mamma, send that rude little girl away! I
want to be alone with you and papa!"
Frau Hellwig shrugged her shoulders in silence, and
stepped up to her place at the table.
"Say grace, Nathanael," she said in a monotone, and
folded her hands. Immediately the child clasped his




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SAEiRET.          21
hands, bent his head in an attitude of humility, and said
a long grace. Under the circumnstances, this prayer was
a miserable profanation of a beautiful Christian custom.
The master of the house could not eat. The flush of
mental excitement still coloured his usually pale forehead,
and while he played mechanically with his fork, his troubled
glance rested upon the sullen faces of his wife and child.
But the little girl was nowise daunted. She quietly eat
her dinner, carefully putting some bonbons, which Hellwig laid beside her plate, into her little pocket.
"Those are for mamma," she said, confidingly; "she
loves bonbons. Papa always brings her great boxes full
of them."
"You have no mammal" said Nathanael, angrily, to
her across the table.
"Oh you know nothing about it," she replied, in great
excitement.  "I have a much prettier mamma than
yours!"
Hellwig stole a shy, terrified glance at his wife, and his
hand made an involuntary movement, as if to shut the
rosy little mouth, which so poorly understood how to
study its own interests.
"Have you seen to her bed, Brigitta?" he asked
hastily, but in a gentle, coaxing tone.
"Yes."
"And where is she to sleep?"
"In Frederika's room."
"Is there not room enough, at least for the first few
weeks, in our bed-room?"
"Yes, if you wish to have Nathanael's bed taken out
of it."
He turned away with an expression of vexation, and
called in the servant.
"Frederika," he said, "this child will be under your




2S2      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
care at night,-be kind and gentle to her. She has been
used to a mother's loving tenderness."
"I shan't hurt the, hild, Herr Hellwig," said the old
woman, who had evidently been listening,-"but I am
come of respectable people, and have had nothing in my
life to do with playerfolk. It would be a comfort, at least,
to know that her parents were married."
She glanced aside at Frau Hellwig, evidently expecting
an approving look for her bold answer; but Madame was
untying Nathanael's napkin, and looked as though she
had heard and seen nothing of the whole matter.
"This is too muchl" cried Hellwig, really provoked.
"Must I learn to-day that neither sympathy nor pity is
to be found in my house? And do you consider yourself
justified in cruelty, Frederika, because you are'come of
respectable people'? Be satisfied that this child's parents
were honestly married,-but I tell you now that any neglect or ill treatment of her on your part shall be visited
upon you most severely."
He seemed weary of the contest, rose and carried the
child into the servants' room. She willingly allowed herself to be put to bed, and soon slept soundly, after praying, in a sweet, childish voice, "for papa and mamma,
for her good uncle who would carry her back to-morrow
to mamma, and for the lady with the naughty face."
Late at night Frederika went to bed. She was angry
that she had been kept up so late, and made a great noise
in the room.
Little Felicitas started from her sleep, sat upright in
bed, and brushing the curls from her eyes, cast a terrified,
searching glance around the smoky walls and meagre
furniture of the small, dimly-lighted room:
"Mamma, mammal" she cried, loudly.
"Be still, c*aild! your mother is not here,-go to sleep




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           23
again I" said the woman harshly, as she went on undressing.
The child looked at her in terror,-then began to cry
gently.  She was evidently frightened by the strange
place.
"And now she will rouse the house, and I must bear
this too I Stop that noise, you player's brat I" She raised
her hand threateningly. The child, frightened, hid her
head under the bedclothes.
" Ah, mamma I dear mamma!" she whispered, "where
are you? Take me into your bed,-I'm so afraid,-I will
be a good little girl, and go right to sleep. I saved you
some bonbons, dear mamma,-Fay has something for
you. Or only let me hold' your hand, and I will stay
quietly in my little bed, and    "
"Are you going to be quiet?" cried Frederika, in a
rage, running to the child's bedside. There was no more
noise, only now and then a sound of suppressed sobs from
under the bedclothes.
Long after the old servant was sleeping the sleep of
the just, the child, with its little heart full of terrified
longings, was crying softly for its dead mother.
CHAPTER V.
IEELLWIG was a merchant.  Heir to a considerate,
property, he had increased his wealth by extensive commercial operations. But, as his health was uncertain, he
had early retired from the business world to the narrow
circle of his native town. There the name Hellwig carried great weight with it. From time immemorial the




24       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
family had been of the utmost respectability, and for
years the most honourable offices in the town had been
constantly filled by some one of the name. The most
beautiful garden to be found outside the gates of the town,
and the finest house upon the market-square, had been in
possession of the family for many generations. The house
reared its stately front on the corner of the Square at the
entrance of a steep ascending street. Behind the windowframes of the upper stories snow-white curtains hung immovably from year's end to year's end. Only three times
a year, and then just before some high holiday, did they
disappear from behind the glass while the rooms were
swept and dusted. At these times the huge brazen
dragons' heads, which poured the rain-water from the
gutters on the high roof upon the pavement below,: and
the birds as they flew by, looked in upon the hoarded
treasures of the old merchant's house; looked in upon
the old-fashioned splendour of the apartments-upon
cabinets of costly inlaid workmanship with shining locks
and handles-upon the rich silk damask covering of the
huge down cushions of the sofas and chairs'L-upon high
Venetian mirrors built into the wall from floor to ceiling,
-and, in the guest chambers, upon the cushioned and
canopied beds, from the linen upon which issued a strong
odour of lavender.
These rooms were uninhabited.  The Hellwigs had
never conformed to the custom of renting a story of their
house.
For a century a grand and solemn silence had reigned
in the upper parts of the mansion, only interrupted, at
long intervals, by a ceremonious marriage or baptismal
feast, and now and then, in the course of the year, by the
sounding steps of the mistress of the house, who kept
there her treasures of linen, silver, and porcelain.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           25
Frau Hellwig came to this house a child of twelve
years of age. The Hellwigs were her relations, and
adopted her when her parents died, leaving their children
destitute. The young girl led a hard life with her old
kinswonan, who was stern and proud. Hellwig, the only
son of the house, felt kind sympathy for her at first, but
this sympathy in time was transformed into love. His
mother opposed his choice, but the lover persisted,
through many hard contests of will, and at last married
as he wished. He had mistaken the young girl's sullen
taciturnity for maidenly reserve, her coldness of heart for
dignified decorum, her obstinacy for strength of character
-and marriage alone banished him from the heaven he
had looked for. In a short time the kindly man felt the
iron pressure upon his life of a despotic will, and where
he had looked for grateful devotion he found only the
grossest egotism.
Two children were born to him-little Nathanael and
his brother John, eight years the elder. The latter, when
nine years old, had been sent by his father to a relative,
a professor, the principal of a large school for boys, upon
the Rhine.
Such were Hellwig's family circumstances at the time
when the juggler's child was received into his house.
The terrible tragedy of which he had been an eye-witness
had moved him deeply. He could not forget the beseeching, unutterably humble expression of the unfortunate
woman as she stood before his door. His kindly nature
suffered in thinking that perhaps his house had been the
last at which she had felt the sting of the world's scorn
for her husband's calling. Thus, when the Pole made
him acquainted with the promise exacted by his dying
wife, he instantly offered to take the child himself. Only
when, with the child in his arms, he left the inn with the
3




26      TTHE OLD MAI'SELLE'S SECRET.
heart-rending farewell of the unhappy father yet ringing
in his ears, and the child, clasping her arms around his
neck, asked for her mother, did the thought strike him of
the opposition which he must in all probability encounter
at home; still he hoped everything from the beauty and
grace of the little one, and from the fact that a daughter
had been denied to his own marriage. With all his experience he had as yet no suspicion of the utter hardness of
his wife's character, or he would have turned upon the
spot and delivered the child again to her father's arms.
If the relation between Hellwig and his wife had been
none of the closest before the coming of the child into
the household, it now seemed as if a wall of granite
divided the pair. Everything in the house went on as
before. Each day Madame made her accustomed round
through kitchen and pantries; her step was by no means
a light one, and there was something in that dull, firm
tread, exasperating to nervous ears.  Her right hand
glided over furniture, window-sills, and banister-Madame had a custom, which amounted to a mania with
her, of brushing her large white hand with its round
finger-tips and broad nails, over everything, and then
carefully examining the palm to see if any atom of dust
or'cobweb could be found. Prayers were prayed as before, and the voices which praised the eternal Mercy and
Love of God, and repeated his command which enjoins
upon us to love even our enemies —preserved the same
unmoved monotone.  The family assembled at mealtimes, and on Sundays husband and wife walked side by
side to church. But Frau Hellwig, with an iron determination, avoided addressing her husband. She answered
his questions and remarks in the curtest and coldest
manner possible-and even contrived never to look at
him, but always over or beyond him. The little intruder,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           27
too, had no existence for her. On that first stormy evening she had ordered Frederika always to place a plate
upon the table for the child, and had thrown into the old
servant's room all that was necessary for her little bed.
She had also ordered Frederika to open before her the
little trunk containing the dainty wardrobe which had
been brought from the'Lion,' and to take out and hang
up in the open air all the articles it contained, as all
exhaled the sweet odour of some delicate perfume laid
among them. Thus began and ended her forced care for
the'player's child,' and when she returned to the room
on that evening the whole affair was for her a closed
chapter. Only once afterward a spark of sympathy seemed
kindled within her, when a sempstress was sent for and
ordered to make two dresses for Felicitas after the same
stiff pattern which she wore herself; and while they'were
a-making, Madame took the struggling child upon her lap,
and worked at her hair with brush, comb, and pomatum,
until the lovely curls were sufficiently straight and smooth
to be braided in two ugly knobs at the back of her head.
The detestation which Madame entertained of grace and
beauty, of everything which came in contact with her
narrow prejudices, and which sprang from an appreciation of ideal excellence-this detestation was stronger
even than her obstinate determination to ignore the
presence of the child in the house. Hellwig could almost
have wept when he beheld his little darling thus disfigued, while his wife, after having exacted this sacrifice
to her prejudices, was, if possible, colder and more repellant to the child than before.
And yet the little one was not to be pitied,-she could
always flee from those Medusa eyes to a warm heart.
Hellwig loved her as though she were his own. It is true
he did not dare to make this depth of affection apparent;




2.8      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
he had exhausted his stock of energy on the evening when
he brought the child home, but he guarded Felicitas with
never-tiring vigilance. Like Nathanael she had her own
peculiar corner in her foster-father's study,-there she
could nurse her dolls undisturbed and rock them asleep
with the little songs she had learned at her mother's knee.
Nathanael did not go to the public school, he received instruction from private tutors at home, and when Felicitas
attained her sixth year she shared this instruction. As
soon as the snow melted and the crocuses and snowdrops
bordered the yet empty flower-beds, Hellwig took the
two children daily to his large garden outside of the
town,-there they played and studied, only returning to
the house in the market-square at meal-times. Frau Hellwig seldom visited this garden, she preferred to sit knitting in her large, quiet room, behind the spotless curtains;
and there was a peculiar reason for this preference. An
ancestor of Hellwig's had laid out the garden in antique
French style. The sandstone mythological figures and
groups which were scattered here and there in the grounds
were master-pieces of art in their way. It is true the
light-coloured forms stood out in strong relief against the
stiff cypress walls. The charming but unveiled form of
a Flora, the bare shoulders and arms of a struggling Proserpine, and the muscular figure of her grim lover struck
the eye upon entering the gates, and these figures were
abominations in the sight of Madame. At first she had
peremptorily ordered the removal of such'sinful representations of the human form,' but Hellwig had rescued
his favourites from destruction by reference to his father's
will, which expressly forbade the removal of the statues,
whereupon Madame had climbing plants and roses of
every description planted at the bases of the mythological apples of discord, and before long, Pluto's grim coun



TIIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          29
tenance was surmounted by a green ivy wig. But one
fine morning, Heinrich, by his master's orders and to his
own great delight, pulled up and cleared away the green
parasites, until not the smallest vestige of them remained
around the statues, and from that time Frau Hellwig, for
her soul's sake, and because the statues had witnessed
her ignominious defeat, avoided visiting the garden. All
the more did little Felicitas enjoy it and make it her
home.
Behind the imposing cypress walls there was a wide
extent of meadow and lawn,-gigantic chestnut-trees
reared -their trunks from the flower-strewn grass, and a
rippling brook intersected one part of the green plain,its banks were fringed with alders and hazel bushes, and
the thickly-sodded dam which had been thrown up for
protection against the spring floods, was brilliant in May
with yellow buttercups, while later in the season blueeyed grass twinkled up from beneath your feet.
Felicitas studied diligently and was never restless at
her lessons. But when in the afternoon Hellwig declared
study over for the day, she suddenly underwent a transformation. With the flush of serious application yet on
her cheek, she grew wild as if intoxicated by liberty,she would bound apparently aimlessly over the green
lawn, tossing her arms in the air, graceful as the young
steed of the desert. She would climb with lightning ra.
pidity the tall trunk of a chestnut-tree, and her face, surrounded by the masses of her loosened hair, would laugh
out from among the branches,-or she would lie upon the
green bank beside the brook, her hands folded under her
head, and, gazing up into the arch of quivering chestnut
boughs above her, would dream-build fairy fabrics of the
world of the future, such as must always crowd the brain
of an imaginative child. Beside her the water murmured
3*' 




30       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
monotonously, the sunbeams danced upon the ripples and
shimmered through the hazel bushes in bright flecks, like
half-veiled mysterious fiery eyes, bees and beetles hummed
above her, and the butterflies, wearied with fluttering
around the rare exotics that filled the garden beds, found
here their promised land, and buried themselves in the
lily-cups that almost touched the little girl's cheek.
Sometimes white fantastically-shaped shining clouds
would float above the tree tops, and then an incomprehensible past would suddenly fill the memory of the
thoughtful child. Her mother's dress had been white
and shining too, the light of the candles had illuminated
the flowers that had strewn her narrow bed when Felicitas had last seen her. She wondered still why her mother had had flowers in' her hands and had given her
none, and why they would not let her kiss mamma, as
she had always done every morning with such delight.
She did not dream that that bewitching face which had
bent over her with such passionate tenderness, had long
since mouldered away in the earth. Hellwig had never
dared to tell her the truth, for although now, after the
lapse of five years, she no longer wept bitterly for her
parents, nor longed so passionately to see them, still she
talked of them incessantly with touching tenderness, and
trusted with implicit faith in Hellwig's ambiguous prom.
ise that she should one day ssee them again.
It never occurred to him that the veil that he held so
lovingly before her might fall from his hand all too soon;
he never thought of his own death, and yet this grim
phantom was noiselessly but surely coming very near.
He had an incurable affection of the lungs, but, like all
affected by this insidious disease, had the most sanguine
hopes of recovery.
It was now necessary to wheel him in an invalid chair




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          31
to his beloved garden every day; but this he coi sidered
only a passing weakness, which did not hinder him from
laying plans of every description for the future.
One afternoon, Dr. Boehm entered Hellwig's study.
The sick man sat at his desk writing busily,-several
cushions, which had been placed in the chair behind and
on each side of him, propped the emaciated haggard form
in an upright position.
"HalloI" cried the doctor, threatening him with his
cane. "What follv is this? Who, in Heaven's name,
gave you leave to write? Come, put away'the pen!"
Hellwig turned round, a bright smile played about his
lips. "There it is " he rejoined, "doctor and death are
sure to come together. I am writing to my boy-to John
-about little Fay,-and just as you enter the house, I,
who never in my whole life thought less about dying, am
writing this sentence-it has just left my pen."
The doctor stopped and read aloud: "I rely with confidence on your steadiness of character, my dear John,
and wish to bequeath to you unconditionally all care for
the child entrusted to my guardianship, in case I should
leave this world sooner than    "
" Oh, enough! not another word to-day!" cried the doctor, as he opened a portfolio and laid the half-finished
letter within it. Then he hastily felt the invalid's pulse,
and glanced furtively at the hectic spot that was burning
on either emaciated cheek. "You are a perfect child,
Hellwig," said he; "let me only turn my back and you
are sure to commit some gross indiscretion."
"And you tyrannize over me outrageously. Only wait,
though,-next May I shall slip through your fingers, and
you can come after me to Switzerland if you like."
A few days afterward the windows of the sick man's
bedroom stood wide open, and a man in deep mourning




32       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
left, as was the custom, the sad intelligence at the houses
of friends that Herr Hellwig had departed this life an
hour previously.
CHAPTER VI.
BENEATH the windows, hung with green curtains opening upon the wide marble paved hall where the beautiful
unhappy wife of the juggler had stood five years before
crushed by Madame's contempt, was now placed the cof
fin containing Hellwig's mortal remains. They had surrounded the earthly shell of the former merchant and
financier with all the pomp of wealth. The decorations
of the coffin were of massive silver, and the head of the
departed rested upon white satin cushions. And, terrible contrast  around the shrunken dead face, fresh, beautiful flowers were exhaling their young life, doomed to
an early death that they might adorn the dead.
Crowds of people came and went, whispering and
noiseless. He who lay there had been a wealthy, influential man,-now he was dead. Men's eyes glanced
shyly at the pale drawn face, but rested long on the
pomp and show by which it was surrounded —the last
flicker of earthly splendour.
Felicitas cowered in a corner behind the large boxes
in which were growing orange-trees and oleanders. They
had not allowed her to see her uncle for two days,-his
room had been closed upon her, and now she knelt there
upon the cold stone and gazed at that strange. face from
which death had taken so much of kindly expression.
~What did the child know of death? She had been with
lhim in his last moments, but had never.dreamed that the




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           33
red stream, which suddenly gushed from his lips, would
end everything. His gaze had rested upon her with indescribable tenderness and anxiety when she was sent
from the room. Outside, in the street, she had run angrily up and down beneath the windows of his bed-room,
which were wide open. Why were they so careless as
to leave them open when they knew how anxiously he
avoided every draught of air? She wondered that no fire
was made in his room at dusk; and when she begged repeatedly to be allowed to carry the lamp and a cup of tea
to her dear uncle, Frederika said angrily: "Are you
really not right in your head, child? Or don't you understand German? I tell you he is deadl dead " And
now when she saw him again, she scarcely knew him,
he was so changed, and the idea of death began to dawn
upon the child's mind.
Whenever a fresh crowd of the towns-people, impelled
by curiosity, filled the hall, Frederika would come in from
her kitchen, wipe her eyes with the hem of her apron,
and praise the virtues of the man, whom, during life, she
had so often wilfully annoyed.
"But look at that child," she interrupted herself angrily, as she discovered Felicitas' pale face, with its hot,
dry eyes among the orange-trees. "She does not shed
a tearl Ungrateful thingl She can't have a spark of
affection in her!"
"You never loved him, and you are crying," remarked
the little girl pointedly but in a low voice, as she withdrew more entirely into her corner.
The hall was gradually emptied of the throngs from
the lower classes who now took up their positions in the
street outside to witness the forming of the funeral procession-and the friends of the family appeared, who,
after a moment spent beside the coffin, betook themselves




34       THIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
to the sitting-room to express their sympathy to the
widow.
There reigned in the high-arched hall a momentary
stillness which might have been called solemn had it not
been interrupted now and then by the low murmur of
voices in the adjoining room.
Suddenly little Felicitas started from her deep reverie,
and gazed terrified through the glass door which led into
the court-yard.  There, behind the panes, she saw a
wonderful apparition-he was certainly lying here with
sunken eyes, and strange lines around his tightly closed
lips, and yet there he was, gazing searchingly into the
silent deserted hall-alive again, with the same kindly
expression of countenance, although the head was partly
concealed by some dark covering.
It seemed like something supernatural when the latch
was gently lifted, and the door opened noiselessly. The
strange apparition entered the hall. Yes, those features
were indeed strikingly like Hellwig's, but they belonged
to a woman-to a little old lady who, dressed richly
after a fashion long passed away, slowly approached the
coffin. A neglige of heavy black silk enveloped her
small figure, it was short enough to show a pair of exq-uisitely shaped feet, whose tread was somewhat uncertain. Above the brow a profusion of snow-white curls
was most carefully arranged, and covered by a black lace
kerchief which was tied beneath the chin.
The old lady did not notice the child, who without
moving gazed breathlessly at the strange vision, but
stepped towards the bier. At sight of the dead face she
started back, apparently much shocked, and her left hand
dropped a bouquet of costly flowers, unconsciously as it
seemed, upon the breast of the corpse. For one moment
she hid her face in her handkerchief, but then she laid




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           35
her right hand in great agitation, as in solemn appeal,
upon the forehead of the dead man.
".Do you know all about it now, Fritz?" she whispered.
"Yes, you know it all, as your father and mother have
long known it. I forgave you, Fritz. I always forgave
you. You never knew what injustice you were doing!
Good night-good night!"
She pressed the waxen hand of the dead tenderly between both her own-left the side of the coffin, and was
about leaving the hall as noiselessly as she had entered
it, when the door of the sitting-room opened, and Madame
came out. Her face looked whiter than marble beneath
the black crape cap which surmounted it, but her features
were more immovable than ever: no trace of tears could
be found in those eyes. She held a thick wreath of flowers in her hand, and was evidently about to lay them as'love's last gift' upon the coffin. Her astonished gaze
met that of the old lady. Both stood for a moment as if
rooted to the spot, but an evil fire began to glow in the
widow's eyes, her tipper lip curled a little, showing one
of her white teeth —there was something indescribably
malignant in her expression. The features of the old
lady also betrayed deep emotion, she seemed struggling
against an almost invincible repugnance, but overcoming
it at last, with a gentle, tearful glance at the dead man,
she held out her right hand to Frau Hellwig.
"What do you wish here, aunt?" asked the widow,
coldly, entirely disregarding the little lady's gesture.
"To give him my blessing I" was the gentle reply.
"The blessing of an infidel can have no effect."
"God hears it. In His infinite love He regards, not
the empty form, but the prayer of the sincere heart."
"And of a soul laden with sin," conD.luded Frau Hell
wig, with biting scorn.




36       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
The old lady drew up her slender little figure.
"Judge not!I" she began, and raised her forefinger
threateningly-"but no"-she interrupted herself with
touching gentleness, and glanced towards the dead man
-"not one word more shall disturb your holy rest.
Farewell, Fritz "
She went slowly out into the court-yard and vanished
behind a door which Felicitas bad always before found
locked.
"Well, that was bold enough of the old Mam'selle,"
muttered Frederika, who had seen all from her kitchen
door.
Frau lHellwig shrugged her shoulders and laid the
wreath at the feet of the corpse. She was not yet mistress of her emotion.
Impossible as it was for the features of this woman to
express gentleness and tenderness, immovable as they appeared in their iron placidity, they could be wonderfully
animated by hate and contempt. Whoever beheld the evil
smile which at certain moments played about her lips,
could never again trust in the repose of that face. She
bent over the departed as if to arrange some fold, and her
hand brushed rudely aside the little lady's bouquet, which
fell from the coffin and rolled upon the floor at Felicitas'
feet.
Three o'clock struck. Several clergymen in full canonicals entered the hall, the gentlemen came out of the sitting-room, followed by Nathanael, who held the hand of a
tall, slender young man. The widow had telegraphed her
son John, and he had arrived that morning to attend the
funeral. For a moment little Felicitas forgot her grief,
and gazed with the curiosity of childhood at the youth
who had been his father's favourite. Was he crying behind that slender, delicately white hand with which he




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            37
covered his eyes at the sight of his dead father? No, no
tears flowed, and to a child's inexperienced eye, there was
no sign of extraordinary emotion in the serious face except
in the unusual pallor which overspread it.
Nathanael stood beside him. He shed many tears, but
his grief did not prevent him from gently nudging his
brother and whispering to him, when he discovered Felicitas' place of concealment. John's glance followed the
direction of his brother's finger. For the first time the
little girl encountered his eyes,-they were terrible eyes,
serious, gloomy, without one ray in them of kindly tenderness. In the Bible there was a picture of the evangelist,' the disciple whom Jesus loved,' a fair, gentle face,
with almost feminine features, "That is our John on the
Rhine!" she had always maintained, and her uncle had
smilingly nodded assent. But they had nothing in common, those lovely features, with their frame of light curls,
and this head with straight, closely-cut hair, and the serious, pale, irregular profile.
"Go away, child, you are in the way here," was his
stern command, when he saw that preparations were being
made to close the coffin. Felicitas, terrified and ashamed,
left her corner like a culprit, and, unseen by all, slipped
into her foster-father's study.
And now she wept bitterly. She had never been in his
way! And she seemed to feel his feverish hand stroking
her hair, and to hear his feeble, kindly voice whisper
hoarsely, as it had done so often: "Come, Fay, my child,
I love so much to have you with me."
But, hark!  what were they hammering without there?
The sound rang harshly through the high rooms, where
no one even whispered loudly. Felicitas stole to the green
curtain, pushed it aside, and looked out into the hall.
HorribleI Her uncle's form had vanished!-that black,
4




38       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
wooden cover was laid above his dear face, and would
keep him always lying stretched out so still! If he only
lifted his hand a little he would strike it against the hard
board I And that man was still hammering at the cover,
so that- the hand within could never lift it, never leave
that dark, narrow box, where no one could breathe, and
where it must be so dreadful to be all alone. The child
shrieked aloud with horror.
Every eye turned toward her at the window, but Felicitas saw only the large, gray pair, whose gaze had already
so terrified her. He looked at her reprovingly; she left
the window, and concealed herself in the heavy folds of
the huge curtains which divided the room in the middle.
There she cowered upon the floor, watching the door
timidly, and expecting that he would certainly appear
presently and send her angrily away.
From her hiding-place she did not see how the bearers
took the coffin upon their shoulders, and how her uncle
left the house forever. She did not see the long black
procession that followed the dead body like the last
shadow at the end of life's road. At the corner of the
street a breeze lifted the white satin ribbons which hung
down from the coffin-was it a farewell greeting from the
departed to the forsaken child whom a mother's tenderness had snatched from the slough of her father's calling,
only to cast her upon an inhospitable, barren shore?




THE OLD IMAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          39
CHAPTER VII.
THE mT rmur of voices in the hall was suddenly hushed
utter silehce ensued. Felicitas heard the house door
close, but she did not know that the drama in the hall was
at an end. She did not dare to leave her hiding-place-the
study-but she sat down in the little arm-chair which her
uncle had given her at Christmas, and rested her head
upon her hands, which were crossed upon the table before her. Her heart no longer beat so painfully, but her
head throbbed, and perplexing thoughts filled her childish
brain. Again she seemed to-see the little old lady, whose
bouquet was lying now neglected upon the stone pavement of the hall, perhaps trodden into pieces by careless
feet. This, then, was'the old Mam'selle,' the lonely
tenant of the upper story of the back buildings of the
mansion-a perpetual cause of discord to Frederika and
Heinrich. Frederika maintained that the old Mam'selle
had a weight upon her conscience-she had been the
cause of her father's death. This dreadful story had
filled little Felicitas with fear and horror, but she disbelieved it now utterly. What! that little lady, with the
kind face and eyes full of tears, kill her father I Heinrich
was certainly right in always shaking his shock head,
and sententiously remarking, "There's another side to
that story I"
Many years before, the old Mam'selle had had her apartments in the main building, but, as Frederika recounted
with ever-reviving wrath, she would insist upon desecrating the Sabbath with profane songs and pieces of music.
In vain had I)[adame pictured to her the joys of heaven




40       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
and the pains of hell,-the godless music was conti: ued
until Herr Hellwig acceded to his wife's importunities,
and the old Mam'selle was banished to the topmost story,
just under the roof, of the back building. There she
could do no harm, said Frederika, for not a note of the
wicked music could be heard below. Her uncle, Felicitas
thought, must have been very angry with the old Mam'selle, for he had never spoken of her, and yet she was his
father's sister, and looked so like him; and at the idea of
this resemblance a longing to go up to the rooms under
the roof filled the child's heart, and she would have tried
now to do so, but the thought of John's stern face terrified her-she trembled, and wondered how long the old
Mam'selle had lived there behind bolts and bars.
At the end of a long, disused corridor, close to the
stairs which led up from the lower stories, there was a
door, and once, when the children were playing there,
Nathanael had said mysteriously, "Yes, she lives up
there always I" and then battering at the door with his
fists, had cried out, "Old witch, up there under the roof,
come downl" rushing down stairs afterward with terrified haste. Ah, how Felicitas' heart had throbbed with
terror I She had expected every moment that a horrible
old woman would dart out upon her, knife in hand, and
seize her by the hair.
Outside, the sun was setting. His last golden rays
were gilding the cross upon the gable of the town-hall'opposite, and the tall clock in the corner of the room
struck five just as slowly and clearly as it had struck
three two hours before, when its former possessor, whose
gentle hands had so regularly wound it up, had been carried out of his house never to return.
Thus far all had been quiet through the house, but t'be
door of the sitting-room now opened, and a firm, hard tread




THE OLD iAJiM'SELLE'S SECRET.         41
was heard upon the floor. Felicitas shrunk back into the
curtain, for Frau Hellwig was approaching her husband's
study. This seemed strange enough to the child, who
never during her uncle's lifetime had known Madame to
cross this threshold. She entered with unusual haste,
turned the key in the lock behind her, and stood still for
a moment in the middle of the room. There was an expression of unutterable triumph in the look that she cast
around the apartment from which she had for so long
banished herself.
Above Hellwig's study-table hung two finely painted
portraits in oil, a gentleman and a lady. The latter,
whose haughty features were nevertheless brilliant with
gayety and wit, was dressed after that hideous old fashion
which strove to reproduce the costume of the Greeks.
The short-waisted white satin dress was made yet shorter
in the waist by a broad gold-embroidered girdle, and the
almost too luxuriant beauty of the neck and arms was
barely covered, and harmonized but ill with the simple
bouquet of modest violets worn at the girdle. This was
Hellwig's mother.
Before this picture the widow now stood for a moment
gazing at it. Then she mounted upon a chair, took the
picture down from the place where it had hung undisturbed for so many years, and carefully, without any
needless noise, drove a new nail into the walljust between
the two old ones, and upon this nail she hung the male
portrait, Hellwig's father. He now looked down alone,
while the widow left the room with the other picture in
her arms. Felicitas listened attentively, and heard her
pass through the hall and ascend the first flight of stairs,
then the second and third,-she must have gone into the
garret.
She had not quite closed the door behind her, and be4*




42       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
fore the sound of her footsteps had died away, Heinrich's
honest face appeared at the crack.
"Yes, indeed, Frederika!" he said, in a smothered and
yet terrified tone of voice, "it really was old Frau Hellwig's picture!"
The old cook flung the door open and looked in:
"Oh, good Heavens I'tis the factI" she cried, clasping
her hands; " gracious Powers I if the proud old Frau could
see that, she would turn in her coffin, and the blessed old
master too. But then she was horribly dressed, with her
neck so bare,-enough to make any good Christian blush."
"Do you think so?" rejoined Heinrich, winking slyly.
"Let me tell you something, Frederika," he continued,
counting off the fingers of his right hand upon his left
thumb, "in the first place, old Frau Hellwig could not
endure to have her son marry our Madame, and Madame
will never forget that,-in the second place, the old lady
was bright and gay, and liked balls and f6tes,-and in the
third place, she once called our Madame'a heartless
devotee.' What do you.say to that?"
While Heinrich was talking, Felicitas came out of her
hiding-place. The child felt, instinctively, that the rough
but thoroughly good-hearted old servant was now her
only friend. He loved her very dearly, and it was princi.
pally to his watchful care that she owed her happy igno.
rance of her own antecedents.
"Ah, my little Fay, is that you?" he said kindly, and
took the little hand in his hard palm; " I have been look.
ing for you everywhere. Come with me to the servants'
room,-nobody wants you here now, poor thing! If the
old pictures must go,'twill not be long before,"
He sighed, and closed the door. Frederika had already
returned to her kitchen, for Madame was heard descending
the stairs.




THE' OLD MAAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         43
Felicitas looked timidly around the hall,-it was empty.
The floor where the coffin had been was strewn with
crushed flowers and leaves.
"Where is uncle?" she asked, in a whisper, as Heinrich led her toward the servants' room.
"Oh, they have taken him away, but you know, child,
he is in heaven now, and he is much happier there than
here on the earth," said Heinrich, sorrowfully.
He took down his cap from a peg, and went out to perform some errand in the town.
In the servants' room it was already almost dark, and
when Heinrich left her, Felicitas kneeled upon the narrow,
wooden bench, which was placed beneath the small grated
window, and looked up into the little piece of sky, which
was all that could be seen among the gables of the opposite houses in the narrow street at the back of the
servants' room: " Up there?-was her uncle there now?"
She started with sudden terror as Frederika entered
with the kitchen lamp. The old cook put a plate of bread
and butter on-the table.
"Come here, child, and eat your supper," said she.
The child approached, but did not touch the food. She
took her slate which Heinrich had brought to her out of
her uncle's room, and began to write. Buf hasty steps
were heard in the adjoining kitchen, and Nathanael's yellow head appeared at the open door; Felicitas trembled,
for he was always rude to her when they were alone together.
"Ah, here is Miss Fay I" he cried, in the tone that Felicitas dreaded to hear. "Tell me, you naughty thing,
where have you been hiding all this time?"
"I have been in the green room," she answered, without looking up.
" Well, you'd better not try that again," he said threat..




44       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
eningly, "you don't belong there now, mamma says.
What are you writing there?"
"My lesson for Herr Richter."
"Oh, for Herr Richter!" he repeated, and with a sudden movement of his hand he wiped off everything that
she had written on the slate. "And do you think mamma
will be so stupid as to go on paying for expensive private
lessons for you? She knows better than that, she says.
All that is over now. You can go back to where you
came from, and be just what your mother was, and they'll
finish you so,"-and he made a gesture as if shooting,
and cried'bang!'
The little girl stared at him with wide open eyes. He
spoke of her mother,-no one had ever done that before,
but she could not understand what he said.
"You do not know my mamma at all," she said, half
questioningly, and almost breathlessly.
" Oh, I know more about her than you do," he replied;
and after a pause, during which he looked maliciously at
her from under his eyebrows, "I'll bet you don't know
what your father and mother were I"
The little girl shook her head with lovely innocent
grace, and her eyes rested upon him with a beseeching
expression.'She knew the boy too well not to feel sure
that what he was about to say would wound her.
" They were play-actors," he cried, with malice in every
tone. "Such people, you know, as we saw at the fair,
they played tricks and turned summersaults, and then
went round with a plate and begged."
The slate fell upon the floor and broke into a hundred
pieces. Felicitas sprang up wildly and rushed past the
startled boy into the kitchen.
"He tells a lie! oh, say he tells a lie, Frederikal" she
cried shri'ly, seizing the old cook by the arm.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SEC&. m            45
"Wul, I can't exactly say that," replied Frederika,
whose hard heart was touched by some little compassion
at sight of the child's fearful excitement. "They did not
beg,' tis true, but they were play-actors."
""And they played very poor tricks," said Nathanael,
stepping up to the hearth and staring into Felicitas' face.
She was not crying, and looked so bold and wild, with
such bright sparkling eyes, that he fell into a rage.
"They did horrible things," he went on. "Your mo.
ther tempted God, and can never, never go to heaven,
mamma says."
".She is not dead I" gasped Felicitas. Her pale little
lips quivered feverishly, and she clutched convulsively
the old cook's skirt.
"Oh, long, long ago, you stupid thing I Papa would
not tell you. Over there in the town-hall one of the soldiers shot her in one of her tricks."
The tortured child uttered a heart-rending shriek.
Frederika confirmed the boy's last words with an affirmative nod. Then he had not lied.
At this moment Heinrich returned from his errand in
the town. Nathanael ran out of the room as soon as the
old servant's thickset form appeared upon the threshold.
Deceitful natures always shun the sight of an honest face.
The cook's conscience too pricked her, and she busied herself with her pots and pans.
Felicitas cried no more aloud. With her arms crossed
against the wall, and her forehead supported upon them,
she struggled to suppress her sobs.
The piercing shriek of the child had reached Heinrich's
ears. He saw Nathanael vanishing from the room, and
knew that some cruelty had been practised here. Without saying a word, he drew the little girl away from.'he
wall and lifted up her face,-it was distorted with agony.




46       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
At sight of him the child broke into loud weeping, sobbing out: "They have shot my dear mother —my dear,
beautiful mamma!"
Heinrihh's broad, good-humoured face grew pale ~with
anger-w.'th difficulty he suppressed an oath.
"Who told you thati?" he asked, looking menacingly at
Frederika.
The child was silent, and the old cook began to tell how
it had happened, while she poked the fire, basted her roast,
and did a variety of unnecessary things that she might
avoid looking Heinrich in the face.
"I think myself that Nathanael might have kept it to
himself for this one day," she concluded; "to-morrow
Madame takes her in charge, and I warrant you she'll
not be handled with gloves."
Heinrich led Felicitas back to the servants' room, seated
her upon the wooden bench, and lid his best to soothe
and comfort her after his rough fashion. He told her as
gently as he could of the occurrence at the town-hall,
and concluded by saying that her dear mamma, who
everybody said looked just like an angel before she died,
*must surely be a real angel now in heaven, and could
look down and see her little Fay all the time. And then
he tenderly stroked the head of the little girl, who was
weeping again convulsively.




THE OLD MAX'SELLE'S SECRET.           47
CHAPTER VIII.
THE next morning the church bells rung solemnly in
the town. Crowds of worshippers thronged the narr( w
street at the back of the Hellwig mansion, on their w y
to the church on the hill. Silks and velvets, with holiday dresses of less pretentious fabric, rustled through the
church doors, worn not only in honour of the place, but
with an eye to the admiration of the neighbour whom
we are commanded to love.
A little figure shrouded in black slipped out of the
large house at the corner of the market-square. No one
would have recognized the graceful form of the little
Felicitas under the thick coarse shawl, which completely
enveloped her from top to toe, and was pinned together
with a large pin under her chin. Frederika had wrapped
her in it, with many praises of Madame's kindness in
giving her such a beautiful mourning garment, and then,
opening the street door, had dismissed the child with repeated injunctions not to go to the family pew as usualher place for the future was to be upon the benches with
the parish school children.
Felicitas took her hymn-book under her arm and turned
up the narrow street. She hastened on at first; but in
front of her there walked with solemn measured steps,
three figures, at sight of whom she involuntarily lingered
and held back. Yes, it was Madame between her two
sons, and every one, as she passed, greeted her reverently.'Tis true that no genial expression was ever to be seen
upon that stern face, that to the poor she was a halrd task




48       THlE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
mistress and judge, that the little boy at her side abused
every beggar child who asked for charity at her door, told
falsehoods, and then denied them solemnly, but all that
was of no consequence. They were going to church,
where they would kneel praying behind the curtains of
the family pew, and God would love them and one day
receive them into his beautiful heaven, for they were no
play-actors.
The three figures vanished within the church. The
child's anxious glance followed them, and then she flew
swiftly past all the open doors from which the tones of
the organ were already rolling, and through which she
had a glimpse of the dim religious light within, and of
the crowds of worshippers.
The notes of the organ appealed in vain to the wounded,
defiant, childish heart that hurried past. She would not
pray to God-he did not love her poor murdered mother,
and would not suffer her to enter his wide blue heaven;
she was lying there lonely in the grave-yard far away, —
her child would go to her.
Felicitas turned into another street yet steeper than
the one at the back of the house. Then came the ugly
gate of the town flanked by the still uglier tower, but
through the high arch of the gate the green fields beyond
were lovely to behold, and the magnificent avenues of
lindens that surrounded the town contrasted with its
blackened walls like a green myrtle crown upon the gray
brows of age. How solemn and still it was up here!
The child started at the sound of her own steps upon the
gravel-she was treading in forbidden paths. But she
hurried on, and at last stood, out of breath, at the entrance of the grave-yard.
The little girl had never before visited this quiet place.
She had never seen before those square lots, those grassy




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           49
mounds with their white head-stones, beneath which the
turmoil and hurry of life were stilled forever.
Above the iron grating of the gate two elder bushes
stretched forth their dark branches laden with black shining berries, and on one side were seen the gray walls of
an old church that looked gloomy enough, but then away
on the other side stretched a green lawn planted with
flowers and shrubs, basking in the golden autumn sunlight.
"Whom have you come to see, little one?" asked a
man in his shirt sleeves, who was leaning against the
door of the small house inside, where the sexton kept his
tools, and blowing blue clouds of smoke from his pipe
into the clear air.
"My mamma," replied Felicitas quickly, looking searchingly across to the flower-strewn lawn.
"Oh-is she here, who was she?"
"She was a player's wife."
" Oh, yes, she was killed in the town-hall five years ago.
There she lies, over there in the corner by the church."
And now the poor little neglected thing was standing
beside the narrow mound that covered the object of all
her longing, loving, childish dreams. Every grave around
was gay with flowers,-upon most of them the asters
were so thick that it seemed as though God had rained
down his sparkling stars from heaven upon them,-but
the small strip at the child's feet was bare and desolate,
only overgrown with weeds and knot-grass. Careless
feet had made a pathway directly across it, and the plain
square head-stone had sunk so deep into the neglected
earth that the black letters upon it,'Meta d'Orlowska,'
were only just above the surface of the ground. By this
stone Felicitas knelt down and pressed her little hands
upon the bare mound. Earth —nothing but earth. This
5




50       THE OLD AMAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
heavy, senseless mass was resting upon the tender face,
the lovely form in its dress of shining white satin, and
the cold lily-white hands filled with flowers. And now
the child knew that her mother had not been only
sleeping.
"Dear mamma," she whispered, "you cannot see me,
but I am here beside you; and although God does not
love you,-he has not given you a single flower,-and
no one cares for you, I love you dearly, and will always
come to you. I love no one but you, dear mamma, not
even God, who is so harsh and unkind to you!"
This was the child's first prayer at her outcast mother's
grave. A light breeze rustled past, gentle and cooling
as the soothing hand of a mother laid upon the feverish
forehead of her child. The asters waved their starry
flowers, there was a low rustle among the weeds and
grass upon the grave, and above all stretched the transparent heaven in unclouded splendour, that eternal,
changeless heaven which man's superstition converts
into a stormy scene of earthly passions.
When, long after, Felicitas returned to the house in
the Square-the child did not know how long she had
been sitting dreaming in the large quiet grave-yard-she
found the street door ajar. She slipped into the hall, but
stood still, terrified in a corner, for the door of her uncle's
room was half open, and the tones of John's voice were
heard as he walked up and down there with steady
steps.
Wild and defiant as was the mood which had possessed
the child since the previous evening, her terror of that
unmoved, cruel voice, and those stern, cold eyes, was
stronger still. She could not pass the open door-her
little feet seemed rooted to the stones of the hall.
"I think you are perfectly right, mother," John was




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           51
just saying, "this troublesome little child would be much
bettc;r given over to the training of some honest mechan ic's wife. But this unfinished letter of my father's
is just as binding upon me as his witnessed will would
have been. He once said that the child should never
leave his house, unless sent for by her father, and with
these words —'I wish to leave the child unconditionally
to your care,' he constitutes me irrevocably the executor
of his will. It does not become me to criticise my father's
actions, but if he had only known how utterly odious to
me is the class of people to which this child by birth belongs, he would, I think, have spared me this guardianship."
"You cannot know what you require of me, John,"
rejoined the widow, in a tone of great vexation. "I have
endured the presence in my house of this outcast, Godforsaken creature, for five long years. I cannot do it any
longer 1"
" Then nothing remains for us but an appeal, through
the papers, to the child's father."
"You may appeal long enough " replied Frau Hellwig, with a short, scornful laugh. "He is thankful to
be rid of such a burden I Dr. Boehm tells me that, as far
as he knows, the man wrote once from Hamburg, and
never again."
"And as a good Christian you could notconsent, mother,
to have the child go back where her soul would be lost
forever?"
"It is already lost I"
"No, mother, although, I grant you, that blood must
bring with it an utter levity of mind, still I have great
faith in the effect of education."
"Do you intend then that we shall go on paying money
for a creature who has no earthly claim upon us? She is
taking lessons in French and drawing, and    "




52       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Of course not, that never occurred to me," her son
interrupted her-and for the first time the monotone of
his voice was enlivened by some intonation. "That never
occurred to me," he repeated; "I have no sympathy with
these modern ideas of the education of women. In a little
while we shall search in vain for women like yourself,
of true Christian mind, fulfilling their duties faithfully,
and never overstepping the bounds of feminine propriety.
No, let all that be at an end; bring up the child well and
strictly, to be what she must be at some future day, a
servant. I place the responsibility in your hands with
confidence, mother.  With your decision of character,
your Christian conscientiousness --
Here the door was suddenly flung wide open, and Nathanael, who had evidently wearied of the conversation,
ran out into the hall. Felicitas shrunk back against the
wall, but he saw her, and darted upon her like a hawk
upon its prey.
"Yes, hide yourself! that will do you no good!" he
cried, and grasped her wrist so roughly in dragging her
forward, that she cried out. " Come with me this instant,
and tell mamma the text of the sermon I I'll bet you can't
do it  You were not upon the parish school benches. I.
looked for you. And how you look! Mamma, just see
her dress!"
With these words, he drew the struggling girl to the
door.
" Come in, child I" ordered John, who stood in the middle of the room with his father's letter yet in his hand.
Felicitas timidly crossed the threshold. She looked up
for one moment at the tall, slender figure before her. There
was not a speck of dust upon his well-fitting black dress
-not a hair out of place above the smooth forehead,
across which he passed his white hand continually.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET            53
Fverything about him was fastidiously neat. Be looked
with a kind of disgust at the skirt of the child's dress.
"Where did that come from?" he asked, pointing to
the spot which had attracted his glance.
The little girl looked down shyly, —it was indeed a
sorry sight. The grass and earth in the grave-yard had
been wet with dew, and when she threw herself down
beside her dead mother she had not thought of the traces
which must be left upon her black dress.... She stood
silent, with downcast eyes.
"How, no answer?  You look like guilt itself. You
were not in church, then?"
"No," said the child, frankly.
"And where were you?"
She was silent. She would rather be beaten to death
than speak her dead mother's name to these ears.
"I'll tell you, John," replied Nathanael, "she has been
out in our garden eating fruit. That's what she's always
doing."
Felicitas glanced at him with flashing eyes, but did not
open her lips.
"Answer," said John; "is Nathanael right?"
"No, he tells an untruth, as he always does," the child
replied firmly.
John here stretched out his arm quietly, and restrained
Nathanael, who was about to rush at his accuser.
"Do not touch her, Nathanael," said Frau Ilellwig to
the boy. She had hitherto been sitting silently by the
window in her husband's arm-chair. Now she arose.
Oh, what a shadow her imposing figure threw upon the
room!
"You will believe me, John, " she turned to her son,'when I assure you that Nathanael never tells untruths.
He is a good boy-living as few children do, in the fear
5*




54       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
of the Lord. I have taught and trained him myselfwhich will suffice for you. This wretched creature will
sow discord between brothers as she has already done
between their parents. Is it not unpardonable that she
has spent the time which should have been devoted to
church somewhere else-wherever that may be."
Her eyes measured the child coldly from head to foot.
"Where is the new shawl that was given to you this
morning?" she asked suddenly.
Felicitas put up her hands to her neck-it. was gone;
it must have been left in the grave-yard! Now she felt
guilty indeed, guilty of great carelessness.  Deeply
ashamed, her downcast eyes filled with tears, and an
entreaty for forgiveness hovered upon her lips.
"Well, what do you think of her now, John?" asked
Frau Hellwig, in a cutting tone. "I gave her the shawl
a few hours ago, and you can see by her face that it is
already lost. I should like to know how much her ward.
robe cost your father yearly. Give her up, I say. It is
time and trouble lost. You can never root out what she
has inherited from a frivolous, sinful mother."
At this moment a sudden change took place in the
child's face and form. A deep scarlet flush overspread
cheek, brow, and neck to the edge of the coarse black
woollen dress. Her dark eyes still glistening with repentant tears flashed defiance at Madame. That timid
fear of her which had burdened the childish heart and
hushed the childish lips for five years vanished. Everything which since the day before had excited her young
nerves to the utmost, rushed upon her mind with startling distinctness. She was beside herself.
"Do not speak of my poor mother! I will not suffer
it!" she cried, with almost a shriek in her usually gentle
voice. "She never harmed you! We should not speak




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            55
evil of the dead; my uncle always told me that, for they
cannot defend themselves.  But you do it, and it is
wicked, very wicked!"
"Look at the little fury, John," said Frau Hellwig,
contemptuously.  "This is the result of your father's
ideas of education.  There stands the'fairy-like little
creature,' as he calls her in his letter."
"She is right in defending her mother," said John, in
an undertone, with a thoughtful glance, "but her manner
of doing it is dreadful. How dare you speak so disrespectfully to this lady?" he turned to Felicitas, and a
slight blush suffused his pale cheeks.  "Do you not
know that you must starve if she does not feed you, and
that your pillow would/be the stones in the street if she
should turn you out of her house?"
"I do not want her food " cried the child. "She is a
wicked, wicked womanI She has terrible eyes! I will
not stay here in your house where they tell untruths,
and where I am afraid of being ill treated. I would
rather go under the ground to my mother; I would
rather starve-"
She could say no more, for John had seized her arm in
the clasp of his iron fingers, and shook her several times
violently.
"Come to your senses, you wicked child!" he cried.
"Fie! a girl, and so savage! With all your hereditary
levity and wilfulness is there this ungovernable violence
of temper? I see clearly how much has been neglected
here," he said to his mother, "but under your strict discipline, mother, all will soon be altered."
He still held the child's arm roughly, and led her to
the servants' room.
"From to-day you must obey me. I am master here,
remember that," he said sternly; "and even when I am




56       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
far away I shall know how to punish you whenever I
hear from my mother that you have not been submissive
and obedient.  For your naughty conduct to-day you
must stay in the house for a long time, especially since
you make such a bad use of liberty. You must not visit
the garden without express permission from my mother,
nor must you go into the street at all, except to and from
the parish school, which you will now attend. You will
take your meals here in the servants' room, and stay here
all the time until you learn to conduct yourself becomingly."
The little girl silently turned her face away from him,
and he left the room.
CHAPTER IX.
IN the afternoon the Hellwig family drank their coffee
in their garden outside the town. Frederika put on her
gay Sunday shawl and her wadded black silk hood, and
went first to church and then to visit a'cousin of hers.'
Ieinrich and Felicitas were left alone in the large, quiet
house. The former had gone an hour before, without
saying a word, to the grave-yard and brought home the
unfortunate shawl, which was now lying neatly brushed
and folded in the drawer.
The honest fellow had heard and partly seen the
morning's occurrences, and had been strongly tempted
to rush in and shake the son of the house with his
brawny arms just as the latter had shaken the tender
form of the rebellious child. Now he was sitting in the
kitb hen cutting and carving a head upon his cane, and




THE OLD MAA'SELLE'S SECRET.            57
whistling most unmelodiously. Hik heart was not in
his work,-he was continually casting anxious, stolen
glances at the silent child. That could not be the little
Felicitas. She sat there like a caged bird, but a bird untamed and full of inextinguishable anger against the
hands that had captured it. Upon her knees lay Robinson Crusoe, which Heinrich had brought her from Nathanael's book-shelves, but she had not opened it. Robinson had a happy time of it upon his lonely island, for
there were no wicked people there to call his mother
frivolous and sinful. The sparkling sunlight shone all
around him, upon the waving palms and grassy plains,
-here God's light seemed almost twilight, coming
through the narrow grated windows, and there was no
green leaf to be seen in the street outside, or anywhere
in the house. Oh, yes I there were the stiff orange trees
in the hall, and a solitary asclepias plant in Frau Hellwig's room, but Felicitas had never loved those flowers
which looked as if moulded in porcelain, while the thick
wax-like leaves did not stir in any breeze. What could
be lovelier than the rustling murmur of the leaves in the
garden outside the town when the winds kissed them!
Suddenly the child started up. Up-stairs in the garret,
at the top of the house she could look across the roofs of
the houses into the open country. There the sun was
shining-like a little shadow she flitted swiftly up the
winding stone staircase.
The old house had fallen from its once high estate. It
had formerly been a knightly abode. There was still
something very aristocratic in its appearance, although it
did not vie with the old castles which seem to claim close
kindred with the sky; yet there was an imposing air about
the bow-windows, and in especial about the huge chim.
neys, whose size was a necessity of those old times when




58       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
deer were roasted whole upon the wide kitchen hearth.
The blue, blood which had coursed through the veins of
the old knightly lords of the mansion was long since
dried, and many years before had, like the old house,
greatly degenerated.
The front of the house which looked upon the Square
had been somewhat altered and modernized; but the back
buildings, which consisted of three enormous wings, were
yet standing precisely as the original architect had left
them. There were still long echoing corridors with lofty
ceilings and worn floors, where a glimmering twilight
reigned even at noonday-the very places where of right
some legendary ancestress in gray robes with a pale face
and shadowy folded hands should wander noiselessly.
One came suddenly and unexpectedly upon narrow creaking stairs which led down to mysterious doors, locked
and bolted, or to some retired corner at the end of a long
corridor, where through the little leaded panes of the
solitary window pale gleams of light fell upon the crumbling tiles of the floor. The dust which fell upon your
head was historic,-it had had part centuries ago in the
framework of some balcony or in the then fresh plaster,
while the blue blood was still coursing through living
veins.
Wherever a place could be found for it, the builder had
carved in stone the crest of the original possessor of the
mansion, a Lord of Hirschsprung (Stag's leap). Upon
the keystones of the arched doors and windows-yes,
often upon the tiles in the floor-the powerful stag
(Hirsch) was represented with his forelegs uplifted in
the act of leaping across some deep abyss.
In one of the state chambers of the front mansion the
portraits of the old knight and his dame were painted
abe ve the door, stiff stately figures in armour and ruff.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            59
The haughty knight still looked proudly down upon a
world where his forgotten dust had long since mingled
with its mother-earth, and where his title-deeds, with
their high-sounding'forevers,' had long been destroyed.
Felicitas stood at the top of the steep flight of stairs
gazing into a half-open door which had never, that she
could remember, been unlocked before. What an unusual
confusion the fulfilment of her revengeful purpose must
have created in Madame's mind, since it had caused her
to forget locks and bolts! Through this door you looked
into a long corridor, leading over the back buildings, and
into which several other doors opened. One of these
stood open, and revealed a room filled with all sorts of
old lumber, and lighted by a high dormer window. It
was crowded with antique furniture, and in an old-fashioned arm-chair, on one side was placed the banished portrait of the old'Frau.' It was not even turned toward a
protecting wall. Dust and spiders might wreak their
worst upon the face which the artist had completed in
firm faith that it would remain an object of veneration for
centuries to children's children.
The large, wide-open eyes had something terrible in
them, now that the child saw them closely,-she turned
away; but ah, how her little heart beat, and how the
blood rushed to her head!-that trunk in the corner,
covered with sealskin-how well little Felicitas knew
that! Shyly, with bated breath she lifted the cover; on
top lay the light-blue dress with the delicate embroidery
upon the skirt and sleeves. Ah, yes! Frederika had
taken it off of her one evening, and it had vanished, and
she had worn these ugly dark dresses ever since.
The little hands plunged deeper and deeper into the
trunk. Ah, how many things they found, and how the
childish heart thrilled at sight of them! All these deli



G0       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET'
cate garments, beautiful enough to have clothed a little
princess, —her dead mother had had them all in her hands.
Felicitas remembered with painful distinctness how soft
had been the touch of her mother's hand while she dressed
her. Ah, there was.the little striped cat that had once
been the child's greatest pride. It was embroidered upon
a small pouch. But stay, there was something insideno toy, as the child at first supposed, but a little agate
seal set in silver, and engraved upon it was the same
leaping stag that was to be found carved everywhere
upon the lellwig house. Beneath the crest were finely
cut the letters Pf. v. A. That must have belonged to
her mamma, and the child's little fingers had stolen it
from her desk.
A flood of awakened memories, across which now and
then there flashed a ray of riper comprehension, overflowed the mind of the little girl. Now she understood
the moments when, starting from sleep, she would find
her father and mother standing by her bedside-he in a
gay velvet mantle, and she with her lovely hair hanging
loose about her-and then, on that evening, when her
mother lay so still with closed eyes, and did not, as
always before, snatch her little Fay to her bosom-she
had been shot that night-her dear beautiful mamma 
One by one the recovered treasures were stroked and
fondled and laid carefully back in the trunk; and when
the lid was shut again, the little girl put her arms around
it, and laid her head down upon it-they were old comrades, they two, who belonged together in a world which
had not even a foothold of a home for the player's child.
And the defiant little face grew gentle and happy as it
lay motionless with closed eyes upon the moth-eaten lid
of the trunk.
Through the windows the warm air breathed a deli



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           61
cious odour into the dark corner where she lay. How
could this delightful fragrance, which must come from
whole beds of mignonette, mount so high into the air?
And what sounds were those that now floated into the
room? Felicitas opened her eyes, and sat up listening.
That could not be the organ from the neighbouring
church. Service had long been over. A more cultivated
ear than the child's, would never have suspected that
those tones proceeded from an organ. Some one was
playing one of Mozart's overtures upon the piano, in a
most masterly manner. Felicitas pushed an old table
under the window, mounted it, and looked out. Ah,
what a sight! There was indeed no view of the distant
fields, which she had so longed for; four different sloping
roofs formed a square before her eyes, and shut out any
distant prospect; but the opposite roof of the four, which
was much the highest, presented a spectacle to the wondering childish eyes, which transcended even the fairy
tales in which she so delighted.
Upon the wide and gentle incline of this roof, instead
of the gray mossy shingles which covered the others,
was blooming a lovely flower garden; asters and dahlias
were waving their beautiful flowers there, as secure as
were their sisters in the garden outside of the town. As
far as human steps could go with safety from the balcony, which projected from near the upper edge of the
roof, the lovely realm of flowers extended, and where it
ceased was stretched a lattice, upon which vines of every
kind were climbing, showing every shade of crimson in
their autumn foliage, like a gay scarf around the lovely
shoulders of a beautiful woman.  Wild grape-vines
wreathed and twisted themselves even beyond the lattice, and stretched their spiral tendrils and shining leaves
far across to the neighbouring roofs. The gallery ex6




62       THZE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
tended along the whole length of the roof, and hung there
light and graceful, as though a breeze might stir it; and
yet upon the broad railing around it were placed large
boxes full of earth, in which were growing beds of mignonette, and hundreds of monthly rose-bushes waved
their tender flowers.
A tolerably stout white garden-chair, beside a little
round table, upon which stood a delicate coffee-service of
porcelain, proved unmistakably that some creature of flesh
and blood had its home here, although the child still suspected that the rooms, which opened by a glass door into
the gallery, must be the abode of the fairy of the flowers.
No stones of the wall could be seen, it was covered with
thick Scottish ivy, mingled with a creeping vine, the heavy
flower cups and orange-velvet leaves of which dangled
out above the glass door which was slightly ajar, and
whence issued the sounds which had attracted the child
to the window. One glance down into the space encircled
by the four buildings, and the child began to comprehend
where she was. It was the poultry-yard. Felicitas had
never entered it; for Frederika, for fear lest one of its
winged tenants should stray into her kitchen, or perhaps
even into the hall, always locked it, and kept the key
in her pocket. How often had the old cook come angrily
into her kitchen, saying to Heinrich, " The old woman
is watering her stupid grass again, and the gutters are all
overflowing!" These thousand lovely flowers, then, were
the'stupid grass,' and she who loved and cherished them,
was-the old Mam'selle, who was again'desecrating the
Sabbath with her gay music.'
These thoughts were scarcely awakened in the child's
mind, before her little feet were upon the window-sill.
With the elasticity of childhood, the grief and trouble
that had so burdened her heart a few hours before were




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           63
all forgotten for the moment. She could climb like a
squirrel. To walk down this sloping roof was an insignificant feat, and the gutters at the edges made quite a
broad path for her, although they were slimy and mossy,
and in the corners were crumbling away somewhat. But
then they would not really break down for many years to
come, and were not to compare with the slender rope
upon which Felicitas had seen little girls, smaller than
she, dancing at fairs. She stepped out of the window and
reached the gutter at the bottom of the slope in a moment.  It creaked and cracked beneath her tread, but
she went bravely on,-no hold for her upon her right
hand, and upon her left a yawning precipice, four stories
deep,-if her mother's eyes had seen her I but all went
admirably.
A scramble up the opposite roof, a leap over the railing,
and the child stood with glowing cheeks and sparkling
eyes among the flowers, looking out over the other roofs
into the broad open country, upon which the purple shades
of evening were just beginning to fall.
And then she turned and looked shyly through the
glass door, which perhaps had never before mirrored a
childish face. Did the ivy grow through the roof then,
and clothe the walls of the spacious room? Scarcely any
of the wall within could be seen through the green of the
climbing vines that were planted in large boxes around
it. Here and there brackets projected from among the
green, upon which were placed marble busts, grave earnest faces, which contrasted strangely with the twisting
vines that wreathed their white brows and sometimes
even crossed their breasts, hanging down in luxuriant
beauty before the two high windows, from which could
be seen, across the surrounding roofs, a lovely landscape
-the dark autumn forest clothing the mountain on the




64       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
one hand, and the open fields stretching away on the
other.
Between the windows a large piano was placed. The
old Mam'selle, dressed just as she had been the day before, sat at it, her delicate fingers touching the keys firmly,
and with expression. Her face was somewhat different,
for she wore spectacles, and there was a flush upon the
cheeks, which had the day before been so pale.
Little Felicitas softly entered and stood still in the arch
of the doorway. Was the old lady conscious of a human
presence? or did she hear the rustle of the child's footstep? She suddenly broke off in the midst of a brilliant
phrase, and turning, the large eyes gazed over the spectacles at the intruder. She started, is if from an electric
shock, and a low cry escaped her lips; then with trembling
hand she removed the spectacles and arose, supporting
herself upon the instrument.
" How did you come here, my child?" she asked at last,
in a trembling voice which terror could not make harsh
or ungentle.
"Over the roofs," replied the little girl in confusion,
pointing across the court-yard.
"Over the roofs I that is impossible I Come here and
show me how you came." She took the child's hand and
led her out upon the gallery. Felicitas pointed to the
dormer window, and showed how she had run along the
gutters. The old lady put her hands before her eyes with
horror.
"Ah, don't be frightened I" said Felicitas, in her sweet
innocent voice. "I came really very easily,-I can climb
like a boy, and Dr. Boehnm says I am like a bunch of
feathers with no bones."
The old MIam'selle took her hands from her face and
smiled; the gentle smile discovered two rows of very




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           65
beautiful white teeth. She led Felicitas back into the
room and sat down in an arm-chair.'I see you must be the little Fay," she said, taking
Felicitas upon her lap. "I know you, although you did
not fly in here upon gauzy wings. Your old friend Heinrich told me all about you to-day."
At the mention of Heinrich the whole weight of woe
again fell upon the child's heart. As in the morning, a
deep blush suffused her cheeks, and anger and grief, as
upon the night before, changed the whole expression of
the childish face. The sudden change did not escape the
old Mam'selle,-she took the little girl's face caressingly
between her hands and held it up.
"Think, little daughter," she continued, "for many
years Heinrich has come up to me every Sunday to attend
to various matters for me. He knows how strictly I
have forbidden him ever to allude to what may be going
on in the house, and he has never transgressed my commands until to-day. Think how dearly he must love
little Fay, to have been so disobedient."
The defiant eyes filled with tears.
"Yes, he loves me, but no one else cares for me," she
said, and her voice broke.
"No one else!" repeated the old lady, looking lovingly
into the child's eyes. "Don't you know that there is One
who will always love you, even although the whole world
should turn away from you?  The dear God in    "
"Oh, He does not care for me, because I am a player's
child," interrupted Felicitas with sudden violence. "Frau
HIellwig said this morning that my soul is already lost,
and they all say that He will not have my poor mamma
with Him. And I do not love Him at all!-and I do not
want to go to Himn when I die!-what should I do without my dear mamma!"
6*




66      ATHE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Gracious God! what have these people with their
self-styled Christianity being doing with you, my poor
child?"
The old lady rose quickly and opened a side door. To
the child the room within seemed filled with heavenly
white clouds, for before the bed, which stood in an alcove, and over the doors and windows were draped white
muslin curtains. The pale green of the walls was only
here and there visible among the white drapery. What
a contrast between this little room, fresh and spotless as
the thoughts of a pure and healthy mind, and the gloomy
boudoir in the house below, where Frau Hellwig knelt in
prayer every morning upon a priedieu, upon whose embroidered cushion space was found for the representation of all the cruel symbols of the Passion, but none
for any emblem of the Love which endured all that
suffering I
Upon a little table beside the bed was a -large wellworn Bible. The old lady opened it and read aloud with
much emotion.'Though I speak with the tongues of
men and of angels, and have not Love,* I am become as
sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.' She read on, and
finished with the words:' Love never faileth: but whether
there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be
tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge,
it shall vanish away.'
"And this love comes from Him —yes, God is love,"
she said, putting her arm around the child.  "Your
mamma is His child, as we all are His children, and she
has gone to Him now, for'Love never faileth.' She will
dwell peacefully above with Him, and when you look up
at night to His beautiful heaven, with its millions of
* The German Bible reads'Liebe.'-Tr.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           67
sparkling stars, be sure, dear child, that Eternal Love has
made no such place as hell I And now you will love this
kind Heavenly Father dearly, will you not, my little
Fay?"
The child made no reply, but threw her arms passionately around the neck of her kind comforter, and the hot
tears gushed from her eyes.
Two days afterward a carriage drew up before the~Iellwig mansion. The widow entered it with both of her
sons, whom she was about to accompany as far as the
next town. John was going to Bonn to study medicine.
and Nathanael was about to enter the school where his
brother had been educated.
Heinrich stood, broad shouldered and sturdy, at the
open door, and looked after the carriage as it rumbled
slowly over the uneven stones of the Square. Something like a low whistle escaped his lips, a sign that he
was well content, and he stuck both his thumbs into his
closed hands, a provincial gesture signifying'Preserve
us from a return of misfortune!'
"Well, for nearly half a score of years we shall see
nothing of those boys in this house," he said with glee
to Frederika, who was dutifully holding her apron to her
eyes.
"Does that please you, you blockhead?" she asked.
"Is that all the thanks you have for the present the young
master made you?"
"Go into your kitchen, you'll find the money lying
upon your hearth. I won't touch it. You can take it
and buy a red dress and yellow shoes to wear' at the next
fair!"
"Oh, you miserable fellow! a red dress and yellow
shoes like a rope-dancer!" cried the angry woman. "Oh,




68       THE OLD MAi'SELLE'S SECRET.
it's easy enough to see why you are in such an ill humour,
— the young master served you well this morning!"
"Very much you know about it," said her fellow-servant, carelessly.  He put his hands in his pockets,
shrugged his shoulders, and planted himself upon the
threshold of the door more sturdily than before. This
excited Frederika's rage, as evincing the utmost contempt
for all she had said.
"JPor a man with only twenty thalers wages, and at
most fifty thalers in the saving fund, to stand up before
his master like the great Mogul, and say,' Give me the
child, my sister will bring it up, and she shall not cost
you a farthing,' and —— "
"And the young master replied," concluded Heinrich,
turning slowly toward the cook, "'the child is in excellent hands, Heinrich, she will remain here in this house
until she is eighteen years old, and you must be careful
not to encourage her in any disrespect to my mother;
and if you should ever catch that old witch in the kitchen
listening, nail her ear to the door instantly.' What do
you think, Frederika, of my-  "
He raised his hand, and the old cook ran scolding into
the kitchen.
CHAPTER X.
NI E years had flown over the stately house in the
Squar., but they had left no sign of decay, no alteration
either in the solid walls or in the stern profile daily seen
at the window of the lower story. Perhaps an attentive
obserrer might have noticed less distinctness of outline
in thi  dragons' heads upon the edge of the roof, but no
zn                   znUUrL  V-LVV




TIHE OLD MAM'SELLE' S SECRET.         69
wonder, they had been shedding heaven's tears continually through these long years upon the pavement below,
while in the intervals of their weeping the sun had
scorched them with its rays.  Such changes always
must alter countenances.  But Madame below there
stood firmly upon the pedestal of her faith in her own
infallibility; in the icy atmosphere of that, there are no
doubts, no conflicts, no inward struggles to break the exterior petrifaction, which is called'an excellent state of
preservation.'
Yet there was a striking change in the old house. For
some weeks the curtains at the windows of the second
story had been drawn aside, and vases of flowers stood
upon the window-sills. The glances of the passers-by
fell first, as usual, upon the window with the asclepias
plant, behind which Frau Hellwig was still sure of a respectful greeting from all; but then the eyes were irresistibly attracted to the window above. Looking out
from its stone framework was often now to be seen a
charming face, fresh as a rose, a head covered with flaxen
curls, and two dovelike blue eyes that looked out upon
the world with childlike naivet6. To this lovely head
belonged a body of exquisite proportions, clothed almost
always in white muslin.  Sometimes-not often-the
lovely apparition at the window was accompanied by
what was indeed a foil to its beauty —a little child, who
had clambered upon a chair, looked over the lady's shoulder into the Square. The little face was wasted and disfigured by disease. The hand that had curled the thin
flaxen hair so artistically, had laboured in vain,-it had
only heightened the plainness of the face, whose pallor
was further enhanced by an elegant dress, but poorly
adapted to conceal the misshapen figure and swollen
joints of the poor child.




o70      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
Notwithstanding this contrast, they were mother and
child, and had come to Thuringia on account of the health
of the latter.
Within the last nine years an engineer had flourished
his magic wand above and below the soil of X —-, and
this modern Moses' rod had revealed a bitter spring,
which if it did not harden into gold and silver upon contact with the air, certainly developed precious crystal
salt. The inhabitants of X- took the hint. They
established baths, the fame of which, combined with the
wholesome quality of the Thuringian air, attracted crowds
of invalids from the neighbouring towns.
The aforesaid lady had come to the place for the sake
of the salt baths, which had been ordered for her child
by Professor John Hellwig, of Bonn. Yes, Madame
behind her asclepias plant had done much for her son.
She had insisted in his early youth that he should be
placed under the strict discipline of her relative on the
Rhine, and that he should never once visit his home
during the nine years of his stay there. She had sent
him to Bonn-his name was upon her lips every morning
at her priedieu, and she was never weary of caring for
the fineness and size of his wardrobe-and now he had
become a famous man.
Still the young Professor with all his fame and skill
would hardly have succeeded in inducing his mother to
receive his patients as tenants of her closed second story,
had not these patients been daughter and granddaughter
of that orthodox relative on the Rhine, by whom Madame
set great store. And besides, the beautiful young creature
had quite a high-sounding title-she was the widow of a
Court Councillor of Bonn. It could be no degradation
in the world to have a Councillor's widow as tenant,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           71
although Herr Hellwig had always declined all civic
honours himself, and thus left his widow without a title.
Madame sat on the couch by the window. Time had
made no change in the fine black dress; the white collar
and cuffs, and even the little brooch at her neck, were
precisely as we found them on the evening when we first
made her acquaintance. Her form was rather fuller, and
the folds of her skirt were perhaps broader and more imposing than before. At present, her large white hands,
with her knitting, were resting solemnly in her lap-the
great lady had something important to attend to.
Near the door, at a respectful distance, stood a manhis thin figure was clad in a threadbare coat, and his
hand, which he now and then stretched out in speaking,
was hard and horny. His tones were low and hesitating,
the room was so embarrassingly quiet that the ticking of
the clock against the wall could be distinctly heard. No
encouraging word escaped Madame's lips-she scarcely
seemed to breathe, so cold and fixed was the gaze which
she riveted upon the man's countenance. At last he
stopped, exhausted, and wiped the perspiration from his
forehead with his cotton handkerchief.
"You have applied to the wrong person, Master Thienemann," Madame said coldly, after a short pause. "I never
scatter my money about in such small sums."
"Ah, Madame Hellwig, I never meant that,-I would
not have been so bold for the world," replied the man,
coming a step nearer to her, "but you are well known as
a benevolent lady who is always collecting a fund for the
poor-your name is often in the paper connected with
charitable purposes-all I would ask is that from your
fund for the destitute you will lend me twenty-five thalers
upon interest for six months."




'72      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
Madame smiled-the man did not know that this smile
was death to his hopes.
"I cannot conceive, Master Thienemann," she rejoined
sharply, "how a man in his senses could ask such a
thing. This is something quite new. But I know that
you take no interest in the pious labours of our church
members, and therefore I must tell you that not one
thaler of the fund in my hands is distributed in this town.
I have collected it for missionary purposes-it is consecrated gold-devoted entirely to a work well pleasing to
the Lord, not to the support of people who are able to
work. "
"Ah, Madame, I am only too willing to work," cried
the man, with a choking voice; "my illness has brought
me so low... Good Heavens! many a time in better
days I have spent my holiday in making some little
article for your charitable fairs, because I thought they
were for the assistance of some of my poor neighbours,
but all the money will be sent away from here, while so
many of us have not a shoe to our feet or a stick of wood
in our houses for winter "
"Pray reserve your remarks.  We sometimes distribute charity in this place, but we make exceptions of
those who attend mechanics' lyceums, and waste their
time in listening to lectures full of false doctrine. You
had much better, Master Thienemann, stick to your
work-bench than pry into stars and stones only to find
in them a contradiction of Holy Writ. Yes, yes, we hear
all about such blasphemous proceedings, and act accordingly. Now you know my views, and that you have
nothing to expect from me!"
Madame turned away and looked out of the window.
"Good God I how much poor people have to endure!"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           73
sighed the man. "'Tis my wife's fault, —she gave me no
peace until I came here."
He looked over towards the other window of the apartment, but finding no look of pity there either, he left the
room.
The poor fellow's last look had been directed towards
the Councillor's widow, who was sitting opposite Madame,
at the other window. If ever there were a woman apparently created to inspire hope in a heart crushed by want,
it was that rosy creature in the airy, spotless white dress.
The tender outline of the profile, the mild glory of the
light curls above the brow, with the large blue eyes, produced the impression of a cherub's-head; but to the attentive observer it would have seemed cut in stone, for
while Madame's face had now and then been suffused by
a flush, while the poor man had eloquently pleaded his
cause and told his woes, nothing had disturbed for a moment the smiling repose of that countenance. The lovely
bosom rose and fell without any agitation, the rose upon
her embroidery had received an additional leaf during the
last few minutes, and no mistake could possibly have been
found in the carefully counted stitches.
"Do not let it vex you, dear aunt," she said, looking
up with a gentle, beseeching glance, when Master Thienemann had left the room. " My poor husband could not
endure these progressive mechanics, and the lyceums
were odious to him. Ah, here is Caroline!"
And she pointed to the door leading to the kitchen.
A young girl had been standing there for some minutes,
having entered noiselessly, even before the carpenter had
left the room. Any one who fourteen years before had
seen the beautiful young wife of the juggler as she stood
before the muskets of the soldiers, would have started
7




74       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
with involuntary terror at what must for a moment have
seemed to him a resurrection from the dead. There was
the same graceful figure, somewhat slighter and more
maidenly, and clad in coarse dark stuff, while that unfortunate woman had been surrounded by the glittering
tinsel of the theatre. There was the same faultlessly
shaped head, the same low white forehead, and that
slight depression of the corners of the mouth, which gave
to the face an enchanting expression of melancholy. This
expression had, with the unhappy mother, been heightened by the tearful glance of dark-gray eyes; but when
the young girl lifted her darkly fringed eyelids, she disclosed sparkling eyes of dark-brown. They bore witness
to a nature which could never be crushed into submissive
endurance,-there was power and resistance in their
gaze,-was not Polish blood flowing in her veins, —
drops from that noble stream which has always risen
fruitlessly against oppression?
We know now that the young girl standing at the
door is Felicitas, although she answers to the simple
name of Caroline. The'theatrical name' had been discarded long ago, with the'theatrical stuff' in the lumberroom, by Madame.
Felicitas approached the mistress of the house, and
laid upon her work-table an exquisitely embroidered lace
handkerchief. The Councillor's widow hastily took it up.
"Is this to be sold for the benefit of the mission?" she
asked, as she unfolded it and examined the embroidery.
"Yes," replied Madame,-" I had Caroline work it for
that purpose. She has been long enough about it. I
suppose it will bring three thalers?"
"Perhaps so," said the Councillor's widow, shrugging
her shoulders. "Where did you get the pattern for the
corners, dear child?"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.'5
A fleeting blush mounted to Felicitas' cheek: "I designed it myself," she replied gently.
The young widow looked up quickly: "Designed it
yourself!" she repeated slowly, and her blue eyes seemed
to have in them a shade of green. " I don't mean to vex
you, child,-but, try as I may, I cannot conceive of such
temerity. How could you attempt such a thing, with no
knowledge of drawing? This is genuine lace,-it must
have cost aunt at least a thaler, and now it is ruined by
that clumsy pattern."
Frau Hellwig looked up angrily.
"Ah, do not be angry with Caroline, dear aunt," the
young widow entreated, in a gentle, beseeching tone.
"She meant well, I am sure. Perhaps the evil can be
remedied. See here, my child, I have never studied
drawing, I confess,-the idea of the pencil in a woman's
hand does not please me,-but I have, nevertheless, the
truest eye for outline. Heavens  look what a monstrous
leaf that is I"
She pointed to a long leaf, the point of which was most
artistically curled. Felicitas answered not a word —but
she compressed her beautiful lips, and gazed fixedly in the
face of her critic. The Councillor's widow turned hastily
away, and covered her eyes with her hand.
"Ah, dear child, that piercing look againl" she said,
complainingly. "It really does not become a young girl
in your position to stare so at other people. Think of
what your best friend, our good Secretary Wellner, always says:'Sweet humility, dear Caroline.' And there
is- that contemptuous expression around your mouth
again —it is too provoking. Do you really mean to play
a romantic part, and obstinately reject the excellent
man's proposal just because-you do not love him? Ri



i7       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
diculousl But my cousin John will have a word or two
to say to this matter I"
How perfect the girl had become in the habit of selfcontrol! At the young widow's last words, the hot rebellious blood mounted to her forehead-and the head
thrown back showed for a moment something almost
demonic in its expression of hate and contempt. But
she immediately replied, coldly and quietly: "I shall be
quite ready to hear them."
"How often must I request you, Adele, not to allude
to that provoking affair?" said Frau Hellwig angrily.
"Do you imagine tbnt you can in two or three weeks
bend this stick of wood-this obstinacy which I have
laboured at nine years in vain? As soon as John comes,
the whole matter will be at an end, to my infinite joy.
Now go and bring me my bonnet and shawl," turning to
Felicitas, "I hope this wretched piece of work," throwing the handkerchief contemptuously aside, "will be the
last that you will have an opportunity of spoiling in my
service!"
Felicitas left the room silently. Shortly afterward Frau
Hellwig and her guest walked across the Square. The
beautiful widow led her child tenderly by the hand.
Several people gazed after her from their windows,-the
lovely creature had a gentle childlike smile for all. Rosa,
her maid, and Frederika, followed with baskets. Tea was
to be drank in the garden outside of the town-and long
-wreaths and garlands were to be made.
To-morrow the young Professor was expected home
after his nine-years' absence, and although Madame muttered something about'silly nonsense,' the Councillor's
young widow was determined to decorate the young
man's room in honour of his arrival.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           t7
CHAPTER XI.
HEINRICH closed the street door and Felicitas flew up
stairs. How dear to the young girl was the narrow passage through which she now hurried I Then came a quiet
landing —a winding staircase, with large worm-eaten
steps, that ascended from the twilight below to where a
faint ray of light through old green glass panes revealed
an ancient door, covered with stiffly painted tulips and
brick-red roses. Felicitas took a key from her pocket
and noiselessly opened this door, on the other side of
which was a narrow dark flight of steps leading to the
rooms under the roof.
The young girl had never made another expedition over
the roofs. Ever since that first day when she had made
her unexpected appearance there, Mam'selle's rooms had
been always open to her. For the first year her visits
there had been paid only on Sundays, and then always
in Heinrich's society. But after her confirmation, Mam'selle had given her a key to the painted door, and after
that she had slipped up at every spare moment. Thus
she led a double existence. It was not only the material
change from dim twilight below to the clear sunlight
above-her mind experienced a like change —and at last
grew so strong that all the care and anxiety of the lower
world vanished as soon as she began to ascend the dark,
narrow staircase. Below stairs she ironed and swept
and dusted, using her leisure, as it was called, in embroidering articles, which were, as we have seen, devoted
to the benefit of the missions, and except in her Bible
and prayer book, all reading was strictly forbidden her.




T8       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
But in Mam'selle's home the rich domain of the human
intellect lay wide open for her. She studied with avidity,
and the knowledge possessed by the mysterious inhabitant of those rooms was like an inexhaustible fountain,
like a well-cut diamond, emitting brilliant sparks of light
in whatever direction it was turned. Except Heinrich,
no one in the house knew of the intercourse between the
young girl and the old Mam'selle,-the least suspicion of
it on the part of Madame would have been its deathblow.
Although Mam'selle had strictly enjoined upon the child
always to tell the truth if questioned upon the subject,
ieinrich had guarded the secret so closely that no questions had ever been asked-he was always on the watch
with open eyes and ears.
The dark staircase was ascended, Felicitas stood listening before a door, then pushed a little panel in it
aside, and looked in smiling. Within there was a perfect
hubbub of singing and chirping. In the middle of the
room two young firs were planted in huge tubs, and all
around the walls was growing a perfect grove of plants,
fresh and green, upon the boughs of which was perched
a multitude of birds. This was the only life with which
the old Mam'selle could surround herself up here in her
hermitage.'Tis true these little voices always sung the
same thing, but then there was no chance of the change
which characterizes the voices that can cry'Hosanna!'
one day and'Crucify him' the next.  Felicitas closed
the panel and opened another door. The reader has already seen the interior of this ivy-draped apartment, nine
years ago-he knows the collection of grave busts that
is ranged around the walls-but he does not know how
nearly they are allied to those large books bound in red
morocco, which he may see behind the glass doors of
that antique cabinet. From behind those grave brows a




TEE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           79
mighty flood of inspiration broke, and there is no loneliness, no desolation for those who can bathe in it. The
images and the works of the master-composers of various
times shared the old Mam'selle's asylum, and as the ivy
wreathed itself impartially around all the busts, so did
Mam'selle enjoy the old Italian and the German schools
with equal relish. But that cabinet with glass doors
concealed treasures which would have thrown an autograph collector into ecstacies. Manuscripts and letters
of those old masters, most of them of rare worth, were
in portfolios behind those doors.  This collection had
been made many years before, when, as the old Mam'selle
said with a smile, her young blood was flowing cheerily
in her veins and her youthful energies stood waiting to
carry out her wishes, —many a faded autograph had been
the result of girlish perseverance and self-sacrifice.
Felicitas found the old Mam'selle in a room behind her
bed-room. She was sitting upon a foot-stool before an
open drawer, and all around her, upon chairs and on the
floor, lay bundles of linen and flannel, and a multitude of
garments, so small that they were evidently designed to
receive some little human existence after its first cry in
the world. Her delicate features were sensibly altered,
and although she looked up with a welcoming smile, the
traces which the last nine years had left upon her kindly
countenance could not be ignored.
"I am so glad you have come, my dear Fay!" she exclaimed. " The stork has just paid a visit to poor Master
Thienemann's wife-and the poor woman has nothing,
not even a roll of linen, for the baby. We have good
store here, though; there is not much to be done, and we
can send off a most respectable bundle if you will only
take a few stitches for me," and she held up a little cap
in one hand and a roll of very narrow lace in the other.




80       THE OLD MAJJ'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Ah, Aunt Cordula," said Felicitas, taking up her
needle and thread, "these poor people need more than all
this I I have just learned that Master Thienemann needs
money sadly-twenty-five thalers."
The old Mam'selle pondered for a moment.
"Hm!-rather a large sum for my present finances,"
said she, "but he must have it."
She arose slowly and feebly. Felicitas offered her arm
and supported her to the music-room.
"But, aunt," she said suddenly standing still, "do you
remember a little while ago Frau Thienemann refused to
make up that linen for you for fear of offending Madame?"
"I really believe you will do your best to lead your
old aunt astray," cried the old Mam'selle, half angrily,but her eyes smiled playfully, and she lightly tapped the
young girl's cheek with her slender finger. Both laughed,
and crossed the room to the cabinet with the glass doors.
This worm-eaten antique piece of furniture could be
mysterious too. Aunt Cordula pressed a very innocentlooking ornament, and a little door immediately flew open
in one of the sides. The space thus disclosed was the
Mam'selle's bank, and in former years had seemed to Felicitas an inexhaustible mine of fairy treasures, so bewitching had been the few glimpses that she had had of
the wonders that it contained;-on the shelves inside
were several rolls of gold, a quantity of silver plate, and
various articles of jewelry.
While Aunt Cordula opened one of the rolls of gold,
and counted out the thalers carefully, Felicitas seized
upon a little box, which was almost hidden in a dark
corner, and opened it eagerly. Within was a golden
bracelet lying upon cotton wool,-no precious stone enriched it, but its weight showed it to be of massive solid
gold. The most remarkable thing about it, however, was




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            81
its size. It seemed to have been made for the muscular
wrist of a man,-it would certainly have slipped over
any woman's hand. Towards the middle it was very
broad, and here the graver's tool had carved a graceful
wreath of roses and leaves, wonderfully well executed,
enclosing a medallion, upon which was engraved the following verse:
Swa liep ein ander meinent,
Herzenlichen ane wane,
Und sich beidiu so vereinet,The young girl turned the bracelet in every direction,
looking for the rest of the verse,-for although not very
learned in old German, she easily translated the last line
into'And where both are so united,'-but that could not
be the end.
"Aunt Cordula, do you know the rest?" she asked, still
examining the bracelet.
The old Mam'selle pressed her finger upon the thaler
she had just put down, and looked up in the midst of her
counting.
"Oh, child I what have you got there?" she exclaimed
hastily, with displeasure, terror, and grief all expressed in
the tones of her voice. She took the bracelet instantly,
and with trembling fingers laid it back in its box and
closed the cover. A delicate colour flushed her pale
cheeks, and her knit brows lent an expression of brooding
melancholy to her face, which Felicitas had never seen
there before. Yes,-it seemed as though for a few moments the present had vanished utterly beneath the flood
of recollection which was overwhelming the old Mam'selle's mind,-as if the presence of Felicitas were utterly
forgotten,-for after she had restored the bracelet to its
place in the corner with feverish haste, she took up




$2 -        THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
another box standing beside it covered with gray paper,
and smoothed its worn corners and stroked it caressingly,
-her face grew gentle again, and she murmured as she
pressed the box between her shrunken hands: "It must
die before me-and yet I cannot look on and see it perish."
Felicitas threw her arms around the feeble little figure,
which seemed for a moment so frail and helpless. It was
the first time in the nine years of their intercourse that
she had ever seen Aunt Cordula lose her self-control.
Delicate and frail as she seemed to the eye, her strength
of mind and soul never forsook her. No outward circumstance had any power to disturb the balance of her
clear intelligence. With every fibre of her heart she
dearly loved Felicitas, and had lavished upon the young
girl the treasures of her knowledge and experience,-the
results of her true healthy spiritual life,-but not an allusion to the past had ever crossed her lips-it was as
sealed a book to-day as it had been nine years before.
And Felicitas had just rudely opened the carefully-sealed
book,-she reproached herself most bitterly.
"Ah, aunt, forgive me I"-she entreated. How gently
beseeching were the tones of this young girl, whom Madame had called-a stick of wood.
The old Mam'selle passed her hand over her eyes.
" Be quiet, child, you did no harm,-but I-I was talking like a childish old womanI" she said, in a choked
voice. "Yes, I have grown old, old and feeble I I used
to be able to shut my tongue between my teeth, and keep
strict watch over it-but I can do it no longer,-'tis time
I laid me down to rest."
She held the little gray box still hesitatingly in her
hands, as if she were struggling for the courage to execute
the sentence of death which she had just pronounced upon
it. But after a few minutes, she put it hastily back into




THE OLD MAM'SEILE'S SECRET.           83
the corner whence she had taken it, and closed the cabinet,-and in doing so she seemed to regain all her former
composure. She went back to the round table near the
cabinet, where she had been counting the money, and, as
if nothing had happened, finished her work.
"Now we will fold the money in a piece of white
paper," she said to Felicitas, and her voice still betrayed
inward emotion, "and put it inside the cap-which shall
thus contain a blessing even before the little head is put
into it,-and Heinrich must be at his post punctually at
nine this evening-don't forget that."
The old Mam'selle was eccentric —her deeds shunned
the light. Like the bat, she grew very active at night,
and visited many a haunt of poverty, when the streets
were empty and deserted. Heinrich had for years been
her right hand-of which the left was unconscious; he
distributed Mam'selle's bounty as slyly as though discovery would cost him his living, and many a poor
wretch in the town who gave ear to, and devoutly believed the most monstrous stories concerning her, lived
upon the old Mam'selle's alms. This eccentricity of hers
would have been inexplicable to those pious souls who
religiously fulfil the Bible injunction:'Let your light
shine.'
While Aunt Cordula was wrapping up the money, Felicitas opened the glass door which led out upon the gallery. It was the end of May. Ah, how few of those
who are never weary of lauding the spring, know how
delicious is her coming in the land of Thuringia  There
she is no fair-haired exultant child of the south, with wild
ecstacy in her veins, in whose footsteps spring up groves
of orange and myrtle.  Majesty clothes her brow, and
upon her lips blooms the serene smile of thoughtful creation. She mixes her colours gravely, and paints her pic



84       THE OLD IMAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
tures with slow precision-we follow the strokes of her
pencil with silent joy-they are not bold and rash, but
tender and full of grace.  The brownish-green down
which clothes the mountain's breast while its crest is still
encircled by a snowy crown, she changes gradually and
gently to green twigs of May,-the fine network of grass
and weeds that covers the brown sods and the meadows
dull with last yeat's growth, she sprinkles with snowdrops and violets like a careful gardener, before she lavishes her wealth of colour upon grove and field. And
the breath of her mouth is that bracing air which steels
the nerves and sinews of the child of Thuringia, makes
his heart sensitive to song, and tenacious of poetic superstitions, preserves his sense of right, often inspires him
with a spirit of antagonism, and gives him his naive,
frank nature.
The green strips of cultured land were already seen
running down into the valley from the wooded sides of
the mountains, like green ribbons.  The roughest old
knotty pear-tree, as well as the youngest cherry-tree, was
surmounted by its wreath of snowy blossoms, an equally
youthful face upon each stem,-an impartiality of nature's
which man longs in vain to partake of. On the edge of
the gallery bloomed hyacinths, May-flowers, and tulips,
and at each side of the glass door large syringa and snowball bushes were growing in boxes.
Felicitas carried into the music-room the round table
and the old Mam-selle's comfortable arm-chair. Upon
the table she spread a fresh napkin, and made the coffee
in the dainty little service. When the rich odour of the
Mocha berry floated out upon the air, the old Mam'selle
sat at the table looking upon the landscape lying beneath
the genial sun of spring.
Felicitas had taken up her sewing again.




THE OLD  IAM''SELLE S SECRET.         85
"Aunt," she said after a little pause, emphasizing every
word, "he is coming to-morrow."
"So I see, my child, by the papers; the news letter
from Bonn says' Prof. Hellwig will spend two months in
Thuringia for the sake of his health.' He has come to
be a famous man, Fay."
"Fame comes to him easily enough. His duty can
never be made difficult by sympathy with his kind. He
can cut into the body or the soul of his patients with
equal satisfaction."
The old Mam'selle looked up at the girl with surprise,
-this unspeakable bitterness of tone was quite new to
her.
"Take care that you are not unjust, my childl" she
said slowly, and with extreme gentleness, after a moment's pause.
Felicitas looked up quickly,-her brown eyes were at
this moment almost black.
"I should not know how to begin to think otherwise
of him," she replied, "he has sinned against me most
heavily,-and I know that I should feel no pity for any
misfortune that might happen to him,-and if by only
raising my finger I could do him a kindness, I know
I should never do it."
"Fie!"
"Yes, aunt, this is the truth. I have always shown
you a cheerful face up here, because I would not for the
world have poisoned the moments that we could spend
together. You have often thought me peaceful and quiet
in mind, when all was uproar within me. Let yourself
be trodden under foot every hour of every day, hear how
your parents are scorned as accursed of God, every imagined fault in yourself ascribed to them, be conscious of
8




86       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
continual aspiration after a higher culture, and find yourself degraded with sneers to a position among those to
whom culture is unknown because you are poor and have
no right to any lofty aspiration, see how your tormentors
are surrounded by a halo of piety, and crush out your
very soul with the name of God continually upon their
lips,-and if you can bear it all quietly, if every drop of
blood in your veins does not cry out against such injustice,-yours is no angelic endurance, but the cowardly
slavish submission of a weak nature which deserves to
be trodden under foot."
Felicitas spoke quietly, in a clear ringing voice. What
power over her exterior this strange young creature possessedI She scarcely moved a finger as the tide of passionate words poured from her lips.
"The thought of being again confronted with that
stony face excites me more than I can tell you, aunt. I
must now hear that heartless, soulless voice utter all that
he has written concerning me for the last nine years.
Like some cruel boy who lets a poor bird flutter at the
end of a string, he has chained me to this house, and
would have converted my uncle's will into a curse for
me. Can anything be more cruel than his treatment of
me? It was of course impossible that a player's child
could have any mental capacity, any warmth of heart,
any keen sense of honour,-she could atone for her disgraceful parentage only by becoming what they call a
handmaiden of the Lord-a wretched being cramped in
on every side by the narrowest prejudice."
"I hope we are something a little better than that, my
child," said Aunt Cordula, with a meaning smile. "At
any rate his coming will bring about a final change in
your life," she added more seriously.
"Yes, there will only be a few struggles more. Madame




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          87
consoled me to-day with the hope that all will soon be
over. "'
"Then I shall not need repeat to you that you must
wait patiently down there, that you may fulfil the last
will of one who took you to his home and loved you like
his own child. Then you will be entirely free, and can
take care of your old aunt openly, without any fear of
our being separated from each other,-for no one will
have any power to do so."
Felicitas looked up with sparkling eyes,-she took the
little withered hand of the old Mam'selle and pressed it
to her lips.
"And do not think the worse of me, aunt, now that I
have opened my heart to you," she entreated in gentle
tones. "I love my kind, I appreciate them highly, and
I have been strengthened in my resistance to mental
degradation by the hope of being something more among
them than a useless beast of burden. If certain among
them have ill treated me, I would not for the world accuse the mass. I do not even mistrust them. But I
cannot love my enemies, and bless those who curse me.
If this is a dark spot in my character I cannot help itand indeed, aunt, I do not wish to,-for here seems to
me to be the boundary line between gentleness and pusillanimity!"
Aunt Cordula did not speak, but gazed thoughtfully at
Felicitas. Had there been a time in her own life when
to forgive had been impossible, except after heart-searching struggles with herself? She did not continue the
conversation, but took up needle and thread, and both
sewed until twilight, when a most comfortable bundle
was ready for the poor Thienemanns. Snugly packed
away in it was the small sum of money for the loan of
which the poor carpenter had in vain entreated the' chosen




88       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
of the Lord,' but which he would now unconsciously re.
ceive from'one of the world's people.'
When Felicitas left the old Mam'selle, the party from
the garden had returned to the house. She heard little
Anna, the young widow's child, laughing and talking,
and a loud hammering was going on in the second story.
She flew along the corridor leading to the main building.
Heinrich was standing on a step-ladder nailing garlands
above a door. At sight of Felicitas, he made an odd
grimace expressive of anger and contempt, in which,
however, there was much dry humour, and gave the nails
two or three additional strokes, powerful enough to have
broken them to pieces, before he descended from his lofty
position.
Little Anna had been gravely holding the ladder that
it might not fall; but when she saw Felicitas she forgot
her important office, and, tottering feebly towards the
young girl, threw her arms caressingly around her knees.
Felicitas lifted her from the floor and held her in her arms.
" Shouldn't you think," asked IIeinrich, in a vexed undertone, "that we were to have a wedding here to-morrow? and all for a man who will walk in, turning neither
to the right nor the left, and will go about all day looking
as if he had been drinking vinegar."
He held up the end of one of the garlands: "Just look,"
he said, "see the forget-me-nots in it. Well, those who
put them there, I suppose know why they did it. But,
Fay," he interrupted himself suddenly, looking at the
child who was pressing her wasted cheek against Felicitas' face, "do me the kindness not to be always taking
that wretched child in your arms. There is not a healthy
drop of blood in its body. I am sure it cannot be good
for you."
Felicitas quickly put her left arm around the little girl




THE OLD MAIM'SELLE'S SECRET.          89
and pressed her closely to her breast. The child hid her
face in terror of Heinrich's cross words, so that only her
light curls could be seen,-and as the young girl stood
there, a more charming picture of a Madonna could not
be imagined.
She was upon the point of replying reprovingly, when
the garlanded door opened,-it must have been ajar, for
it swung slowly wide open, affording a full view of the
interior of the room. It was decked as if for a bridevases full of flowers stood upon the broad sill of its only
window —and the Councillor's widow had just festooned
a long garland above the writing-table. She was stepping
back to observe the effect of her work when she became
aware of the group just outside the door. Perhaps the
resemblance to a Madonna displeased her, for she knit
her brows, and calling to her maid who was dusting the
furniture in the room, pointed towards the open door.
"Get down right away, Anna," said Rosa, hurrying
out. " Your mamma always tells you not to let any one
take you up and carry you. My mistress does not like,"
she continued pertly, turning to Felicitas, " to have Anna
petted and kissed by everybody; she does not think it
healthy. "
She led the weeping child into the room and closed the
door.
"Ah, gracious powers I what people they are I" growled
Heinrich, as he went down stairs. "You see what you
get by your kindness, FayI These people think their
diseases are as aristocratic as themselves, and you must
be grateful to God for permission to lay your healthy
hands upon their sickly bodies!"
Felicitas silently descended the stairs by his side. Just
as they reached the hall, a carriage rumbled across the
Square and stopped at the street door. Before Heinrich
8*




90       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
could get to the door, it was thrown wide open. The
hall was nearly dark, and only the outline of a tall manly
figure could be seen upon the threshold.
In three steps the gentleman reached the door of the
sitting-room, which was opened from within. An exclamation of surprise broke from Madame, followed, however, by the cold greeting: " You have grown unpunctual,
John, we did not expect you until to-morrow," —then the
door was closed, and the carriage waiting without and
the delicate aroma of a fine cigar were all that testified to
the arrival.
" It was he I" whispered Felicitas, laying her hand upon
her throbbing heart.
" Now for it!" muttered Heinrich, at the same time
listening at the foot of the stairs.
The wild huntsman seemed careering above. The
Councillor's widow actually flew down the steps, her fair
curls waving, and her white dress floating around her
like a cloud.
She left Rosa and the limping child far behind her, and
quickly entered the sitting-room.
"Aha I Fay,-now we know why those forget-me-nots
were so thick in the garland," laughed Heinrich, as he
went out to superintend the bringing in of the baggage.
The next morning early, Felicitas took advantage of a
leisure moment and slipped up to Aunt Cordula to tell
her of the success of Heinrich's errand to the Thienemanns. Upon the landing of the second story, Heinrich
came towards her with a grin of delight, as he pointed his
thumb over his shoulder at the door above which he had
nailed the garland the day before. The decoration had
vanished —a heap of wreakths lay upon the floor, and
several vases of flowers were ranged there close to the
wall.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.  91
"They came down in a hurry," whispered Heinrich"one-two-three good tugs, and down came all the forget-me-nots. I came up just as he was standing on the
ladder."
"Who?"
"Why, the Professor. He made a terrible wry face,
for I had nailed the things up to last there forever, and
he had to tug and pull hard enough. But only think,
Fay, he shook hands with me to-day when I bade him
good morning I I tell you I was surprised."
Felicitas' lip curled,-a biting comment was upon her
tongue,-but she suddenly turned the corner and sped
along the corridor, for quick steps within the room were
heard approaching the door.
As, some time afterwards, she returned from her visit
up-stairs, she heard the gentle voice of the Councillor's
widow, —nothing could be more melodious than this
woman's voice.
"Ah, the poor flowersI" said she.
"You should not have taken all that trouble for me,
Adele," replied a masculine voice,-"you know I never
could endure such things."
It was the same cold voice which had once made such
a deep impression upon little Fay,-but the tone was
deeper, and was now tinged with vexation. Felicitas
stood upon the landing and fairly held her breath while
she looked down. There he was, carefully leading Anna
step by step down the stairs. There was nothing in
his appearance which could suggest his title of Professor.
The young girl had always imagined the gifted possessors
of this title surrounded by a halo of refinement and culture, but here she looked in vain for the outward and
visible sign of such mental grace. She saw a muscular,
compactly-built figure, whose angular motions could not




92-      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
certainly be characterized as elegant, and about which
there was an air of cold self-reliance,-it seemed as though,
even in courteous greeting, that back could never bend.
And there was nothing in the face to contradict the judgment which the figure elicited. For a moment he turned
his head, but there was no beauty in the expression of the
features which she had connected in her childish imagination with the Evangelist's picture.
A strong, curly, light-brown beard covered the lower
part of the face, reaching to the breast, and between the
eyebrows-drawn together at this moment with vexation
at the be-garlanded room-was a deep wrinkle. But yet,
there was something distinguished in the air of manly decision and determined force of will that characterized this
unattractive exterior.
And now he stooped down and took the limping child
in his arms.
"Come here, my child,-the poor little legs are not
strong enough yet to walk easily," he said. It sounded
astonishingly gentle and sympathetic.
"He is not speaking to a player's child," thought Felicitas, and her heart swelled with bitterness.
The morning was a very noisy one for the quiet house.
The bell at the street door rang continually. There were
plenty of people in this little town, as well as everywhere
else in the world, anxious to bask in the sunshine which
stream from any celebrity,-entirely oblivious of how it
must illuminate their own insignificance. Their visits
were a reprieve to Felicitas, who, much as she longed
to have an end put to the life she was leading, shrunk in
terror from the impending interview with those whom she
so detested. But the tenants of the sitting-room must
have been anxious that this same interview should take
place as quickly as possible, for scarcely was dinner over




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            93
when Heinrich appeared in the kitchen, examined Felicitas' dress most carefully, brushed a little dust from her
black sleeve, and said, with anxiety: "Put up that curl
that has slipped out just over your ear, Fay,-make it
smooth,-the people in there don't like anything out of
place, you know. You are to go into my old master's
study,-they are there. But what are you afraid of?you are as pale as ashes. Courage!  Fay,-he can't take
your head offI"
Felicitas opened the door and stepped gently into her
uncle's former study. Her cheeks and lips were still
white, and the absence of all colour gave to her features
an almost unearthly air of repose.
Just as on that stormy morning nine years ago, Madame sat in the arm-chair at the window. Beside her,
with his back turned to the door and his hands crossed
behind him, stood the man who had resolutely condemned
this young creature to a hard life of servitude, who had
done all that lay in his power to close for her the domain
of the intellect, and who had been, even when at a distance, always ready to punish without stopping to ask-'Do you really deserve it?'
Felicitas had been right in dreading this interview-for
at the sight of him such a flood of bitterness and dislike
welled up within her as made self-control almost impossible, and yet she never needed self-control more than at
this critical moment.
"Here is Caroline," said Frau Hellwig.
The Professor turned and started with surprise It
had apparently never occurred to him that the player's
child, who had stood there stamping her foot like a little
fury, might possibly grow up and become quiet and selfcontained. It was she, stately and composed, although
her eyes sought the ground.




94       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
He stepped towards her, and his right arm moved involuntarily,-was he about to give her his hand, as he
had done to Heinrich in the morning?
At the thought, her heart throbbed with an access of
scorn, and the delicate fingers of the hand which hung immovably at her side closed convulsively upon the palm,but she raised her eyes, and from under their lashes looked
with icy coldness at the man standing opposite to her. It
was the gaze with which a bitter enemy meets an opponent. The Professor must have understood it, for he
retreated involuntarily, and measured her with his keen
glance from head to foot.
At this moment some one knocked at the door, and the
Councillor's widow put in her lovely curly head"May I come in?" she asked, in a tone of soft entreaty,
-and without waiting for an answer she came into the
room.
"Ah, I am just in time to hear sentence passed," she
said. "My dear Caroline, you will soon see that there is
a stronger will at work here than yours-and poor Wellner will at last be made happy."
"I beg you, Adele, to let John speak," cried Madame,
ungraciously.
"Well, let this point be settled first," said the Professor. He crossed his arms upon his chest,.and leaned
against a table behind him. "Will you tell me why you
reject this man's honourable proposals?"
His quiet passionless gaze rested searchingly upon the
girl's face.
"Because I despise him. He is a wretched hypocrite,
who uses piety as a cloak for avarice and greed of gain,"
she replied, with great firmness,-these blows must be
parried by quiet, decided frankness.
"Heavens! what a wicked slander!" cried the Council



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          95
lor's widow. In her displeasure she clasped her white
hands and looked beseechingly towards heaven, opening
wide her large blue eyes. Madame uttered a short contemptuous laugh.
"Now, John, you have a sample of the mind and manner of your precious ward," she cried. "She is quick
enough to despise —I can assure you of that. I pray you
end this as soon as possible. You can do nothing with her
-and I have no mind to hear honest people slandered."
The Professor did not answer. He was stroking his
beard with his hand-which was wonderfully white and
well shaped-and gazing at the Councillor's widow, who
stood there like an adoring seraph. It almost seemed as
if he had heard only her exclamation,-the corners of his
mouth twitched slightly,-but who could read the meaning of that strange face?
"How eagerly you must have pursued the study of
character, Adele, during the few weeks of your stay here,"
he said. "With such an advocate -"
"But, in Heaven's name I! John," the young widow interrupted him,-"you cannot think that I have any particular interest —-"  She suddenly paused, and a deep
blush mounted into her cheeks.
And now decided contempt looked from the Professor's eyes.
"All the ladies who come here-aunt's friends-agree
that Wellner is a most excellent man," she said, deprecatingly. "All the missionary funds pass through his
hands-and the members of our church have the greatest
confidence in him."
"And you naturally rely upon their judgment," concluded the Professor shortly. "I do not know the man,,"
he turned to Felicitas, "and therefore cannot say how far
you are justified in your accusation."




96       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"John!" broke in Madame, with excitement.
"Not now, mother,-we will discuss this at some other
time, alone together," he said gently and soothingly.
"Of course no one will put any force upon you," he continued, turning to Felicitas again. "I have hitherto always maintained my right to enforce any commands laid
upon you, in the first place, because I placed implicit
confidence in the source whence such commands have
proceeded, and, in the second place, because your character is an exaggerated one, and one which always rebels
against whatever would conduce to its best good. But
in a matter of this kind my power ceases. As far as I
know, you are right, for you are young, and he is, as I
hear, a man advanced in years, which is unsuitable. Another great objection is the difference of station. At present he overlooks your origin, but a time almost always
comes when such a thing is overlooked no longer. A
disturbance of the social equilibrium is always productive
of unhappiness."
How sensible and how heartless all this sounded!He was the very embodiment at this moment of all those
written instructions from Bonn which had always kept in
full view the slough of disgrace from which the'player's
child' had been extricated. He left his former place and
stepped up to the girl, whose lips were quivering with
a bitter smile"You have been a great care to us," he said, raising
his forefinger. "You have never known how —and as I
am compelled to think,-you have never desired, to gain
my mother's approval. As matters stand you can hardly
wish to remain in this house any longer."
"I am most desirous of leaving it immediately."
"That I can readily believe,-you have never been at
any pains to conceal your dislike of our strict decorous




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           97
rule and your impatience under it." There was a mixture of pique and vexation in his voice. "It is indeed
trouble lost to attempt to suppress the restless, frivolous
inclinations natural to you. Well, you shall have what
you desire, but my task is not yet completed. I must
first attempt to discover your relatives."
"You had different views upon this point formerly,"
interrupted Frau Hellwig contemptuously.
"Those views have been changed by time and circumstances, as you see, mother," he replied.
Felicitas was silent, and looked down. She knew that
any such attempt would be without result. Aunt Cordula had proved that long ago. For years before she had
instituted a search for the juggler, Orlowsky, or any of
the relatives of his wife, in the columns of all the principal papers of Germany-but without any success. Of
course Felicitas could say nothing of this.
"The necessary steps shall be taken to-day," continued
the Professor,-"two months must be consumed in these
inquiries. For that space of time you will continue to
occupy your position as my ward, and my mother's servant. If by the end of that time, none of your relatives
have appeared, then    "
"Then," broke in Felicitas, "at the end of the probation I shall entreat for an entire release from my present
bonds."
"Ah, that sounds too harsh!" cried the Councillor's
widow angrily. "It would seem as if you had known
only ill treatment and oppression in this peaceful Christian household. What ingratitude!"
"You believe, then, that you can do without further
assistance from us?" asked the Professor, not heeding
the young widow's angry outbreak.
"I am quite sure of it."
9




98       THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECR PT.
"Very well," he said, shortly, after a moment's silence,
-" after the lapse of two months you shall be free to go
where you choose, and do as you choose." He turned
away, and walked to the window.
"You may go," said Madame harshly.
Felicitas left the room.
"Eight weeks more of this struggle I" she whispered,
as she went through the hall. "It is for life and death I"
CHAPTER XII.
THREE days had passed since the Professor's arrival.
The monotonous life in the old merchant's house had undergone a transformation, but the time had, most unexpectedly, passed over Felicitas' head very quietly. She
breathed freely, and yet, strange to say, she had never
felt more humiliated and wounded than at present. The
Professor had not given himself any further trouble concerning her-he had apparently begun and concluded all
notice of her in his first interview with her. He had
sometimes passed her in the hall without seeing her, indeed, at such times he had seemed very much annoyed,
and the expression of annoyance on his countenance by
no means beautified it. The cause of this annoyance was
Madame's persistence in sending for him to the sittingroom whenever visitors were present who wished to see
him. He obeyed her summons,'tis true, but he must
have proved a most silent and unattractive addition to
society.
There were visitors every day whom Heinrich conducted up-stairs to the second story-patients -often




TH'IE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         99
miserable, poverty-stricken wretches-whom Frederika,
at any other time, would have sent roughly from che
door, —but to her great vexation, and indeed against
Madame's desire, they were now shown up the snowy,
freshly-scrubbed stairs to the Professor's room, where
they always found admittance and a listener. The Professor had a great reputation as an oculist —he had
effected several cures pronounced by some of his distinguished brethren impossible —and thus the young
man's name had become widely known and famous.
Frau Hellwig had ordered Felicitas to attend to the
sweeping and dusting of her son's room. The little apartment presented a changed aspect since it had received a
tenant,-whereas it had once possessed a pleasant air of
comfort, it now looked like the cell of a bare-footed friar.
The gay chintz curtains had shared a kindred fate with
the garlands, —thev had been sacrificed to the Professor's
love of light,-several coarse, brilliantly-coloured battle
pieces which had adorned the walls had been removed,
and instead, just above the writing-table, hung a copperplate engraving, rescued from some dark corner of the
house,-an exquisite picture of a young mother wrapping
her child tenderly in her own fur-lined cloak. The woollen
cover of the table, and several embroidered cushions had
been banished because they collected the dust, and upon
another table, instead of the Parian statuettes which had
formerly adorned the room, were most symmetrically
arranged the Professor's books. No curled leaves, no
frayed corners, were to be found among them, and yet
they had been well used. The bindings were excessively
simple-and the colour of the back was an index to the
language in which the book was written,-gray indicated
the Latin tongue, brown the German, &c. "Exactly so
he would like to arrange human beings," thought Felici



I 0      THE OLD MAM'SELL_'S SECRET.
tas bitterly, when she saw the books for the first time,"and woe to the one who is discontented with his colour I"
In the morning the Professor drank his coffee with his
mother and the Councillor's widow,-then he retired to
his room and studied until noon. He refused from the
first the wine which Madame sent up for his refreshment,
but a decanter of water was always placed upon his table.
He seemed to have a repugnance to being waited upon,he never used the bell. When the water in the decanter
was no longer fresh he took the vessel down stairs and
filled it himself.
On the morning of the fourth day letters arrived for
the Professor. Heinrich had gone out, and Felicitas was
sent up-stairs with them. She lingered at the door, for
some one was speaking in the room, a woman's voice
was just finishing, as it seemed, some long narration.
"Dr. Boehm spoke to me about your son's eyes," said
the Professor kindly, —"I will see what can be done for
them."
"Ab, gracious Herr Professor, such a famous man as
you —---
"I must have none of that, my good woman,"-he interrupted her so harshly, that she stopped, terrified. "I
will come to-morrow and examine his eyes," he added,
more gently.
"But we are such poor people,-we cannot afford -"
"My good woman, you have said that twice before,"
interrupted the Professor, somewhat impatiently. " Pray
go now-I really have no more time. If I can help your
son I certainly will. Good-by!"
The woman came out, and Felicitas entered the room.
The Professor sat at his writing-table, his pen was already rapidly traversing the paper. But he had seen the
young girl enter, and without lifting his eyes from his




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET           101
work, stretched out his left hand for the letters.  He
broke the seal of one while Felicitas was returning to
the door.
"By-the-way," he asked, without looking up from his
letter, a"who dusts this room?"
"I do," replied the young girl, standing still.'Well then I must request you to have a little more
regard for my writing-table. It is very annoying to me
not to find upon it the book which I want, and there is
one now I cannot find."
Felicitas stepped composedly up to the table upon
which were several piles of books.
"What is the title of the book?" she inquired.
Something like a smile broke over the Professor's serious features. Such a question in his study from girlish
lips sounded strange and naive to the grave physician.
"You will scarcely be able to find it —it is a French
book,-' Cruveilhier, Anatomie du Systeme Nerveux' is
printed upon the back," he added with something like
another smile.
Felicitas immediately drew out a volume from under a
pile of other French books.
"Here it is," she said, "it lay just where you yourself
put it-I never take up one of these books."
The Professor rested his left elbow upon the table, and
turning hastily round, looked the young girl full in the
face.
"Do you understand French?" he demanded.
Felicitas was frightened; she had betrayed herself.
She not only understood French, but spoke it with ease
and fluency. The old Mam'selle had been a most thorough instructress. She must reply, and reply immediatel?. The steel gray eyes gazed fixedly at her face,9*




102      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRiL.
they would detect the slightest prevarication, the truth
must be told.
"I have had lessons in French," she answered.
"Oh, yes, I remember, you studied until you were
nine years old,-you have retained something of your
lessons," he said, thoughtfully, rubbing his forehead with
his hand.
Felicitas did not speak.
"And this was the unfortunate circumstance that
made my mother's and my plans for you so utterly
futile, —you had learned too much already, —and because we entertained our own peculiar views upon the
subject, you detest us as your oppressors, tormentors,
and Heaven knows what beside. Do you not?"
For one moment Felicitas struggled with herself, but
her bitterness of soul conquered. The colour left her
lips, and she said coldly: "I certainly have every reason
to do so."
A frown of displeasure gathered upon his forehead, but
perhaps he remembered how often, as a physician, he had
been obliged to listen calmly to all kinds of fretful unkind
replies from his patients. This young girl was mentally
ill, he thought, and he only remarked with composure:
"Well, I certainly from this moment acquit you entirely
of the want of frankness of which you are accused. You
are more than candid. For the rest we shall be able to
console ourselves, in spite of the bad opinion you entertain of us."
He took up his letter again, and Felicitas left the room.
As she stood upon the threshold of the open door, he
glanced once more after her. The landing without was
flooded with golden sunshine-the girl's form as she left
the darker room stood out like a painting upon a golden
background.  Her figure had not yet attained to that




THE OLTD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         103
ripeness of perfection which a few years would bring, —.
but every outline was indescribably tender, and every
movement full of grace, of that supple ease which fairy
lore ascribes to the heroines of its legends. And what
wonderful hair  It would usually have been called chestnut-brown, but when as now touched by the sunshine, it
shimmered like red gold. It was not like that soft yellow
hair which had fallen in such sparkling waves from under
the helmet of the juggler's beautiful wife. It was not
yet very long,-but of immense thickness, and was with
difficulty confined in a large knot at the back of the head.
A rebellious curl would often as at present break loose
from its bounds, and lie upon the white neck, just below
the knot.
The Professor turned to his work again, but the train
of thought which had been first interrupted by the poor
woman's account of her son's eyes, would not be pursued.
He rubbed his forehead with an air of vexation, and
drank a glass of water, —it was of no use. At last, out
of humour with so many interruptions, he took up his
hat and went down stairs. If the Saracen's head in
bronze, which had occupied the respectable position of
penwiper to its learned master for so many years, could
have opened its grinning mouth wider, it would certainly
have done so with astonishment,-there lay the pen unwiped; the Saracen might long in vain for the accustomed delight of polishing the inky point upon its wellworn dress. Incredible  Its exact master must have
been greatly disturbed.
"Mother," he said, as he passed by the door of her
room, "pray, in future, do not send that young girl up to
me upon any errand, —let Heinrich come,-if he is not
here at the moment, I can wait."'Aha!" replied Madame, in a tone of triumph. "In




104      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the course of three days the girl has become intolerable
to you. Think what you have condemned me to for nine
long years."
Her son shrugged his shoulders without speaking, and
turned to go.
"The instruction that she was receiving at the time of
my father's death ceased entirely when she entered the
parish school, did it not?" he asked, looking back.
"What a silly question, John!" said his mother, with
vexation. "I am sure I wrote you minutely enough upon
that subject, and told you distinctly all about it when I
saw you in Bonn. The school-books were sold, and the
exercise-books I burned myself."
"And who have been her associates?"
"Associates? Why, she has had none but Heinrich and
Frederika; she would have none." The cruel expression
appeared on Madame's features; her upper lip contracted
as it used to do, showing one of the upper teeth. " I
could not undergo the annoyance of having her sit at my
table and in my room," she continued. "I could see in
her only the cause of coldness and dissension between
your father and myself,-and besides, each year she has
become more disagreeable to me. But I tried to induce
her to associate with two or three pious girls,-daughters
of some of our truly Christian mechanics,-and you yourself know how entirely she refused to have anything to
do with them, declaring that they were wolves in sheep's
clothing, or something of the kind. Oh, you'll find out
much in the course of these eight weeks with which you
have burdened yourself."
The Professor left the house to take a long walk.
On the afternoon of the same day Madame had invited
several ladies, most of them strangers visiting the baths,
to take coffee in the garden outside the town. Frederika




TIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         105
was suddenly taken ill, wherefore Felicitas was sent to
prepare everything for the guests. Her arrangements
were soon concluded. Upon the smooth gravel in the
shade of a high cypress wall stood the delicately ordered
table, and in the kitchen of the summer-house in the garden the hot water was simmering over the fire, all ready
to be converted into delicious coffee. Felicitas leaned
against the open bow-window in the summer-house, and
looked out in melancholy mood. Without, everything
was as green and blooming in the quiet fragrant air as
though no desolating autumn blast had ever swept through
the branches of the trees, no wintry frost spun its glittering network over the shrubs and plants. And years
before everything had been just as bright and fresh-delighting the eyes of him whose warm kindly heart had
now mouldered away in the ground,-whose protecting
helping hand had been stretched out wherever there was
work for it to do,-among his flowers and plants as well
as among his suffering fellow-men. The tender young
flowers all around smiled as brightly into the faces of
strangers, and he was forgotten. Hither he had brought
the little orphan girl out of the reach of unkind tongues,
not only in summer, but often in the early spring, when
winter was resigning his sceptre reluctantly, and with
many a struggle. A fire had been lighted in the summerhouse, a warm carpet spread upon the floor, and they had
passed many a cosy delicious hour here, when the swelling buds outside tapped against the warm window panes,
upon which an obstinate snow-flake would melt into a
trickling tear,-and through which, across the yet desolate garden, could be seen the dear old mountain, half
covered with snow, wearing its familiar crown of poplars. Ah, what precious memories these were! And just
opposite were the chestnuts, -- their luxuriant young




106      TIME OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
leavses not yet fully grown, hanging idly down, as though
enervated by the golden sunlight.
Approaching footsteps and the creaking of the garden
gate startled Felicitas from her melancholy reverie.
Through the north window she perceived the Professor
just entering the garden accompanied by another gentleman. They walked slowly in the direction of the summer-house. John's companion was now a frequent visitor
at Madame's,-he was the son of a man who had been a
dear friend of Herr Hellwig's. Of like age with the Professor, he also had been educated by the strict and orthodox relative of the Hellwigs on the Rhine. Both had
been fellow-students at the University for a short time,
and, although widely different in character and mode of
life, they had always been friends. While John Hellwig
had attained his professorial chair almost immediately
after completing his University course, young Franz had
spent his time in travelling until very recently, when, at
his parents' desire, he had returned to Germany, passed
his legal examinations, and was now a lawyer here, in
his native town, patiently awaiting cases and clients.
Upon a nearer view, he was seen to possess great personal beauty,-his form was elastic and vigorous,-his
features were intellectual and expressive. His classicallyshaped head, with the delicate Greek profile, might have
seemed almost feminine in outline, had not the masculine
grace of carriage, the strength and vigour of movement,
which characterized its possessor, fully redeemed it from
any such charge.
He took the cigar from his lips, examined it for a moment, and then tossed it aside. The Professor produced
his cigar-case and handed it to him.
" Oh, not for the world I" cried his friend, putting up
his hands with a comical gesture of refusal. " How could




THE  OLD MAM'SELLE'    S ECRET.       107
I dream of robbing those miserable L]ttle heathen in the
Sandwich Islands,-and Heaven knows where else beside I"
The Professor smiled.
"As far as I know," continued the other, "you have
persevered until now in the heroic work of self-renunciation which you initiated ten years ago. I remember
you allowed yourself three cigars a day, but you only
smoked one, and devoted the worth in money of the other
two to the missionary fund."
"I have preserved the habit," said his friend, with a
quiet smile,-" but the money is differently appropriated,
-it all belongs to my needy patients."
" Impossible I you-the sturdy, determined defender of
all pious projects for the salvation of the heathen!-the
foremost among the pupils of our despot on the Rhine I
Is this your devotion to his precepts? Apostate I"
The Professor shrugged his shoulders. He paused, and
thoughtfully brushed the ashes from the end of his cigar.
"As a physician, my views of mankind and of my duties to them as an individual have undergone a radical
change," said he. " I could not hope even imperfectly to
fulfil my desire to be of some use in the world without
forgetting and unlearning much."
They walked on, and their voices died away. But the
sun lay hot and scorching upon the gravel path down
which they slowly wandered, and instinctively they turned
back to the stone-paved walk near the house, which was
sheltered by the thick foliage of a group of acacias.
"It is of no use," Felicitas heard the Professor say
rather more quickly than was his wont. "You cannot
change me in this. I am just as much bored in the society
of women now as I used to be years ago, and, to tell you
the truth, my intercourse as a physician with the fair sex,




108      THE OLD  I1.4M'SELLE'S SECRET.
as it is called, has by no means tended to modify my
former opinions with regard to them. What a combination of frivolity and want of character I"
"Of course you are bored in women's society," Franz
declared, pausing beneath the bow-window. "You diligently seek the society only of the most ignorant and
simple, not to say silly, women. You detest modern
female education, sometimes'tis true with some show of
reason.  I am not going to defend ignorant strumming of
the keys of a piano, or silly, broken French, but there is
another side to the question. At the present time, when
the masculine intellect is continually exploring new and
untried paths, enjoying and participating in the impetus
which science of all kinds has received in this century,
you wish, if possible, to confine women behind the barriers
placed before them during the middle ages-to deny their
intellectual power a wider range than is accorded to their
servants-this is not only unjust, but pure folly. Why,
women have the souls of your sons in their hands, and at
a time, too, when they are most easily influenced, pliable
as wax, ready to receive impressions which they will retain with the tenacity of iron. Incite women to serious
thought, enlarge the circle in which you, egotist that you
are, have confined them, and which you call'feminine
vocations,' and- you will soon see vanity and want of
character disappear."
"That course I shall most certainly not pursue, my
dear friend!" said the Professor sarcastically, and slowly
walked on a few steps.
"I know perfectly well that you differ from me. You
think every requirement for a wife and mother can be fulfilled by a religious woman. My revered Professor, I, too,
would choose a religious wife. A woman without religion
is a flower without fragrance. But I pray you, take care.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          109
You think her'notable, well brought up, and religious,
and while you leave all things to her in charge with an
easy conscience, a' tyranny is established in your home,
against which you would rebel instantly were it not exercised by so religious a woman. Behind the mask of
religi6n: are too often concealed the evil tendencies which
peculiarly beset the feminine nature. One can, even in the
smallest sphere, be cruel, revengeful, and haughtily disdainful,-condemning and destroying in blind zeal much
that is beautiful and elevating,-all in the name of the
Lord, and in what is called the interest of the kingdom
of God."
"You go very far."
"Not too far. IJ knowyou will come to see that the
intellectual capacity must be refined and cultivated, and
the soul made open to the claims of humanity, before the
religion of a woman can have the beneficent power that
it should have in the world."
"These are, at all events, considerations that I have
no inclination to pursue," rejoined the Professor coldly.
"Science so entirely engrosses me and my life    "
"Aha! and she?" —his friend interrupted him in a low
tone, pointing towards the entrance of the garden. There
behind the grating appeared the Councillor's widow, with
her child and Madame. "Is she not the actual realization
of your ideal?" he continued with undisguised irony.
"Simple,-she dresses always in white muslin,-which,
by-the-way, is extremely becoming to her,-religious,who can doubt it who has seen her in church with her
lovely blue eyes cast up to Heaven? She detests all
science, study, and meditation, because they would hinder
the progress of her knitting or embroidery. She is your
equal in rank, which you know is also one of your indis10




110      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
pensable requisitions for a happy marriage,-in short,
every one supposes that she is the one destined —-"
"You are ill natured, and never liked Adele," interrupted the Professor hastily. "And I am afraid it is
because her father was such a strick disciplinarian. She
is sweet tempered, gentle, and an excellent mother."
He walked slowly towards the ladies, who were approaching, and saluted them courteously.
CHAPTER XIII.
BEFORE long the garden walks were enlivened by
graceful female figures, who, dressed in muslins and
gauzes, hovered about like white summer clouds. The
stiff dark cypress wall, before which the table was spread,
made a charming background for the airy fluttering
figures; silvery laughter and gay feminine conversation
floated out upon the air, diversified now and then by
sonorous manly voices. The guests were soon all assembled around the table, and the ladies produced their
embroidery.
At a sign from Madame, Felicitas approached the table
with the coffee-tray.
" My motto is'simple and cheap,'" she heard the Councillor's widow say, as she drew near. "In summer I
never wear a dress that costs more than three tbalers."
"But you forget, my dear," said a rather over-dressed
young lady, looking suspiciously at the other's boasted
simple attire, "that you trim this simple material with
quantities of insertion and edging, which certainly must




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            111
increase the price of the dress to three times its original
cost."
"Ah, who would think of prosaic thalers in connection
with this lovely floating stuff!" cried Franz, enjoying the
malicious glances which the two ladies were interchanging.  "It looks airy enough to waft the wearers to
heaven, were it not for-yes, were it not for such heavy
golden bracelets as that one for example, which must inevitably drag its fair possessor to earth again."
As he spoke his eyes rested with evident interest upon
the wrist of the Councillor's widow, who was sitting very
near him, but who, upon his last remark, started involuntarily, while for a moment a deep blush suffused her
cheeks and brow.
"Do you know, most gracious lady," he said, "that
for the last half hour I have been irresistibly attracted
by your bracelet? It is of such.superb antique workmanship. My curiosity is especially excited by the inscription that I can just distinguish, surrounded by that
charming wreath."
The countenance of the young widow had regained its
usual lovely colour,-she raised her placid blue eyes,
quietly unclasped the bracelet, and handed it to him.
Felicitas was standing just behind young Franz. She
could distinctly see the bracelet which he held. Oddly
enough it was in every respect exactly similar to the one
lying in the old Mam'selle's secret drawer, except that it
was much smaller-indeed it was rather tight for the
young widow's wrist.
das ir liebe igt ine kranc
Die hat got jesamme geben
fif ein winneclichez leben,
read Franz, with fluency.  "Strange!" he cried, "the




112      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
verse has no beginning. Oh, I remember it, it is a quotation from one of the old Minnesingers-a verse from
Ulrich von Lichtenstein's'Constant Love,' —the whole
verse is translatedWhere'er love with love requited
Dwells in two hearts fond and true,
And where both are so united
That this love is always new,
God to these two hearts has given
Bliss indeed, for love is heaven.
"This bracelet has doubtless a faithful companion
closely connected with it by the beginning of the verse,"
he remarked, with lively interest. "Does its companion
not belong to you also?"
"No," replied the Councillor's widow, as she bent over
her embroidery, while the bracelet was passed from hand
to hand around the circle.
"And where did you get such a remarkable and exquisite piece of workmanship, Adele?" asked the Professor, across the table.
Again the young widow blushed slightly.
"Papa made me a present of it a little, while ago," she
answered. "Heaven only knows how far back its antiquity can be traced I"
She took the ornament, clasped it upon her wrist, and.
turning to the lady next her, addressed a remark to her
which effectually changed the current of conversation.
While universal attention had been occupied with the:
interesting bracelet, Felicitas had made the round of the
table-every, one had been helped from her tray with.
out bestowing a glance upon the person who carried it.
She was returning to the summer-house entirely unob.
served.- At the request of little Anna, who was limping




~THE OLD IIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         113
about in the shady walk in front of the house, she stopped
for a moment, and lifting her arms, and bending back her
head, caught at one of the hanging boughs of an acacia,
and tried to break off a small branch for the child. For
a female figure faultless in outline, there is no more advantageous position than the one thus taken unconsciously, and which she retained for several moments.
Young Frarz hastily raised his eyeglass-he was slightly
near-sighted,-and his dark eyes were riveted with evident astonishment upon the youthful form beneath the
acacia; he was in his turn keenly observed by the Councillor's widow, although she was apparently absorbed in
her embroidery. When Felicitas disappeared within the
house Franz dropped his eyeglass and was turning to
Madame, evidently with a question upon his tongue, when
the young widow interposed with some inquiry concerning an accident which he had met with while travelling,
thus enlisting his attention upon a subject in which he
was, of course, much interested.
Soon afterwards she arose noiselessly, and went across
to the summer-house.
" Dear Caroline," she said, entering the kitchen, "there
is no necessity for your bringing out more coffee. Fill up
the coffee-pot,-I see here is an excellent coffee warmer,
-and I will carry it across to the table and pour it out
myself-it will be more convenient for our guests, and,
to tell you the truth, you are not fit to be seen in that
faded chintz dress. How can you come into the presence
of gentlemen in that ugly short skirt? It is scarcely decent-do you not see it yourself, child?"
The despised skirt was the best which Felicitas possessed-her holiday-dress. It was certainly worn and
faded, but it was faultlessly clean, and smoothly ironed.
That she should be reproved for what she had silently and
10*




114      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
uncomplainingly submitted to made her' smile bitterly,but any word of self-justification would have been superfluous, and in this case ridiculous.
When the young widow returned to the table, she
found the conversation which she had tried to prevent in
full play.
"Strikingly beautiful?" repeated Madame, laughing discordantly. "Fie, my dear Franz, I cannot believe you
think so. Striking, I grant you, but not in a'way that is
-becoming to any young girl. Look closer at that pale face
and odd hair. That forward manner, those careless gestures-the eyes which stare you in the face with such unblushing boldness, are all inherited from an incorrigibly
depraved mother.-Like begets like —let the root be rotten and the bush will show it. Oh, I know it well-for
nine long years I have spared no pains in endeavouring
to reclaim this soul to the Lord-but the obstinate girl
has defied and defeated all my efforts!"
"Ah, dear aunt, it will soon be over," said the Councillor's widow, soothingly, as she was pouring out the coffee.
" Only a few weeks longer, and she will leave your house
forever. I am indeed afraid that the good seed has fallen
upon stony ground. There can be no pious aspirations in
a soul which has always ulgratefully rebelled against
the restraint imposed by strict morality and decorous customs. But still we who are fortunate in being well born
should not judge her too severely; there is. levity in her
blood. If you should travel again'in future years, Herr
Franz," she said, jestingly, to the young man, "you may
one day chance to meet with this former member of aunt's
household beneath strange skies-and admire her as an
ornament to the tight-rope or the circus."
"She does not look in the least like it," said the Professor suddenly, in a clear, decided voice. Until now he




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           115
had been remarkably silent, his dissenting remark vwas, of
course, most striking. Madame turned towards him surprised anld angry, and the young widow lost her stereotyped gentleness, but, nevertheless, she shook her curls
with a smile, and opened her lips-in the act, of course,
of saying something kind and loving-when she was prevented by the loud cries of her little girl. She turned,
and at the sight which met her eyes, uttered a shrill
shriek of horror. The child was running towards her
mother as steadily as her poor  little limbs would. allow
her-in her right hand she held  tightly clasped in her
terror a box of lucifer matches-her dress was in flames.
We have said that the mother uttered a shriek of terror;
-with one glance downward at the light inflammable
material of which her own dress was composed, her presence of mind forsook her.' She stretched out her arms,
as if to defend herself from her child, and, with a leap,'
vanished behind the protecting cypress wall. The airily
dressed ladies scattered like frightened doves in every:
direction with shrieks of terror. Madame alone bravely
followed the two gentlemen to the child's assistawce, but
they were too late, Felicitas was already upon Be spotshe wrapped her dress tightly around the child and tried
to smother'the -flames-but they were too strong,'the
thin chintz dress caught fire, the young girl was in imminent danger:
With hasty but quiet decision, she seized the child in
her arms, ran across the lawn, up the side of the dam,
and plunged into the swollen brook.
The deadly peril and the swift rescue had occupied but
very few moments; before the two gentlemen had even
divined her purpose.as, she flew past them, the fire was
extinguished-they reached the dam just as Felicitas had
regained her footing, and, with the child held on her right




116      STHE OLD  AIM'SELLE'S SECRET.
arm, was seizing upon the bough of a hazel bush with her
left hand, that she might steady herself against the rush
of water which was quite violent just at this spot. With
the gentlemen, the Councillor's widow also appeared upon
the dam.
"My child!-my Anna! Save my child I" she cried, in
accents of despair. She really seemed about to run into
the water.
"Don't wet your feet, Adele, you might catch cold,"
said the Professor to her, with cutting irony, as he quickly
descended the side of the dam, and from the bank of the
stream extended both hands to Felicitas; but they fell
at his side again, for the hitherto quiet expression on the
girl's face underwent a sudden transformation, the deep
wrinkle appeared between her eyebrows, and she cast
upon him that deadly cold, hostile glance which he already
knew. Turning away her head, she gave little Anna into
his arms, and then accepting, with a faint smile of acknowledgment, the hand which Franz extended to her, she
sprang up-on the dam.
The Rrofessor carried the child into the summer-house,
accompared by its distressed mother, and there it underwent a thorough examination for the purpose of discovering its probable injuries, but, strange to say, it had escaped
almost unhurt-no burns were found except on the left
hand, where, as the weeping child now related, the mischief had originated. The little girl, while her mother
was in the kitchen, had taken the box of matches from the
table-as she was lighting one in the garden outside a
piece of linen which had been tied around her finger for
some trifling scratch, caught fire; she tried to wipe off the
flame upon the skirt of her dress, and thus the disaster
had occurred.
The terrified ladies now one and all returned. Sympa



-THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         117
thy for the mother and rescued child and congratulations
resounded from all sides, and the'little angel' was loaded
with caresses.
"But, my dear Caroline," said the Councillor's widow,
in a tone of gentle reproof to theyoung girl who stood
near her, anxiously awaiting the result of the examination, —"could not you have taken some care of Anna
when she was playing in the garden?"
The reproach was too unjust.
"You had a few moments before forbidden me to leave
the house," replied Felicitas coldly,-a blush of. vexation
rose to her cheek, and she looked fixedly at her reprover.
"Indeed,-and what was that for, Adele?" asked Frau
Hellwig, in some surprise.
"Heavensl aunt," replied the young widow, without
any sign of embarrassment,-"you can easily understand
it if you will look at that hair. I wished to spare her
and ourselves the shame of the impression which such
neglect must produce."
Felicitas hastily put up her hands to her head; she was
conscious of having arranged her hair with great care,but the comb, which could never be made to sit firmly
among the rebellious waves, had slipped out,-it was
probably lying at the bottom of the brook. The wondrous
loosened masses lay thick upon her shoulders with shining
drops of water scattered like pearls here and there among
them.
"Is this all the gratitude that you display to the hand
which has carried your child unharmed: through fire and
water, most gracious lady?" asked the young lawyeri,
with some feeling. Until now he had been gazing- at Fe,
licitas.
"How can you do me such injustice, Herr Franz?"' re-:
monstrated the young widow, much offended.- "How in



1131     THE OLD  IfAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
comprehensible to a man are the workings of maternal
tenderness! At first the mother involuntarily turns with
reproach towards any one who has caused misfortune to
her child by neglect, although she thankfully admits that
such neglect is atoned for by its subsequent rescue. My
dear Caroline," she turned to the young girl, "I shall
never forget what you have done for me to-day. I wish
I could prove my gratitude to you upon the spot!" Then,
as if yielding to a sudden impulse, she unclasped the
bracelet from her wrist and held it out to the young girl.
"Take this, I beg of you, I value it highly, but what is
any sacrifice worth in comparison with my little daughter's preservation?"
Felicitas, deeply wounded, repelled the hand which
would have placed the ornament upon her arm.
"I thank you," she said, with that haughty motion of
her head which her pious employers found so indescribably unbecoming in the player's child. "I could never
receive a reward for fulfilling a simple duty to a fellowcreature, still less do I feel inclined to accept any sacrifice. You say that I have simply atoned for neglect,
and therefore, Madame, you can be under no obligations
to me."
Frau Hellwig had already taken the bracelet from the
Councillor's widow.
"What are you thinking of, Adele?" she said, with
some vexation,-" what could the girl do with such a
thing as this? Give her a dress of good strong gingham
that will be of some service to her, and that will be quite
enough!"
When she had finished speaking, the young lawyer left
the room. He went for his hat, and came up to the open
window, against which Felicitas was leaning.
"I think that we are one and all behaving most cruelly




THE OLD- MAM'SELLE'S SECRET           119
to you!" he said to her. "In the first place, we insult
you by the offer of paltry gold, and'then let you stand
there in your wet clothes. I am going to hurry to the
town and send out everything that is necessary for you
and the little incendiary."
He bowed and departed.
"He is a fool!" said Frau Hellwig angrily to the ladies
around, who were looking with ill-concealed regret after
his retreating figure.
The Professor, busied with the child's examination, had
not lost a single word of the foregoing conversation; and
one standing near him would have seen how, from the
moment when the young widow had offered the bracelet
to Felicitas, his features had been suffused by a deep
flush. Certainly, as a physician, he would find no favour
with ladies,-he was not at all adapted to the study of
those wonderfully refined and subtle ailments to which
the feminine nature is so liable. He was frightfully
straightforward in his dealings with the fair sex. It was
so natural that all present should have been frightened
nearly to death by the child's deadly peril, and should
heap question upon question that they might be assured
of its safety, and satisfied as to the probable consequences,
-yet to these questions, put in tones of such touching
sensibility and sympathy, he returned only the shortest,
driest answers-nay, to one or two fair ones, who were
most tenderly solicitous, he actually replied with sarcasm.
At last, wrapping the child in a thick warm shawl, he
left her to the tender care which all were waiting to bestow upon her, and walked towards the door. Felicitas
had retired to the farthest corner of the room; there she
thought herself entirely free from observation.  With
her shoulders slightly contracted, she was leaning against
the wall, her face was deadly pale, and the fixed expres.




120      THE OLD MAMS'SELLE'S SECRET.
sion of — her dark eyes and iber compressed lips showed
that she was:suffering acute physical pain. She had a
considerable burn upon-her arm which was smarting most
severely. -
As he was closing the door behind him, the Professor
glanced once more searchingly around the room, his gaze
encountered Felicitas,- -he paused-looked fixedly at her
for a moment, and then approached her hurriedly.
"Are you in pain?" he asked quickly.'"I can bear it," she replied, with trembling lips which
closed again convulsively.
"Y' ou are burnt?"
"Yes, on my arm."  Spite of her suffering she wished
to repulse all assistance, and turned away her head towards the window.. She would not for the world meet
those eyes which- since her childhood she had so dreaded.
Hie hesitated for a moment, but the sense of his duty as
a physician conquered.
"Will you not allow me to help you?" he asked, very
slowly, and with great gentleness.
"I will not trouble you," she coldly replied.  "I can
do everything for myself as soon as I go back to town."
"As you please," he said.- "But I would have you
remember that my mother still has some claim upon your
time and strength. For which reason you should not
wilfully make yourself ill." While he spoke this last
sentence he avoided looking at Felicitas.
"I do not forget that," she answered, with less feeling,
-she understood perfectly well that he had reminded her
of her duties, not to humiliate her in any way, but evidently to induce her to accept of his surgical aid. "I
thoroughly understand my position here," she added,
"and you will find me till the last moment at the post assigned me."




THE OLD MA''SELLE'S SECRET.          121
"Well, is your medical skill required here, John?"
asked the Councillor's widow, approaching them.
"No," he said curtly,, "but what are you doing here
still, Adele? I told you before that Anna should be taken
into the fresh air, and I cannot imagine why you insist
upon keeping her shut up in this close room."
He went out of the door, and the young widow taking
her child in her arms, and accompanied by the rest of the
ladies, followed him. Madame was already seated quietly
again at the table. Since the last row of her knitting had
been completed, the lives of two human beings had trembled in the scale between time and eternity, but such a
circumstance had no power to disturb the balance of mind
which was the result of iron nerves and a determined
will.
At last Heinrich appeared with the necessary garments. The honest fellow had run so fast that the perspiration stood in beads upon his forehead.
Shortly afterward Rosa came to the garden, and Frau
Hellwig allowed Felicitas to return to the town. She
knew that Aunt Cordula had in her well-stocked medicine-chest a most excellent salve for burns, and therefore
while Heinrich kept watch below, she hastened up to the
rooms under the roof. While the old Mam'selle, much
shocked, brought out the cooling ointment and tenderly
bound up the burnt arm, Felicitas related the whole occurrence. She spoke quickly and nervously. Physical
pain and agitation of mind had excited her feverishly.
Yet the girl's strong will subdued her passionate excitement, until Aunt Cordula gently observed that she ought
not to have rejected John's medical aid, and then tile last
barrier of her carefully preserved self-control was swept
away.
"No, aunt!" she cried suddenly, "his hand shall never
11




122      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
touch me, even to save me from instant death. The
class to which by birth I belong is'unspeakably odious
to him.' That declaration from his lips once wounded
my childish heart mortally, I shall never forget it. To-day
his sense of duty as a physician overcame for a moment
his aversion to the Pariah. I require and will accept nosuch sacrifice from him!"
She stopped exhausted, and showed in her face the
pain which her arm was giving her.
" He is not without compassion," she continued after a
pause, "I know that he denies himself luxuries for the
sake of his poor patients. In any other man constant
self-denial and quiet kindness would have power to touch
me deeply, but here they excite me as the knowledge of
crime in another would. I know how mean and degrading an admission this is, aunt, I know it well, but I cannot help it-it causes me great pain, it makes me very
angry to see anything admirable in the man whom I shall
detest to all eternity 1"
And now having entirely lost for the moment her firm
foothold of reserve and self-control, she complained for
the first time most bitterly of the heartless conduct of
the young widow. That peculiar hectic glow faintly appeared on the old Mam'selle's cheek.
"No wonder-is she not Paul Hellwig's daughter?"she interposed. There was the sternest disapproval expressed in these few words uttered gently but most
decisively. Felicitas listened with surprise. Never before had Aunt Cordula made the faintest allusion to any
member of the Hellwig family, —she had received the
news of the arrival of the Councillor's widow in silence
and with apparent utter indifference, so that Felicitas
had concluded that she had never in her life had any in.
tercourse with the family upon the Rhine.




TLEE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          123
"Frau Hellwig calls him one of the chosen of the
Lord, an unwearied labourer in the vineyard of the true
faith," the young girl said, with some hesitation, after a
short pause. "He must be a stern devotee; one of those
zealots who live strictly according to the letter, and feel
themselves justified in judging harshly the failings and
faults of their fellow-men."
Felicitas heard here a strange low laugh. The old
Mam'selle's features were of that peculiar kind concerning which it never occurs to us to ask,'Are they ugly or
beautiful?' The refreshing expression of feminine gentleness, and the delicacy of an intellectual nature mediate
between the stern requirements of the laws of beauty
and the irregularity of nature,-where the line of beauty
fails expression completes the effect-but for this very
reason, this style of face grows almost unrecognizable,
as soon as its accustomed harmony is disturbed. At this
moment Aunt Cordula looked positively uncanny; her
laugh was a laugh of scorn, although low and smothered, there was something Medusa-like in the look of
bitterness and contempt which for ope instant swept
across her face, usually so quiet and loving. This low
laugh with the strange change in the old Mam'selle's
face, threw for one moment a faint reflex light upon her
past life, but no guiding thread appeared in the dark
web, and she now exerted herself to destroy any impression which her momentary self-forgetfulness might have
made upon Felicitas.
Upon the large round table in the centre of the room
lay several open portfolios.  Felicitas well knew the
sheets and slips of paper that were scattered about upon
the table. Many an illustrious name-Handel, Gliick,
Haydn, and Mozart-was inscribed, often in almost unintelligible hieroglyphics, upon those yellow pages —it




124     TIIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
was Aunt Cordula's autographic collection of celebrated
composers. When Felicitas entered the room the old
Mam'selle had been arranging papers, which, having lain
year after year behind the glass doors of the antique
cabinet, exhaled a strong odour of mould. She now
quietly went on with her work, putting the papers most
carefully away in the portfolios. The table was gradually
cleared, and a thick book of manuscript music appeared.
Upon the title-page was written: "Music for the operetta of' The wisdom of the magistracy in the institution
of breweries,' by Johann Sebastian Bach."
The old Mam'selle laid her finger significantly upon
the name of the composer: "You have never seen that
before, have you, Fay?" she asked, with a melancholy
smile. "That has been lying for many years in the top
drawer of my secret cabinet. This morning all sorts of
thoughts have been chasing each other through my old
brain-their meaning being that it is time to prepare for
my going home, and among my preparations this book
belongs in the red portfolio. It is the only copy in existence, and, is wjll worth its weight in gold, my dear
Fay.
"The libretto of this operetta, written expressly for
our little town of X —, in the dialect of the place, was
discovered nearly twenty years ago, and created some
stir in the musical world on account of the music belonging to it which was supposed to have been composed by
Bach-but which was nowhere to be found. This composition, for which search is still made, lies here. These
melodies, which have been sleeping here upon paper for
more than a century, are for musicians a sort of Nibelungen treasure, especially as they are the only genuine
opera airs that Bach ever composed. In 1705, the scholars of the public school here, and some of the tow as' folk,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           125
brought out the operetta, and it was played in the old
town-hall. "
She turned over the title-page, and upon the other side
was written in a delicate hand,'The MS. composition
of Johann Sebastian Bach, written by his own hand, and
received from him as a remembrance, in the year 1707.
Gotthelf v. Hirschsprung.' "He sung in the operetta,"
she said in a voice that vibrated audibly, pointing to the
last name.
"And how did this book come into your possession,
aunt?"
"It was a legacy," replied Aunt Cordula shortly,
almost harshly, as she put the partitur into the red portfolio.
At such moments it was quite impossible to continue
a conversation which the old Mam'selle wished to break
off. There was at these times such a decided and dignified reserve expressed in every line and motion of the
feeble little figure that only utter want of tact and impertinent curiosity could proceed. Felicitas cast a longing glance at the vanishing MSS., the melodies which no
one living except Aunt Cordula possessed excited in her
the intensest interest, but she did not venture to ask for
a sight of them, as she had also previously refrained in
her account of the afternoon's occurrences from all mentionr of the bracelet; for the world she would not for the
second time have touched a chord in her kind friend's
memory which vibrated so painfully.
The old Mam'selle opened the glass doors, and Felicitas
stepped out upon the balcony. The sun was setting. Over
the distant landscape hovered what seemed like sparkling
floating golden dust, dazzling the eye and mingling the
indistinct outlines upon the horizon of earth and heaven.
Like grain flung from the hand of the sower, long rays of
11*




126      THE OLD MAM'SEL_ E'S SECRET.
light were flung from the setting sun, tipping with ruddy
gold the summits of the mountain forests and the blossom4laden orchards in the valley.  Single sections of
country stood out revealed by the fading rays amid the
gathering gloom around, like new and sudden thoughts
in some human brain. The little village whose outlying
cottages were boldly climbing the mountain's side lay hid
in the shadow, but upon its high-pointed church spire the
round ball gleamed brilliantly, as though played about
by lightning, and the open doors of the houses revealed
the red light of the fire on the hearths where the humble
evening meal was preparing.  The delicious calm of
evening brooded over everything, and up here the flowers
exhaled their intoxicating fragrance, which in the intense
-quiet of the air hung caressingly around the vine leaves,
yet faint from the warm  sun.  Sometimes a clumsy
May beetle would fall clattering upon the floor of the
gallery, or a pair of swallows whirr twittering past to
their nest,-nothing else disturbed the solemn repose ot
nature. And now the chords of Beethoven's funeral
march rang out from the music-room into the stillness
with an indescribable effect, but after the first few bars,
Felicitas raised her head and cast a startled glance back
into the room. Could those sounds come from the piano
within? The whispering dying tones fell upon the young
girl's ear with the force of a mysterious warning from the
spirit world. Ahb, the hands gliding over the keys were
weary, weary unto death; and those tones which they
called forth were the flutterings of the long-caged spirit
sighing to be free forever I




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          12i
CHAPTER XIV.
THE adventures by fire and flood were not without
evil consequences. During the night the child was attacked by catarrh fever, and Felicitas awoke next morning with a severe headache. Nevertheless she attended
to all her customary duties with her usual diligence,her wounded arm was not very painful, for the healing
ointment had worked well during the night.
In the afternoon the Professor came home. He had
just performed successfully an operation upon the eyes
of one of his patients, which no physician had ventured
hitherto to undertake. In his gait and carriage the usual
quiet assured self-reliance was observable, —the colour in
his cheeks was not a shade deeper than usual, but those
who knew him intimately, might well wonder at the unwonted fire that burned in his eyes underneath the strong
bushy eyebrows, —those usually cold steel gray eyes,
which seemed made only to search closely into the very
souls of others, could then, at certain moments, flash and
glow with genial sympathy and heartfelt satisfaction.
He stood at the door of the court-yard, and asked
Frederika, who was just coming into the house with a
bucket of water, whether her illness of yesterday had
passed away.
" Oh, I am quite well again, Herr Professor," she said,
putting down the bucket, "but the girl there,"-pointing
across the court to the windows of a room upon the
ground floor of the house,-" Caroline, I am sure, caught
something yesterday in all that fire and water. I could
scarcely sleep a wink last night,-she talked so loud in




128      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
her sleep, —and to-day she is going about with such a
heavy head, and with a face the colour of scarlet,
and, "
"You ought to have told me before, Frederika," interrupted the Professor sternly.
"I did tell Madame; but she said it would soon pass
over. Caroline has never had a doctor in her life since
she came here, and she has grown up strong enough.
Rank weeds grow apace, Herr Professor. There is no
use in trying to be kind to her,"-she added, as she remarked a gathering cloud upon her hearer's face,-" she
has always ever since she was a little child, been an obstinate thing, behaving herself as though she were a
king's daughter,-she, a player girlI Often when I have
baked or cooked up something particularly good for
Madame, I have set aside some of it for her. I always
think of others, sir I But do you suppose she ever
touched it? Not a bit of it. I always had to give it to
some one else. You see, Herr Professor, she has been
this way from  childhood. She has never eaten half
enough since our old master died,-'tis a wonder to me
that she has grown up so tall. And it is all because of
her obstinacy and evil-minded arrogance,-she does not
wish to accept anything from anybody. Did I not hear
her with my own ears telling Heinrich, that when she
had once left this horrible house she would work her
fingers to the bone and send all that she earned to
Madame, until every penny that she had cost, every
mouthful of bread that she had eaten here, was well paid
for?"
The old cook had not observed how, while she was
pouring out her heart in this way, her auditor's face had
been more and more deeply dyed with crimson, until,
scarcely wai'ing for the conclusion of the last sentence,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          129
without replying a word he strode across the court-yard
towards the window which she had pointed out to him.
It was a high bow-window cut in the stone, opening
nearly on the ground, and belonged to the room in which
Frederika and Felicitas slept. It was open at present,
and through it were plainly seen the bare whitewashed
walls and clumsy scanty furniture; it was the same small
dreary room in which the child of four years of age had
sobbed through her first night of childish longing for her
mother. There she was now at the window-the obstinate outcast-who would not even satisfy her hunger
in this hated house —who would work her fingers to the
bone that she might free herself from all obligationthere was pride which she had preserved with even masculine determination in the midst of daily humiliations,
and a soul inspired by indomitable energy and inexhaustible power, all existing in that fair young creature
now apparently sleeping the lovely careless sleep of a
child. Her head was resting upon her arm, which was
lying upon the window-sill; the snowy forehead and the
glittering splendour of the hair contrasting strangely
with the gray stone. The pure profile with the lips softly
closed and the depression of the corners of the mouth
wore an expression of innocence and gentle melancholy;
the eyes which could flash out such bitter hate and defiance were closed, their long dark lashes resting upon her
cheeks.
The Professor advanced noiselessly and regarded her
for a moment in silence, standing immovably by the window,-then he bent over her.
"Felicitas!" his voice was gentle and full of kindly
sympathy.
She started up and gazed incredulously into the eyes
which were fixed upon her; her name spoken by his lips




130      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
acted upon her like an electric shock. She drew up her
figure, which had just now leaned upon the sill in the
relaxation almost of childhood, and in every line of her
face there was expressed absolute determination as if to
repel some expected hostile attack.
The Professor entirely ignored the transformation.
"I hear from Frederika that you are ill," he said with
the friendly tone usual with a physician.
"I feel quite well again," she answered with constraint.
"Undisturbed repose has always proved my best medicine. "
"Hm, —nevertheless you look   " he did not finish
the sentence, but put his hand across the window-sill, and
attempted to take hold of her wrist. She retreated several
steps into the room.
"Be reasonable, Felicitas I" he said with serious kindliness, but his brows contracted gloomily as the girl, clasping her hands almost convulsively in front of her, did not
approach him. In spite of the thick beard, the angry compression of his lips could plainly be seen.
"Then it is no longer your physician who addresses
you, but your guardian," he said harshly, "and as such I
command you to come here 1"
She did not look up, her eyes were still fixed on the
ground, and her chest heaved as though with an inward
conflict, but she slowly approached the window, and with
averted face extended her hand, which he gently took in
his. The well-shaped little hand, hardened by labour,
trembled so violently that an expression of great compassion crossed the Professor's face.
"Again, you wilful, foolish child," he said with gentle
gravity, "you have compelled me to treat you with
severity-and I had hoped that we might part without
one more em)ittered word.  Have you then no look




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          131
for me or for my mother but one of inextinguishable
hatred?"
"We must all reap as we sow!" she replied in sluothered accents as she tried to withdraw her hand from
his, looking at the slender fingers, that enclosed her wrist
gently and firmly, with as much horror as though they
had been of red-hot iron.
But he dropped her hand quickly,-gentleness and
sympathy disappeared from his face, —evidently provoked,
he struck with the end of his cane at some innocent
blades of grass that were growing in the chinks of the
wall. Felicitas breathed again, this rough, harshrnanner
was familiar to her-it was his own-she hated his sympathy.
"Always the same accusation," he said at last coldly.
"However your exaggerated pride might be wounded by
it, it was our duty to bring you up with most moderate expectations. I can bear the burden of your hatred calmly,
for I did my best, and desired only your best good-and
my mother? well, her love may be difficult to gain, I will
not deny that, but she is incorruptibly just, and her fear
of God would never have allowed her to permit any real'
harm or injustice to have befallen you. You are about to
go out into the world upon your own responsibility. In
your case docility is specially needful. How. can you expect to succeed in intercourse with others while you so
rigidly retain your false views of life? How can those
defiant eyes ever win affection or good will?"
She raised her eyes, and looked him calmly and firmly
in the face.
"If any one can prove to me that my ideas of right
will not bear the pure light of reason I will willingly re.nounce them," she replied in her low, expressive voice,
"but I know that I am not alone in my conviction that no




132      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
one, whoever he may be, has the right to condemn another
to intellectual death; I know that thousands feel, as I do,
how unjust and wrong it is to deny to any human soul
the gratification for which it thirsts, simply because it is
confined in a low-born body. I go out into the world with
confidence, for I believe in human nature, and rely upon
finding those towards whom I shall certainly not preserve
an attitude of defiance. A girl in my unfortunate circumstances, who is obliged to live among heartless people, has
no other weapon than her pride, no support except the
consciousness that she is God's child, and may be a partaker of his spirit. He is no respecter of persons, for
Him the distinctions of rank and class do not existthey are human inventions, and the more narrow and
contracted the soul, the more does it cling to such distinctions."
She turned slowly away, and disappeared behind the
door leading into the servants' room, while he stood without gazing after her. He pulled his hat down over his
forehead, and walked towards the house. No one could
tell what was going on in that bowed head, but one thing
was certain, the glow which had shone in his eyes when
he first returned to the house that afternoon had vanished
-gloomy thoughts were evidently brooding behind that
deeply-furrowed brow.
In the hall were the young lawyer Franz, and Heinrich.
The Professor started as if waking from a dream, as their
voices struck upon his ear.
"So you have patients in the house, Professor," said
the lawyer, shaking hands with him. "The fire has had
evil consequences, as I hear. The child — "
"Has catarrh fever," completed the Professor dryly.
He evidently was not in the humour for further explanations.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           133
"Ah, Herr Professor, that is of very little consequence,"
said Eieinrich. "The child is a poor, wretched little creature, pining away all the time-but when a girl like Fay,
who never has an ache or-a pain all the year round, hangs
her head, it is enough to make any one anxious."
"I have really not been able to perceive much hanging
of the head," said the Professor,- one could see the corners of his mouth twitching ironically beneath his beard.
"She holds her head as erect as is at all necessary, rely
upon it, Heinrich!"
He went up-stairs with Franz. At the top of the first
flight Anna ran towards them-she was barefoot, and in
her night-dress, her poor little cheeks were scarlet with
fever, and her eyes were swollen with crying.
"Mamma is gone, and Rosa is gone-and Anna wants
a drink of water I" she cried out to the Professor. Much
displeased, he took her in his arms and carried her back
into the bed-room. No one was to be seen. Greatly irritated, he called the maid. A distant door was heard to
open, and Rosa, fiat-iron in hand, her cheeks aflame, came
running along the passage. In the distant room a huge
pile of snowy muslin could be seen upon the ironingtable.
"Where are you?  How can you leave this sick child
entirely alone?" he cried out to her, as she entered the
room.
"Ah, Herr Professor, I cannot be in two places at once,"
said the girl, almost crying with vexation. "My gracious
lady must always have a fresh white muslin dress every
morning-there is no end to the washing and ironing;
these muslin dresses make more work than-   "
She stopped short, for the young lawyer was seized
with a violent fit of laughter.
"Alas for the lady in simple white muslin I cried he,
12




134      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
actually holding his sides, for the gloomy embarrassed
countenance of his friend struck him as infinitely comical.
"My mistress thought," Rosa went on with her defence,
"that as Anna had only a bad cold, she might easily be
left alone for half an hour —her toys were all on her bed
where she could get them."
"And where is my cousin?" asked the Professor,
harshly.
" My mistress and.Madame Hellwig have gone together
to the meeting of the Missionary Society."
"IndeedI"  Ile waived all further explanation, and
looked positively angry. "Now go back and get through
with that stuff," he ordered, pointing towards the door
whence she had come; then he called Frederika, but the
old cook, having just put her hands into her fresh dough,
sent Felicitas.
The young girl came up-stairs. The flush caused by
her late excitement had not yet quite left her cheek, —but
her look coolly scanned the irritated countenance of the
Professor. She stood still, with quiet dignity, awaiting
his orders. It evidently cost him a struggle to address
her.
"There is no one to take care of little Anna. Will you
stay with her until her mother's return?" he asked, and
an attentive listener might have observed the effort with
which he compelled his voice to take a gentle tone.
"Most willingly," she answered, without embarrassment. "There is only one objection to my doing so.
The child's mother does not like to have her little daughter with me. But if you will take all responsibility —I
will do what you ask."
"Certainly I will."
Without another word, she entered the bed-room and




TILE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         135
closed the door.  The young lawyer looked after her
with sparkling eyes.
"It is Heinrich's strange fashion to call her'Fay,"' he
said to the Professor, as they went up the second flight
of stairs to the room of the latter,-" and oddly as the
name sounds from his rude lips, it suits her marvellously.
I must frankly confess that I cannot conceive how you
yourself, and your mother, have had the courage to place
this remarkable girl upon a footing with your old cook
and that pert lady's maid."
"Ah, you think we should have robed her in silks and
velvets?" cried the Professor, more agitated than his
friend had ever known him. "And as a daughter has
been denied to the House of Hellwig, the empty place
could not have been better filled than by this Fay, or
rather Sphinx, as I call her. You were always an enthusiast! There is no possible objection," his voice vibrated with excitement, "to your making the juggler's
daughter Madame Franz-as her guardian I will bestow
my blessing upon youl"
The handsome face of the young lawyer flushed to the
roots of his hair. For one moment he turned in confusion, and looked from the window across the Square —
they had entered the Professor's room,-and then turning again with a smile, and not without a shade of irony
in his voice, he replied:
"If I comprehend in the least the workings of that
girlJs mind, she will scarcely trouble herself concerning
her guardian's blessing, or even consent-her own decision is all I should have to consult-and if you think to
scare me by the term'juggler's daughter,' you are greatly
mistaken in me, my revered Professor. For you, indeed,
with your ideas, such a thought would unhinge your
whole nervous system. What! commingle the warm




139      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
impulsive blood, coming quick from the heart of the jug
gler's daughter, and the cool sluggish stream which flows
in your veins from your long line of eminently respectable merchant ancestors-why, the idea is monstrousthose worthies there would turn in their graves I"
He pointed into the next room through the open door.
There, upon the wall, was hanging a long row of wellpainted portraits in oil, all stately respectable men, with
sparkling diamonds on their fingers, and in their faultlessly tied cravats. They were the various Burgomasters
and Councillors of Commerce, who had once borne the
name of Hellwig.
The Professor crossed the room and entered the apartment-the stings of his friend's irony seemed to glide
harmlessly off from him. lie folded his arms upon his
chest and walked several times up and down before the
portraits. "They have lived blameless lives," he said
suddenly, standing still. "Has this exterior of stainless
dignity and worth been attained and preserved without
fierce mental conflicts? I cannot believe it. Human
nature is antagonistic, it rebels most obstinately just
where it should obey most implicitly. Yet all their sacrifices have been as blocks of stone contributed to form
one solid structure, and this structure is called'The
House of Hellwig.' Have they been formed and brought
together only to be thrown down like a house of cards
by some unworthy descendant?  God forbid!"
It really seemed as if he suppressed some inward
struggle with these words, for the unwonted excitement
which Franz had observed with such surprise entirely
disappeared when he returned to his own room.
Felicitas had been sitting about half an hour by the
child's bedside, when the Councillor's widow came home,
Her face darkened at once at sight of the young girl.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          137
"How did you come here, Caroline?" she asked sharply
throwing her sunshade upon- the sofa, and drawing off
her Swedish gloves. "I certainly did not require this
service of you."
"But I did!" said the Professor, as he suddenly appeared behind her upon the threshold of the open door.
"Your child needed attendance, she ran out to me barefooted as I came up-stairs."
"ImpossibleI Oh, Anna, how could you be so disobedient?"
"Are you really in doubt, Adele, as to who was to
blame in this case?" asked the Professor, still controlling
himself-although the tone of his voice betrayed his displeasure.
" Oh Heavens I How I am tormented with that careless creature Rosa  She has nothing in the world to do
except to take care of this child, and yet I know that the
moment my back is turned she is either gaping out of the
window, or standing before the looking-glass."
" She happens at this moment to be standing before the
ironing-table labouring in the sweat of her brow at a
dress which you must a tout prix put on to-morrow,"
interrupted her cousin, emphasizing every word with cutting contempt.
She started guiltily. For one moment she was quite
overwhelmed with confusion, but she quickly recovered
herself.
"Heavens, how stupid!" she cried again, "she has entirely misunderstood me —how unfortunate I am!"
"Well," he again interrupted her, "we will suppose it
a misunderstanding and let it go. But how could you
leave your sick child in the charge of a maid who is, as
you have just declared, so grossly careless?"
"John, I obeyed the call of a sacred duty," answered
12*




138      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the young widow, casting up her beautiful eyes with an
expression of pious enthusiasm.
"Your most sacred duty is your duty to your child I"
he cried, now really angry —" I, as your physician, sent
you here, not to occupy yourself with missionary societies, but solely and simply for the sake of your child!"
"Oh, John, what would aunt and papa say if they
should hear you? you used to think so differently."
"That I grant you, but reflection always leads us to
the firm conviction that we should exert our best and
strongest powers in the sphere where Providence has
placed us. A hundred children brought from Paganism
into the bosom of the church through your means could
not relieve you from one iota of the blame that must
attach to you for any neglect of your own child!"
The young widow's face glowed like a peony, but she
struggled bravely for her usual gentleness —and succeeded.
" Do not be so harsh to me, John," she entreated. "Remember I am only a weak woman who always means to
do what is right. If I have erred, it was out of affection
for your mother who wished me to accompany her,-I
promise you it shall not occur again."
The young widow spoke in the most melodious tone of
her flute-like voice, and offered her hand to her cousin with
a bewitching smile. Strange-the grave man blushed
like a girl. Unconsciously he cast a shy glance towards
the figure by the bedside bending over the little girl-then
took the proffered hand in two fingers, and coldly dropped
it. The dove-like eyes, which so beseechingly sought his,
suddenly flashed, and the face grew pale-but tranquillity
was bravely maintained. The young mother took her
child's head between her hands and kissed the feverish lit.
tle forehead.
"I will take care of Anna now, and I thank you most




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          139
cordially, dear Caroline, for taking my place here in my
absence," she said kindly to Felicitas.
The young girl rose to go-but the child began to cry
bitterly, and throwing her arms around her, held her
tightly with both hands.
The Professor felt the poor little wrist.
" She has a high fever, I cannot consent to have her
excited further," he said kindly but coldly to Felicitas.
"Will you have the kindness to sit beside her until she
falls asleep?"
She silently resumed her seat, and he left the room
At the same time the Councillor's widow retired hastily
into her sitting-room, and closed the door behind her with
something of a slam. Felicitas heard her walking up and
down with agitated steps, and then there came a sharp
sound like the tearing of muslin. Little Anna started up
and listened, and when the sound was repeated in quick
succession, she began to tremble violently and burst into
tears.
"Mamma, mammal" she cried suddenly, "I will be
good! I will not do so again. Don't, dear mamma!"
At this moment Rosa entered. Her usually rosy face
looked quite pale.
" She is tearing something to pieces again. I heard it
distinctly on the landing," she whispered to Felicitas with
an expression of.great disgust. "Lie still, my darling,"
she said, soothingly to the child. " Mamma will not hurt
you,-she will not come here now, and by-and-by she
will be kind again."
Within, a door opened and shut, the Councillor's widow
had evidently gone out of the room. Rosa now entered
it, and returned immediately with a small bundle of white
rags in her hand. They were the remains of a lace pocket
handkerchief.




140     CTHE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"She is perfectly beside herself when she falls into one
of her rages," grumbled the maid. " She tears to pieces
whatever she has in her hands, and strikes right and left
without mercy. That poor little thing knows that well
enough."
Felicitas pressed the child to her heart, as if to shield
her from her mother's violent outbreak of passion,-but
there was no ground for her anxiety. The voice of the
young widow was suddenly heard from the landing without in all its bell-like clearness of tone,-she was chatting
cheerfully with young Franz as he went down stairs, and,
when shortly afterwards she entered the bed-room, she
looked more lovely and gentle than ever. The recent angry flush had subsided, leaving only a delicate carmine
tint on either softly-rounded cheek, and no one would
have dreamed that the heightened brilliancy of the eyes
which beamed in that beautiful face was the result of
anything but some lofty ebullition of feminine enthusiasm.
CHAPTER XV.
WHEN, at the Professor's request, Felicitas took her
station by little Anna's bedside, she never dreamed that
she had undertaken an office which she was to retain for
many days. The child became dangerously ill, and would
not suffer either her mother or Rosa to approach her.
Upon the Professor and Felicitas, therefore, the charge of
watching by her and giving her her medicine devolved.
In her delirium the torn handkerchief played a conspicuous part. John listened with amusement to her childish




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           141
cries of anguish and fear, and more than once called up
a blush of confusion and terror into his cousin's cheeks
by his persistent searching questions. She, however,
stoutly affirmed-and Rosa always confirmed her assertion-that the child alluded to some frightful dream which
she had had.
Felicitas soon became most skilful in her duties as
nurse; for although daily and hourly intercourse with the
Professor at first made her position a very trying one,
yet the anxiety which they shared together for the child's
life, helped her to overcome the difficulties of her situation
more quickly than she had thought possible. She was
amazed to find how well she understood him in his office
of physician. While others-even the child's mother —
thought him impenetrable, she always knew whether he
considered the danger on the increase, or whether he had
begun to hope,-and this almost entirely without a word
of explanation on his part calling her to note any change
that was taking place. He relieved her by watching himself on alternate nights, and during the day he spent much
time in the sick-room. He would sit patiently for hours
by the bedside, laying one and then the other of his cool
hands upon the child's hot forehead. The little girl would
often fall asleep, thus soothed by his gentle hand, which
really seemed to possess magnetic power.
With determined aversion Felicitas tried to drive from
her mind the involuntary comparisons that would suggest themselves, as sitting at some distance from him her
glance rested upon his face and figure. There were the
same hard, irregular lines in the face, the same broad,
massive forehead, above which the thick hair was most
carefully and smoothly brushed, the same eyes, the same
voice, everything just as she remembered him the terror
of her childhood,-but she looked in vain for that gloomy




142      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
air of asceticism which had made the youthful face and
figure so prematurely old and forbidding. A mild light
seemed to surround that broad forehead, -and as she
listened to the tones of his voice as he tenderly soothed
the suffering child, she could not but confess to herself
that he certainly appreciated fully the sacredness of his
calling. He did not stand contemplating, with a cold
shrug of his shoulders, the unavoidable suffering of others;
he not only tried to rescue the body from pain and death,
-but the agonized soul might find support and sympathy
in his eyes, and gather courage and consolation from his
voice. He had a command of language which few men
possess. Words and tones were at his bidding which
stirred electrically the heart of the listener. Who could
at such times remember his stiff, awkward movements,
or his repellant demeanour in social intercourse? His
presence compelled admiration,-he was a man conscious
of power,-the deep-thinking, determined mediator between the two deadly opponents Life and Death. But
whatever thoughts of this nature might at times haunt
and fill Felicitas' mind, her concluding consideration was
always the same. If he can think and feel humanely,sympathizing with the needs and woes of the poorest of
his fellow-men,-the despised child of the juggler has all
the more reason to detest him, for to her he had been only
an unpitying oppressor and prejudiced unjust judge.
During their present daily intercourse, he had never
once adopted towards her that gentle tone and manner
which she so dreaded, and against which she defended
herself with the weapons of defiance and pride. He preserved uninterruptedly the air of common kindness which
he had used towards her since their last conversation,and this was expressed far more in manner than in words,
as, except to ask her some unavoidable question, he hardly




THE OLD MAM'ScELLE'S SECRET.         143
ever addressed her. He had a hard part to play with the
Councillor's widow. At first she behaved like one beside
herself, and insisted that Felicitas should resign her post
to herself or to Rosa-all John's quiet decision of manner
was necessary to bring her to reason. Then she could
not be prevented from putting in at the door at all hours
that curly head which the child so dreaded,-almost always when her cousin and Felicitas were together in the
room. She wept and wrung her white hands. Whatever poets may say about heroines'lovely in enchanting
tears,' there is no human face that can be beautiful in a
burst of tears that springs from the extreme of agony,but no line was deepened in that lovely oval face, no disfiguring redness appeared upon the transparent skin,the pearly drops rolled gently over the peachy cheeks.
No artist could imagine a more exquisite artistically
weeping Mater Dolorosa. What a contrast between her
and the pale, anxious watcher by the child's bed I Every
evening punctually, she appeared in an elegant wrapper,
a cap of cobweb lace resting lightly upon her curls, and
a devotional book in her hand, and begged to be allowed
to watch.  One and the same contest always ensued
between her cousin and herself. She made the same protestations against what she called this invasion of her
maternal rights, and departed to her bed gently weeping
and lamenting, to arise the next morning fresh as a
spring rose.
It was the ninth evening of little Anna's illness. The
child lay in a dull stupor. Now and then ani unmeaning
murmur would escape her lips. The Professor had been
for a long while sitting motionless by her bedside, with
his head bowed upon his clasped hands; suddenly he
arose and beckened Felicitas into the next room.
"You watched last night and have not allowed your



144      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
self one moment of rest now for two days," he said, " and
yet I am going to ask a further sacrifice of you. There
will be a crisis to-night. I could easily share my watch
with my cousin or Rosa, for the child is entirely unconscious, but I need beside me thorough thoughtfulness and
self-forgetfulness. Will you watch again to-night?"
"Yes."
"But you will have to pass hours of anxiety and suspense,-do you think you are strong enough?"
"Oh yes. I love the child-and in short, I will be
strong enough."
"Have you such firm faith in the power of your will?"
His voice began to express the gentleness which she so
dreaded.
"It has never yet failed me," she replied, and her calm
eyes grew stern and repellant.
The night fell-a lovely, still spring night. The bright
glittering moonlight was bathing the sleeping town,it shone into the long room in the merchant's house
where the old portraits were hanging, touching them
with silver, and breathing a strange life into their motionless features. The flowers on the carpet bloomed
afresh in the magic light, and a million silvery gleams
were reflected from the antique chandelier hanging from
the centre of the ceiling. But within, in the sick-room,
mighty forces were battling above the narrow bed for
the mastery. The conflict was fierce indeed. The child
lay there in violent convulsions. The Professor stood
beside her with his eyes riveted upon the writhing limbs
and the distorted face  He had done everything that
human science and medical skill could suggest, — and
now he was patiently abiding the issue of his unwearied
efforts to assist the beneficent forces of nature.
The clock upon the church towpr struck twelve in




THE  OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         145
slow, deliberate strokes. Felicitas, who was leaning over
the foot of the bed, shuddered,-it seemed to her that
that long ringing clang must bear away the childish soul
upon its mighty waves of sound, and, in fact, the tightlystrung limbs suddenly relaxed, the clenched hands opened
and fell feebly upon the covering of the bed, and after'a
few more minutes the head lay quietly upon the pillow.
The Professor leaned over her silently for awhile, and
then raising his head, he whispered with emotion, —"I
think she will recover!"
Felicitas gazed anxiously at her little charge,-she listened to her gentle breathing, and saw how the wearied
limbs had fallen into a childish attitude of repose. Then
she rose noiselessly and went into the next room. She
stepped to the open window. The delicious night-air in
which a breath of morning already mingled encircled her
refreshingly, —she leaned her weary head against the
stone embrasure of the window, and her clasped hands
hung idly before her. On the window-sill was a tall tearose bush, —one exquisite flower, doubly pale in the white
moonlight, hung above her snowy brow and glimmering
hair. Her pulses throbbed feverishly-no wonder; within
there, in that narrow room, death had hovered very near
a human life. The tension of her nerves during the last
few -hours had been fearful,-her ears had heard only the
sudden shrill shrieks of the child, —she had seen nothing
but the convulsed little form and the mute, pale face of
the physician who had asked the assistance, which she
could render, only by a glance or a sign. They had been
alone together within four walls, one in the exercise of
mercy and compassion-divided by a deep gulf of hatred
and prejudice.
The dry heated eyes of the young girl gazed from the
window at the front of the town-hall, shining bright in
13




146      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the moonlight. The statues on either side of the clockthe Virgin and St. Boniface-stood out in ghostly lif,
from their niches,-what good did they do standing protectingly and beneficently watching there? Directly beneath them the tragedy had taken place. Those three
high windows, now glittering silver, had shone on that
sad evening long ago-with the golden light of the fairylike illumination within, —and upon that very spot upon
the floor where now the moon's pale ray was sleeping,
the wondrously lovely woman had stood unfalteringly
before the crowd of spectators and the deadly weapons,
-but beneath her breastplate a mother's heart was
throbbing tenderly and anxiously,-for a little child was
sleeping lonely at the inn for whom she would work
until-the six shots fell and all was over.
The Professor now came out of the sick-room and
closed the door noiselessly behind him. He went up to
Felicitas, who was still standing immovably at the
window.
" She is sleeping gently," he said. "I will spend the
remainder of the night with her,-now go and rest'
Scarcely waiting for him to finish his sentence, Fellctas
left the window and walked silently past him to leave
the room.
"I think we can hardly separate so coldly to-night," he
said in a low voice before she could reach the doorit seemed as if against his will he broke the spell of silence. "During these last days we have stood faithfully
by one another like true comrades, battling with death
for a human life, —remember that," he added with
warmth. "In a few weeks we shall certainly part at all
events, perhaps never to see each other again in this
world. I must do you and myself the justice to tell you
that by your own force of character you have utterly




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          147
destroyed the prejudice and dislike of the last nine years.
Only in one dark spot-in your inextinguishable hatred
and obstinacy-do I recognize the wayward child who
once aroused all my sternness and severity."
Felicitas had advanced several steps towards him.
The moonlight illuminated her whole figure. As she
stood there erect with compressed lip and pale face
turned towards him over her shoulder, there was indeed
an air of determined hostility in her whole attitude and
expression.
"In all physical ailments you always inquire into
causes before you form an opinion," she replied. "But
you never thought it worth your trouble to inquire
whence proceeded that disease, as you chose to call it, of
the soul, which you desired to root out You judged
blindly upon vague hints of information, and are just as
blamable as though one of your patients had died through
your medical neglect. Suddenly deprive a grown man of
his ideal, the golden future of which he always has
dreamed longingly, and, be he never so pious and virtuous, he cannot, in the first shock of his loss, fold his
hands quietly and submit,-how much less then could a
child only nine years old, a child, whose whole soul had
been filled with anticipations of the day when she should
once more see her idolized mother-in whose mind there
was no hope, no dream-in whose heart no throb that
was not in some way connected with this blissful meeting!"
She stopped for a moment,-but no word passed her
hearer's lips,-he did not even look at her. At the beginning of her accusation he had once made a sudden
hasty movement as if to interrupt her,-but as she proceeded he stood immovable, in a listening attitude, not




148      THfE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
even raising his hand to stroke his beard-a motion comr
mon with him when his attention was excited.
"My uncle preserved to me my happy ignorance," she
continued, after a short pause,-" but he died, and with
him all pity died in this house. That morning I had
gone for the first time to my mother's grave,-only the
evening before I had learned her terrible fate,-they told
me at the same time that the juggler's wife was a lost
creature, whom even a merciful God would not admit
into his heaven    "
"Why did you not tell me all~this then?" interrupted
the Professor gloomily.
Felicitas, out of consideration for the sick child, had
spoken in an undertone, which added intensity to her expression of bitterness. She continued in the same tone
-turning her beautiful face flushed with scorn fully
towards him:
"Why did I not tell you all this then?" she repeated.
"Because you had already declared that the class from
which I sprung was utterly odious to you, and that there
was hopeless levity in my blood." The Professor covered
his eyes with his hand for a moment. "Young as 1 was,
with my first bitter experience of life fresh upon me, I
knew well at that moment that I should find no sympathy, no pity. And have you ever had any sympathy or
pity for the player's child?" she asked, advancing one
step towards him, and emphasizing every word with in.
describable bitterness. "Has it ever occurred to you
that the creature whom you wished to bow beneath the
yoke of servitude mlight perhaps have capacity to think?
Have you not stretched her soul upon the rack repeat.
edly with your determination to root out, like noxious
weeds, every desire that she might entertain for mental
culture-every expression of becoming self-reliance



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          149
every aspiration to a loftier atmosphere? Do not think
that I accuse you of wrong in bringing me up to labour.
Labour even the hardest and most fatiguing can never
be a disgrace. I work gladly,-but that you did your best
to make me a soulless toiling machine-that you tried to
crush out in me that intellectual element which alone can
illuminate and ennoble a life of hard labour-that I can
never forget nor forgive!"
"Never, Felicitas?"
The young girl shook her head with a wild gesture of
refusal.
"Then I must resign myself to your resolution," he
said, with a slight smile that was involuntarily, or even
in spite of himself, full of melancholy. "I have offended
you mortally, and yet-I repeat it-I could not do otherwise."  He walked several times up and down the room.
"In order to justify myself, I must once more allude to
what I know gives you great pain," he continued quickly.
"You are entirely without means, and are of-despised
origin. You are necessitated to earn your own living.
It would have been cruel to have bestowed upon you an
education fitting you for a higher position in life, and
then to have degraded you to the level of a servant,and yet I could not have given you any other position,for do you suppose that any family could have been induced to receive among their children as a governess the
daughter of a juggler? Do you not know that a man,"
-he stopped for a moment, his breath came quickly, and
his face grew white,-" yes, that a man of good position
who might desire to link his life with yours would be
forced to sacrifice much-both in himself and his relations
with the world? And what an unimaginable humiliation would that be for your proud heart! This is the
result of the social laws which you despise-but in obedi13*




150      THE OL'.D MIAM'SLLE'S SECRET.
ence to which numbers of men exercise an amount ol
self-control and self-denial that you do not dream of —
clinging to the maintenance of them from reverence for
the past and from a conviction that they are a political
necessity. And I too must obey them,-we do not all
carry our sufferings written upon our foreheads-and my
submission to them condemns me to a life of self-denial
and-loneliness."
He was silent. It thrilled Felicitas strangely, this involuntary, nay, almost unwilling revelation of his heartsecrets which this strong reserved man was hastily
making with trembling lips at this midnight hour. And
so he had doubtless given his heart to some woman who
stood socially far, far above him. In the midst of the
hate and anger which filled her soul towards him, she
was conscious of being touched by a sorrow such as she
had never known before. Was it possible that she could
feel sympathy for him?  Had she indeed then no force
of character-was she so weak?-she who such a short
time before had declared so emphatically that she should'feel no pity for any misfortune that might happen to
him?' And was he in fact to be pitied-why, instead of
folding his hands idly in his lap, did he not strive in a
manly way for the lofty prize?
"Well, Felicitas, have you nothing to say?" he asked;
"or are you again offended by my explanation, which is
an honest one?"
"No," she replied coldly. "These are your individual
views, —I have not the smallest desire to alter them.
But you cannot deprive me of the conviction that there
exist kind-hearted, unprejudiced people in the world, who
will recognize an honest heart and good intentions even
in a juggler's daughter. But why should I reply? We
should never come to the end. You see everything from




THE OLD MAM'SEILE'S SECRET.           151
your stand-point of excessive respectability where you
encase yourself in armour, that even your thoughts may
not deviate from a certain routine. I belong to the class,
despised by you and such as you, of those who believe
that thought is and should be free. As you yourself
say, our paths in life will diverge in a few weeks never
to meet again; in mind we are already far apart. Have
you any other commands for me with regard to the sick
child?"
HIe shook his head, and before he could say a word she
had left the room.
CHAPTER XVI.
ANNA'S recovery advanced rapidly, but Felicitas was
not yet relieved from her duties as nurse. The little girl,
usually quiet and docile, grew fretful and excited as soon
as she left her bedside, and there was nothing for the
mother to do but to entreat Felicitas to take charge
of her daughter until she was perfectly recovered. The
young widow did this all the more willingly, as the Professor no longer spent any length of time in the sick-room.
He came every morning to see the child, but his visits
scarcely lasted three minutes. Sometimes he took her in
his arms and carried her up and down for awhile in the
sunny sheltered court-yard, but except at such times he
was rarely seen in the house. He seemed suddenly to
have been seized by a positive passion for the garden;
his whole mode of life was changed; he never studied in
his room any more; whoever wished..to speak to him was
sent out to the garden. Frau Hellwig yielded with a
wonderfully good grace to this freak, as she called the




152      THE OLD MAlI'SELLE'S SECRET.
alteration in his habits, and to the great delight of the
Councillo.'s widow arranged matters so that their prin.
cipal meals were taken in the garden. Thus the old house
grew more quiet than ever, the family often did not return
to it until after ten o'clock in the evening. But sometimes
the Professor would come back earlier and alone; Felicitas would hear him slowly ascending the first flight of
stairs, and then almost always an odd circumstance occurred. He would turn on the landing, and, as if mechanically, approach the sick-room, but just outside, when
his hand must have almost touched the latch of the door,
he would suddenly pause, as if recollecting himself, and
then retracing his steps would mount the stairs to his
room with redoubled speed. His room was just over the
one where the child lay, and on these evenings he did not
sit down quietly to his books, but walked restlessly up
and down for hours,-this lonely pacing of his room
always interested and excited Felicitas —she connected
it in some way with his midnight confession.
About eight in the evening little Anna usually fell
asleep, and then Rosa took Felicitas' place at the child's
bedside, while she took her time of relaxation, and went
up to the rooms under the roof. Aunt Cordula seemed
to have overcome her late physical weakness, and to have
no more presentiments of death,-she was more cheerful
than ever, and would exult like a child in the anticipation of soon having Felicitas all to herself. She always
waited supper for her. There stood the carefully ordered
tea-table in the gallery,-some favourite delicacy of Felicitas' was always provided, and a whole bundle of freshlyarrived magazines and newspapers awaited her, to be
read aloud. During-4hese cosy delightful hours of refreshment, everything which had lately so excited and disturbed her mind would, often to her own surprise, utterly




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           153
fade away. She never spoke of what went on in the front
mansion, and the old Mam'selle-true to her custom of
years-never asked a question; and thus the strange experiences through which she was passing naturally and
easily fell into the background.
One beautiful sunny afternoon Felicitas was sitting
alone with little Anna,-a church-like stillness pervaded
the house; the Councillor's widow and Madame had gone
to make a round of visits, and the Professor was surely
in the garden, for there was no sound of life from his room
above. The child had been playing for a long while, but
now she threw aside her toys, laid her head back on the
pillow, and begged,-" Sing me a song, Caroline dear."
She was extravagantly fond of hearing Felicitas sing.
The young girl's voice was contralto,-its tones were
full and round, issuing from the chest, without any uncertainty, like musical strokes upon a bell, and with that
clear vibration which seems peculiar to the violoncello,
and which in the human voice, without one shade of
shrillness, breathes a tender melancholy, and is always
expressive of intellectual refinement. The old Mam'selle,
with her rare musical attainments and the finished culture
which her own talent had attained under most excellent
masters, had trained and educated this magnificent instrument well. Felicitas sang German songs in a perfectly
classic artistic manner. She had discovered that she
could always soothe the child by beginning some flowing
melody very softly, only lending its full power to her
voice after singing for some moments, and never then, if
she dreamed thatunkind ears were near.'0 fresh young grass, 0 tender green I'
The exquisite song of Schumann's now resounded through
the room, sung as only the lips of a true i ure young girl




154      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
can sing it. Felicitas sung the first verse with touching
simplicity and suppressed force, but at the beginning of
the second:'Apart from all, alone I go,-No human word
can soothe my woc,' —her powerful voice swelled forth
like the note of an organ. Suddenly, above, in the Professor's room, she heard a chair, not pushed aside, but
hurled away; hasty steps crossed to the door, and a bell
rung violently and shrill, like an alarum, through the
quiet house. It was the first time that the bell-rope in the
second story had ever been put in requisition. Frederika
hurried breathless up the two flights of stairs, and Felicitas stopped in deadly terror. After a few minutes the
old cook came hobbling down again, and entered the sickroom.
"The Herr Professor sends you word not to sing any
more, —he cannot study," she said in her rude, rough
way. "He was as white as a sheet, and could hardly
speak for anger. What do you behave so for? I never
heard of such a thing in all my life I You sing exactly
like a man, and, gracious Heavens  what a song! Just
like a chimney sweep's! I never saw such a girl as you
are i I used to sing very well when I was young, but I
sung beautiful songs, oh, beautiful-' Life let us cherish,'
and'Lovely moon, thy quiet beaming.' You'd better let
singing alone, Caroline. You don't know how to sing.
Yes, and the Professor says you must take the child down
into the court-yard and drag her about in her carriage a
little."
Felic itas hid her glowing face in her hands-she seemed
to have suffered a humiliating rebuke. How ashamed,
how disgraced she felt I For although she could be bold
and brave enough in defending her convictions, in tell.
ing the unadorned truth to her enemies, she was inconceivably shy and reserved with respect to her own talents




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           155
and acquirements. The idea that her voice might reach
the ears of strangers would alone suffice to paralyze
her powers and make her dumb; the thought of wearying
or annoying any one with her singing, was too much.
And now this had actually happened-she was thought
forward-she had laid herself open to the charge of desiring to bring herself into notice, and therefore she had
been punished and disgraced in this way. Madame's
harshest injustice and most wilful misunderstanding anc
ill treatment had never drawn a tear from her eyes, but
now she wept bitterly.
A quarter of an hour afterwards Felicitas was dragging
the child's carriage up and down the court-yard. The
feverish glow upon her cheeks was gradually disappearing beneath the refreshing breath of Spring, but it was
powerless to remove the expression of gloomy reflection
upon her brow. After a little while Madame returned,
accompanied by the Councillor's widow, and at the same
time the Professor appeared on the stairs, hat on head
and cane in hand, about to take a walk. All three came
into the court-yard. The Councillor's widow carried a
tolerably large bundle, and after petting and kissing her
child, she tore off a corner of the paper cover of her package, and said to her cousin with an arch smile:
"Just look here, John, am I not an extravagant creature?  Although my heart is steeled against all the attractions of dress, I cannot resist a linen shop. I saw
this beautiful table-cloth exposed for sale; now could I
walk coldly by? Impossible I Before I knew what I
was doing I had it rolled up under my arm, and this piece
of exquisitely fine linen besides. But good-by to a handsome dress this winter! I must conscientiously fill up the
gap that this will make in my finances by derying myself
at least one winter dress,-but let it go, a notable Ger



156      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
man housekeeper can hardly have her linen-press full
enough. "
The Professor did not reply-he was looking beyond
her towards the gate of the court-yard. The poor woman
whom Felicitas remembered to have seen lately in his
study up-stairs, was just entering. She had a large bundle under her shawl, and made an almost reverential curtsy
as she approached the Professor.
"Her Professor, my William can see again —he sees as
well as I or anybody else," she said,-her voice trembled,
and the tears gushed from her eyes. "Who would have
thought it! Ah, he was so miserable, and we were all so
unhappy! Now he can earn his living again, and I can
die content, for I shall not leave a poor, helpless, blind
boy behind me. Ah, Herr Professor, all the treasures
that the world contains would not be too much for you I
But we are such poor people we cannot dream of rewarding you for what you have done for us. I hope you won't
be offended, Herr Professor, but I thought perhaps this
little trifle    "
"Well, what do you mean?" interrupted the Professor
hastily, retreating a few steps.
As she said the last words the woman opened her shawl,
and disclosed a large bird-cage and a roll of linen.
"You seemed to like so much to listen to this nightingale when you used to come-to us," she began again,
" and if you only put the little thing in a smaller cage you
can easily carry it back with you to Bonn. And the piece
of linen, it is not very fine, but I spun it myself, aid perhaps Madame Hellwig would use it for towels- "
" What do you mean, woman, by depriving your husband )f that bird which he is so fond of?" said the Professor. "I cannot endure birds, positively cannot bear
them,-and why should you feel yourself called upon to




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          157
provide us with house linen? Put these things up again
and go directly home."
The woman stood before him surprised and speechless.
"You ought to have spared me this, Frau Walter I" he
said more gently. "I have told you repeatedly that you
must not bring me anything. There, now go, and tell
William that I shall certainly come to look after him once
more to-morrow."
He gave her his hand, and pulled the shawl over the
objects of her unfortunate expedition. The woman curtsied with downcast eyes and went away. Madame and
the Councillor's widow had been mute witnesses of the
scene, —the countenance of the former had expressed great
disapprobation, at one time it had seemed almost as if she
would have taken part in what was going on.
"Now, really, I cannot understand you, John," she
said, in a tone of reproach, as soon as the woman had
left. "When I think of all that your education has cost,
it seems to me that you have no right whatever to refuse
any compensation for your services. Her idea about the
bird was stupid enough to be sure —its shrill piping would
ill accord with my quiet house, but if I had had my way
the woman should have left the linen here —a good piece
of linen is not to be thrown away in that- style, let me
tell vou."
"Perhaps then, dear aunt, my charitable thoughts would
hardly have found favour in your: sight," said the Councillor's widow, in a jesting tone. "Only think, John,"
she continued, growing serious, "we have just heard this
morning of an unfortunate family, so poor that the poor
little children have scarcely rags to cover them, and they
atre most excellent people, too. Aunt and I are thinking
about making a collection for them. If you, now, had
only taken the linen, I should have come begging to you,
14




158      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
and I should have made you give it all to me, —it would
have made such nice clothes for those poor children-I
would have sewed upon them myself."
" Oh, the depth of this Christian charity l" interrupted
the Professor, with a laugh of angry contempt. "The
only possession of one poor family must be taken to supply the necessities of another, and the magnanimous deviser and executor of this work of love stands beaming
upon a wicked world with a halo of feminine compassion
surrounding her fair curls."
"You are unkind, John," cried the young widow,
offended,-" I like to give —"
" Undoubtedly, when it costs you nothing in the world,
Adele," he continued, ironically. "Why does not the
notable German housekeeper open the drawers of her
overflowing linen-press? Why not take this superfluous
piece?" he touched the roll of linen that she had in her
arms. Both ladies warded off his hand as though they
feared an attempt upon the young widow's life.
"Oh, that is carrying the joke a great deal too far,
John," she said, in a complaining tone,-" this exquisitely
fine linen!"
"You have often reproached me," the Professor said,
turning to his mother, without appearing to have heard
his cousin's last remarks, "by declaring that I do not sufficiently prize the results of my very expensive education;
I assure you, I am a practical man. I admit the duty
which lies at every one's door, of getting and gaining,but my profession leads me also to infinitely higher aims
-it gives scope for the exercise of charity and benevolence, to a greater degree than in any other calling-with
the exception, perhaps, of the church. I certainly shall
never rank myself among those physicians who, with one
hand, assist a poor man to be rid of a disease, while they




THE OLD  IAM'S'ELLE'S SECRET.        159
plunge the other into his pocket and deprive him of the
means of maintaining the life they have saved."
Until now Felicitas' presence had been unobserved.
His glance passed over her unconsciously-but was arrested and fettered for a moment by the glowing expression of involuntary satisfaction that beamed in the girl's
face,-for the first time those four eyes encountered each
other with a lightning glance of mutual understanding
and sympathy-but only for one moment,-Felicitas,
overcome with sudden self-consciousness, dropped her
eyelids, and the Professor, by a hasty movement, pulled
his hat so low over his eyebrows that his flushed face
was almost concealed by its broad brim.
"Just as you please-I don't care-it is your own
affair, John, you can think as you choose," said Madame
coldly. "Your Grandfather Hellwig would hardly have
been pleased to have listened to your views. The practice of medicine is your business, and in matters of business, he used to say, there must be no sentimental considerations brought into play."
She walked away and entered the house. The Councillor's widow, pressing her cherished bundle to her heart
with a lovely pouting air, followed her, walking by the
side of the Professor. On the threshold, the latter turned.
and looked once more into the court-yard. Felicitas was
just taking little Anna out of the carriage, that she might
comply with her entreaty to be carried up and down two
or three times. It seemed at one moment, while the
child was being lifted up and clung with its arms, a dead
weight around the neck of her kind nurse, as if the
slender figure must break beneath its burden. The Professor turned back into the court.
"I have several times forbidden your carrying the
child," he said reprovingly, with some irritation, —"she




160      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
is too heavy for you. Did not Frederika tell you this
afternoon that IHeinrich must assist you?"
"No, she forgot it. Heinrich is not at home."
The Professor took the child from her arms and put it
back into the carriage, talking to it gently but gravely.
The expression of his face was gloomier and sterner than
ever,-at any other time Felicitas would have coldly
turned away from him, but to-day she was the cause of
his ill humor,-she had interrupted the physician's profound, earnest studies with her singing, and had possibly
broken up a new and most interesting train of ideas.
But if he were ever so irritated and angry, she must relieve her mind of the burden that weighed upon it —he
must know that she had erred ignorantly. The moment
was decidedly favourable, as his face could not be seenhe was still bending over the child talking to her.
"I must beg your forgiveness for having annoyed you
with my singing," she said timidly. This gentle entreating tone of voice, which was entirely new to him, produced an evident effect upon him-he stood up and looked
searchingly into her face. "I pray you to believe," she
continued, "' that I had not the faintest suspicion that you
were in the house at the time i"
The word singing awoke the remembrance of Felicitas'
tears in little Anna's mind. "Oh, you naughty uncle,
how poor Caroline cried I said she, and shook her little
clenched fist at him menacingly.
"Is what the child says true, Felicitas?" he asked
quickly.
She avoided answering his question directly. "I have
been much distressed by thinking  -'"
"That you might be suspected of a desire to be heard
by others?" he interrupted her, and a fleeting smile
hovered upon his lips. "Pray let me reassure you on




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           161
that point. However revengeful and implacable I may
consider you, I could never accuse you of a desire to
please-much as I might wish to do so; I sent to ask
you to be quiet-not because you exactly disturbed mebut-because I cannot listen to your voice. That offends
you, of course, extremely?"
Felicitas shook her head with a smile.
"Good-that is sensible!  For the rest I will tell you
something." He bent his head low down and looked
fixedly into her eyes. "Your song to-day betrayed a
well-guarded secret to mel"
Felicitas was terribly frightened; he had then got some
hint of her intercourse with Aunt Cordula. She felt herself blush crimson as she looked at him in anxious confusion.
"I know now why you have so peremptorily refused
all future assistance from us. Into the sphere in which
you will shortly live and move, it is true our arms could
not reach. You are going upon the stage!"
"No; you are greatly mistaken," she replied decidedly,
and evidently relieved. "Although I hold the power of
representing the creations of master-minds to be one of
the noblest talents that human beings can possess, I have
not the courage which such an undertaking demands. I
am a perfect coward where any publicity is concerned,
and should never achieve anything beyond mediocrity
owing to my entire want of self-confidence. And, besides,
in such a vocation it is necessary to possess thorough
scientific musical knowledge such as I shall never' acquire."
"It is quite in your power to do so."
"But I do not wish to attain to such knowledge. As
a child, music always seemed to me something never to
be learned, acquired like reading and writing, —but rather
14*




162      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
an inspiration direct from Heaven, and I please myself
by retaining this childish idea. That that, which melts
me to tears and gives me such heart-felt delight, should
depend upon stiff pedantic rules, and be mathematically
produced upon paper in a series of ugly black marks,this thought sensibly lessens my enjoyment. I do not
like to think of it any more than to remember that every
beautiful human face is formed upon a grinning skull,no glimpse into machinery ever pleases me."
"And here we come again upon the ground-tone ol
your nature, which revolts at all law and rule," he said
sarcastically, although he had listened with evident interest to her peculiar definition of music. "Then my conclusion was false, and your very striking anxiety superfluous," he added sharply, after a pause. "It must be a
most remarkable secret I I am half inclined to insist upon
a revelation of your plans for the future, in right of my
office as guardian."
"It would be useless," she replied. "I shall not speak.
You yourself have pronounced me free at the end of two
months to do what I choose."
" Yes, yes,-that mistake has unfortunately been made,"
he rejoined with irritation. "But it seems to me-not to
speak harshly-at least very bold in any one as young as
yourself to settle the question of your future entirely
without counsel and aid of an older, more experienced
person.  Even suppose it were a question concerning
the most important step in the life of a woman-the linking herself forever to "
"In such a case my guardian is the last person to whom
I should apply for advice," Felicitas interrupted him,
blushing scarlet. "I should have been already linked
for life to a man of no character or principle, had I not
been bold enough to decide in such matters entirely for




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          163
myself. You would willingly have said yes and amen
to what were called Herr Wellner's honourable proposals,
if I had been weak enough to allow myself to be frightened into compliance by the menaces and ill treatment to
which I was subjected before your return home."
This reproof cut like a two-edged sword,-for it was
just. The Professor bit his lips, and his look sought the
stones at his feet.
"I thought indeed that it would be the best way in
which to put an end to the task assigned me by my
father," he said after a painful pause,-his voice had lost
much of its wonted firmness. "It was an error, but it
was not obstinately persisted in, as you know. If upon
my mother's representation, and in accordance with her
advice, I gave my consent, I certainly never attempted
to combat your decision with severity or persuasion. My
permission which you allude to will be the last exercise
of my authority as guardian," he continued, not without
bitterness. "I must leave you to your fate. You go to
meet it joyously and hopefully?"
"Yes," answered the young girl with sparkling eyes.
"And you believe that you will be happy in your new
relations?"
"As surely as I believe in another and happier life beyond the grave I"
As he asked the last question he riveted upon her the
penetrating look, which certainly must often have proved
effectual with the most obstinate of patients,-but as her
eyes only gleamed more joyously, he turned away either
offended or irritated, and said not another word. He
gave his hand to' little Anna, and went slowly into the
house.
Th( same evening Rosa was sitting in the servants'
room. Herlap was filled with some airy light blue ma



1:64     THE  OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
terial, and her needle was flying with almost feverish
speed. Frederika sat down to talk with her,-for the
maid would have to sew until midnight, and the old cook
had graciously proposed to make a cup of strong coffee,
that they might keep themselves awake.
Ten had long struck. Felicitas was in her i1oom preparing for rest, but the ceaseless gossip of the two women
in the next room over their coffee made the small dreary
bed-room unendurable. She opened the window wide,
seated herself upon the sill, and with her hands clasped
upon her knee, looked out into the court-yard. It was not
quite dark there,-for the lamps in the rooms in the first
and second stories were still burning, and through the
high windows long rays of light fell upon the stone pavement, glistening upon the little bubbling fountain in the
corner, bringing into sparkling relief various dim panes of
glass in other corners, and even casting a pale reflection
upon the distant fagade of the back building. Above the
building encircling the court-yard stretched the glittering
heavens, as in times long gone by, the quiet stars looked
down into this place, which superstition had made the
scene of many a ghostly legend, —yes, those changeless
stars had looked upon the blooming living forms whose
shadowy shapes were now said to haunt the place with
mournful wailings, in late repentance for the deeds done
in the flesh,-noble knights and dignified merchantsaristocratic dames in velvet-and well-to-do wives of respectable citizens. Eyes, brilliant with the love of life
had looked up to those stars, and eyes, blinded by dull
egotism and conceit to the glory of God's universe, shy
eyes, behind which lurked the consciousness of guilt,and childish eyes, swimming in repentant tears,-their
light was extinguished,-they were all mouldering in the
earth, and still the great lesson which natuie teaches of




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          165
change and decay, was unlearned. Generation after generation had opened their eyes and closed them again,and between these two moments-what a struggle there
had been for a handful of earth, titles and honours, full
money-bags, and gorgeous attire! And the one element
of human nature which moves the world, had been at
work here busily —the love of rule-the unholy desire to
crush down our fellow-men, and tread them under foot,and where outward circumstances and inborn power had
not. yielded sufficient aid to this end, men had wrapped
themselves in the incense-clouds of religion. Nothing
has been so misunderstood and pressed into the service
of worldly passions as the word of God, and no greater
sins have desecrated his beautiful world than those perpetrated in his name.
Whilst such thoughts occupied the young girl's brain,
Frederika's rough tones and the shrill soprano of the
waiting-maid kept up a constant clatter in the next
room.
"Yes," said Rosa, with a sudden laugh, "my gracious
mistress looked as if the skies were falling when the Professor came home to-night and told how he was making
up a party of several ladies and gentlemen to visit the
Thuringian forest the day after to-morrow,-he go with
such a party l Oh, good Heavens I In B-  he sticks to
his books year out and year in-visits his patients and
goes to the University, and that's all,-never a ball, never
a party. Oh, it's dreadful  I can't endure such straitlaced ideas in a man."
"Fie! you ought to be ashamed of yourself, Rosa,"
said Frederika, with irritation. "What would your mistress say if she heard you?"
"Well, well, there's reason in all things. When he was
at her father's large school, he would scarcely eat and




-166     THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
drink for fear of not being holy and saintly enough,-then
none of the scholars could bear him!"
"Oh, how wicked men are I! And doesn't any one like
him now?"' Oh, now indeed,-now they all idolize him. Nobody
knows how it all came about, but the students are crazy
about him,-and as for the women —oh, it is really disgustingI I believe they would like to kiss his hands
whenever he writes them a prescription. My mistress is
just like all the rest,-sometimes she makes me too provoked. If he were only handsome, it would be a different
thing. But such an ugly man as he is, with his red beard
and bearish ways. I'd teach him better manners if I had
anything to do with him. He cures everybody with
rough words. For instance, my mistress went to bed
with dreadful spasms,-he came up to the bedside, looked
at her for a moment, as if he expected to see directly
through her, and then said:'Collect yourself, AdeleI
Get up this moment. I will leave the room for a little
while, and when I return I must find you sitting dressed
in this chair,-do you understand me?' And when he
came back, sure enough there she was sitting, and the
spasms never returned. But tell me yourself-do you
consider that the right way to treat a lady?"
"Well, he might, to be sure, have been a little more
polite," replied the old cook.
"Oh, he tyrannizes over her dreadfully. The greatest
delight she has in life is dress. I tell you, Frederika, in
D  - we have wardrobes full of such beautiful dresses
-they would delight your very eyes, —and whenever the
fashion changes, everything is made new again. But just
because that grum old Professor is always admiring simplicity, my mistress never puts on a handsome dress when
he is by. Muslin, nothing but white muslin. I rather




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          167
think if he knew how expensive this wonderful simplicity
is    He wanted my mistress to stay at home from this
expedition on account of little Anna, —but some of the
party came and invited her so pressingly that she is
going. Don't you think, Frederika, that she will look
lovely in this blue dress that she is going to wear?"
The gossip of the thoughtless Rosa produced a painful
impression upon Felicitas. She slipped down from the
window-sill, and determined to go into the servants' room,
-her presence might prevent any further revelations concerning matters that certainly should not have been discussed by strangers. Her glance once more sought aimlessly the opposite wing of the house-she started. The
astral lamp on the landing of the second story threw its
rays upon the long corridor which led to Aunt Cordula's
flight of stairs,-the two first windows here were quite
brightly illuminated-the bare whitewashed walls could
be distinctly seen. Along this wall a figure was slowly
pacing, but it was certainly no shadowy ghostly presence
-it was he whom the lady's-maid thought so ugly. Felicitas could distinctly see the powerful outline of his head
-the decided waves of the thick beard, and the broad
shoulders, which indicated strength indeed, but certainly
did not suggest elegance. Hie paced along the whole
length of the corridor, mechanically stroking his beard
with his hand according to his habit,-and when he had
reached the furthest end, that led to the landing with the
painted door, he turned and retraced his steps. He was
taking his nightly promenade —and because his room was
just above the one where the Councillor's widow and her
child were sleeping he had selected this lonely place,
where he could walk up and down as he pleased without
the danger of disturbing any one. What made him thus
restless?  Was he studying out some intricate scientific




168      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
problem, or was he haunted by the image of her for
whose sake he had condemned himself to'a life of loneliness?'
Felicitas thoughtfully closed the window, and drew
before it the old green curtains, which had from time immemorial sheltered the dreams of the cooks in the House
of Hellwig.
CHAPTER XVII.
ON the lawn, in the garden outside of the town, in the
shade of the chestnut trees, the grass was freshly mown
-a delicious healthy odour exhaled from the heaps of
new hay-and upon one of them little Anna was lying
in great comfort. Felicitas leaned against the trunk of
the largest chestnut —it had always been her favourite.
How often she had climbed it as a child when not only
the garden beneath her but the whole beautiful world
seemed to her flower-strewn I Her gaze sought the shady
arch above her, where the boughs were stretching boldly
and powerfully forth in every direction. Inside of the
rough bark warm life was pulsing,-the healthy sap ascended and streamed into every leaf and twig that
stretched itself abroad into the world far from the parent
stem, which must have wondered at its offspring's vagaries, for they trembled in every breeze, rustled and moaned
when rough winds swept over them, and drooped exhausted beneath the hot rays of the sun,-but whatever
trembling and moaning and sighing went on above, the
old trunk stood firm. How is it with the human soul
when the storms of fate sweep over it? It lies prostrate
beneath them.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE S SECRET.          169
This gloomy thought, trite and true as it sounds, was
not exactly verified in the case of the girl who is just
pondering upon it, and whose white forehead at this moment stands out in such lovely contrast with the rugged
trunk against which she is leaning. This young creature,
so full of sensibility and sympathy, had braved storms
which would have shattered in the dust hundreds of her
sex. Perhaps the sad reflection was induced by some
unconscious dread, —some shadowy presentiment of a
coming evil which would prostrate and crush even her
iron will. How little do we understand, how little are we
conscious of the processes going on in our own minds I
Not until after the occurrence of some great misfortune
do we recur to the mysterious warnings that foreshadowed it to us.
Two days had passed since the departure of the Professor and the Councillor's widow upon their expedition
to the Thuringian forest. The former entered the travelling carriage with the air of a man who is shaking off a
heavy burden, which he most willingly bequeathes to the
good little town of X-.  In the hall he had shaken
hands with Heinrich, Rosa, and the old cook, who all rani
to say'Good-by;' but he passed Felicitas with a slight
bow, touching the broad brim of his hat, as cool and indifferent as though her lips had never uttered a harsh
word to him, as if the eyes which had so often flashed
defiance at him were those of a stranger.'That was
sensible, and as it should be,' thought Felicitas, with
tightly-compressed lips. The young widow sat opposite
to him. She had hovered past the assembled household
like a fairy in the middle of a blue cloud, and her charming face beneath her straw hat beamed as if with the certainty of long-desired enjoyment.
15




170      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
It was the second afternoon that Felicitas had been al.
lowed to spend with little Anna in the garden. They had
been peaceful hours, and not only that, they had had another and most agreeable, not to say remarkable result.
The next garden, separated from the Hellwig garden only
by a low green hedge, had a few days previously come into
the possession of the Franz family. The day before the
young lawyer had exchanged salutations and a few courteous words with her across the hedge, and to-day an
old lady, in black silk dress and snowy cap, had suddenly
appeared and addressed her. It was the mother of young
Franz, and a person more gentle and kindly could not
have been imagined. She lived an exceedingly retired
life, devoted to her husband and son, and was regarded
with great respect by the entire town of X. In view
of Felicitas' speedy departure from the Hellwigs, she
begged to offer any advice and assistance that the young
girl might need. What a ray of sunlight upon the path
of the despised player's child! And yet Felicitas was
leaning against the trunk of the old chestnut-tree, lost in
melancholy reverie. A light wind whispered in the
branches above her head-she smiled sadly-their rustling sounded to her like an echo from a lost Eden. She
thought of her early youth, now vanishing, and the
whispering seemed to warn her that she was called upon
to struggle and contend in the life just opening before
her. But it did not warn her that at this very moment
fate was preparing a crushing blow, which would wellnigh utterly blast all her hopes for the future.
A few minutes before, Heinrich had entered the garden
-he seemed about to rush up to Felicitas with the greatest precipitation, but he had suddenly disappeared behind
a cypress wall. Now he came slowly forward. At the
first sight of that broad, honest face, working with some




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S'CRET.           171
violent agitation, she knew that he brought evil tidings.
She sprang towards him, and seized bis hand anxiously.
"Oh, Fay, I cannot help you. You must know it
soon," he said, in a voice of despair, brushing the back
of his hard hand across his heated brow, and turning
away his eyes. "You know, my poor child,'tis the way
of the world."
"Go on!" she interrupted him harshly, almost with a
scream, as she clenched her teeth convulsively.
"But no-Heaven take pity on us I if you are going to
do so, how shall I ever tell you? The old Mam'selle  -"
"Is deadl" she shrieked.
"Not yet, Fay, not yet; but indeed it is almost over
-she is unconscious —she has had a stroke. And, oh,
my God! she was all alone. Her maid found her lying
on the floor in the room with her birds; she had just
carefully attended to the poor little creatures." His
voice failed him, and he cried like a child.
For a moment Felicitas stood as if paralyzed; every
drop of blood forsook her pale cheeks; mechanically she
pressed her hands upon her throbbing temples, but there
came not a single tear. For one moment a bitter smile
hovered upon her lips, then with unnatural composure
she took up her straw hat which was lying upon one of
the mounds of hay, called Rosa, who was sewing in the
shade of the acacias, and delivered the child into her
charge.
"Are you ill?" asked the maid. The statue-like appearance-the unnatural rigidity of the girl's pallid features frightened her.
"Yes, she is ill,b" Heinrich answered in Felicitas'
stead, as she walked hurriedly toward the garden gate.
"Oh, Fay! take care what you do," he said, as he
walked part of the way by her side,-"Madame is with




172      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
her;'tis a good thing that the old Mam'selle cannot know
it. Dr. Boehm has gone away,-he can do nothing, nothing
more. And that it should have happened to-day I Ah,
what an unlucky child you are I"
Felicitas did not hear what he was saying,-the words
struck her ear, but conveyed no meaning to her mind,
just as one might meet people in the street and not know
it. Unseen by Frederika she entered the house and ran
up-stairs. On the toomost landing she threw her hat on
the ground. The door of the bird-room was ajar,-it
resounded with shrill chirpings.  How carefully this
door had always been closed, that no fugitive might escapeI Now she passed in without closing it. The forsaken little creatures had better seek for food beneath
heaven's expanse-they had lost their kind protectress!
She entered the large sitting-room, and from the adjoining cabinet issued the inflexible monotonous voice of
Madame, and filled the room that had for so many years
resounded only to the language of music, and to the rare
words that fell from the lips of kindly, peaceful age. The
great lady was reading, in a loud voice, one of those old
Calvinistic hymns, which, composed for an age and a
class of men entirely wanting in intellectual culture, have
lost all meaning if looked upon as interpretations of the
devotional sentiment of to-day. How utterly incongruous
it seemed, that those rough rhymes, strung together so
rudely, and abounding in coarse material imagery, should
have been selected to arouse and soothe the dying consciousness of one who had, during her whole long life,
paid the truest homage to the Beautiful, and who recognized the Creator always in the beauty and love manifested in his works!
Noiselessly as a shadow, Felicitas glided into the room.
Frau Hellwig read on without seeing her. There, be



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          173
neath the white curtains of the bed, which fluttered
gently like wings in the breeze from the open window,
as if they were waiting to receive and bear aloft the
parting soul, lay a pale, pale face. Oh, how cruel death
is, when, before snatching our dear ones from us to be
seen no more on earth, he robs the well-known faces of
their kindly loving looks, so that we see only what inspires us almost with terror, where we have found
hitherto only sympathy and affection I
The eyelids were not yet quite closed. The eyes rolled
from side to side, and a low rattle was heard with every
deep-drawn breath,-now and then the right arm was
slightly lifted, only to fall again helplessly upon the
covering of the bed. What a fearful sight for Felicitas,
for whom the last ray of love that had lighted her life
was about to be extinguished  She stepped up to the
side of the bed. Frau Hellwig raised her eyes from her
hymn-book, and great indeed was her astonishment as
she saw the pale, tearless face which was bending above
the dying woman.
"What are you doing here? insolent creature!" she
asked, in a loud, harsh voice, while she raised her large
hand and pointed towards the door.
Felicitas did not answer,-but the sudden cessation of
the reading appeared to make some impression upon the
dying woman. She seemed to try to fix her wandering
gaze,-it fell upon Felicitas. For a moment there shot
forth a ray of joyful recognition,-her lips moved, but no
sound issued from them,-there was an evident painful
struggle to say something, and yet the strong will compelled once more the service of the broken physical mechanism,-" Bring a lawyer" issued thickly but distinctly
from her lips.
Felicitas instantly left the room. There was no time
15*




174      TIHE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
to be lost. She flew along the passage,-but just as she
was passing the open door of the bird-room, she felt herself violently impelled from behind by two strong hands,
which pushed her with a sudden shock into the middle
of the room, and then closed and bolted the door behind
her. A startling clamour arose around her, the terrified
birds flew hither and thither in the noisiest and most
bewildering confusion. Felicitas had stumbled and fallen
in the middle of the room, dragging down with her one
of the fir-trees. What had happened?  She arose and
put back her hair, which had fallen loosely around her
face. She had seen no one, had heard no footstep behind
her, and yet some one had certainly been there, and
thrust her in there with demoniac force just at a moment
when she was about to fulfil the request of a dying
woman, and when every instant of delay burdened her
soul with a fearful weight of responsibility.
She rushed to the door, but it was firmly bolted,-she
knocked, and rattled the latch, but the loud noise made
by the birds drowned all other sounds. The terrified
little creatures wheeled above her head, flew wildly
against the walls, and were scarcely pacified when the
young girl dropped her hands at her sides and stood still
in utter despair. Who would open the door for her?
Certainly not the hands which had just bolted it upon
her! She knew that iron grasp only too well; it was
the grasp of the same hand which had just been holding
the hymn-book; the book had been thrown aside that
the young girl might thus violently be prevented from
fulfilling her errand, and now the terrible woman was
again sitting by the dying-bed, and her voice was again
heard reading in the same loud monotonous tones. She
could, without emotion, suffer the dying woman to struggle with and prolong the death agony in the vain hope




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          175
of still performing some last act of benevolence. Poor
Aunt Cordula! She left the world, where she had led so
lonely a life, with no pleasant farewell glimpse of it. The
last impressions that her parting soul received were of
religious fanaticism in the person of the woman whom
she had loathed, and of the proverbial ingratitude of the
world, which Felicitas must have seemed to exemplify.
At this last thought the blood rushed to the young girl's
head. She was beside herself, and attempted with redoubled vigour to force the door-in vain. Why was
she locked up here? Aunt Cordula had told her to bring
a lawyer-had she a last confession to make? No, no,
the old Mam'selle had nothing to confess  If she had
borne the burden of guilt during her life, it was the
guilt of others,-a burden fast falling from her now.
This much had become gradually clear to Felicitas in her
intercourse with Aunt Cordula,-that the old Mam'selle
might be the repository, but never the accomplice, of
some guilty secret. Perhaps she had wished to dispose
of her property, and had thus been prevented by Madame's violence. If Aunt Cordula died without a will,
her entire property would revert to the Hellwig family,
-who knows how many poor suffering human beings
these moments of delay might rob of their future support, while the storehouses and coffers of the merchant's
family, already wealthy, would receive new accessions
through Madame's cunning.
Felicitas went to the window and looked around upon
the neighbouring houses, anxiously searching for some
human form which might respond to her cry for help,
but all were too far beneath her,-she could neither be
heard nor seen. How her pulses throbbed with agony
of mind and feverish excitement 1 She threw herself into
the only chair in the room and burst into tears of despair.




17b      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
At all events it would now be too late, even if she were
released at this moment. Perhaps the dear eyes in the
next room were already closed, and the heart, which
must have looked with such anxiety for Felicitas' return,
had throbbed its last.
The young girl's keen quick mind could find no consolation in the almost universal belief that the transfigured
soul was at this moment conscious of all that had prevented the fulfilment of its last earthly desire. It is
hard to believe that the human soul, which, like everything that God's wisdom has created, obeys the law of
gradual progress, and passes through countless phases
before arriving at perfection, immediately upon release
from its earthly prison,-is endowed with the Divine
attribute of omniscience, and from beyond the grave
reads like an open book all the actions and secret motives
of those whom it leaves behind.
Nearly two hours had been passed in her prison-consumed in gloomy reflection and despairing efforts to accomplish her release.  The place grew hateful to her.
These senseless creatures which she had once delighted
in, but which renewed their wild fluttering and shrill
chirpings at every movement that she made, seemed to
her excited fancy like supernatural existences,-she trembled at her own motions. The evening was falling, and
twilight crept into the gloomy room-her heart was
throbbing with its first wild pain for her dear lost friend
-her senses seemed to be forsaking her I Once more she
ran to the door, and paused, overcome with amazement,the latch yielded easily to her touch. Without, in the
passage, deathlike silence reigned. Felicitas could almost
have believed herself the victim of some frightful dream,
if the door of the sitting-room had not been locked.
Through the keyhole a strong draught of air was blowing




THE OLD MAMASELLE'S SECRET.          177
-she heard the rustle of the ivy upon the walls withinthey had opened the window-all then was over, overI
Below, in the front mansion, the old cook sat knitting
at the open street door as was her custom, on fair summer afternoons. From the kitchen came a strong smell
of freshly-baked bread,-she had just taken from the oven
a huge panful of the little biscuits which Madame liked
to eat with her coffee. Everything down here was going
on in its accustomed routine, while above, a member of
the family had just left the world.
Felicitas went into the servants' room.  Soon after
Heinrich entered. He hung his cap on its peg and then
silently walked up to Felicitas and held out his hand without a word. His old weather-beaten face looked'unutterably sad, and his eyes were red with weeping; the
sight of him was a relief to the paralyzed heart of the
young girl,-she sprang up, threw her arms around his
neck, and burst into a passion of tears.
"Didn't you see her again, Fay?" he asked gently, after
a pause. "Frederika says Madame closed her eyeswith those hands-that had never been kind to her I Of
course you were out of the question-we all know how
it would have enraged Madame if she had caught the
slightest glimpse of you up there. But where have you
been all this time?"
Felicitas' tears had ceased to flow. With flashing eyes
she told him of what had taken place. He walked up
and down the room like one possessed.
"Can such things be possible!" he cried again and
again, running his thick hard fingers continually through
his coarse, bushy gray hair. "And could our Father in
Heaven allow it? Oh, Merciful Powers  If you should
go before a magistrate, and tell it all, and accuse her,
you'd be sent directly home again because you have no




1788     THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
witnesses, and no one in the whole town would believe
you, for she is the pious, worthy Frau Hellwig-and
you,-Ah, she's a sly one!" he interrupted himself with
a grim laugh. "Just when the birds were screeching
loudest she softly unbolted the door again. Yes, yes! I
always knew it, she's a perfect limb I And Fay, my
poor child, she has robbed you. This morning the old
Mam'selle sent me to request her lawyer to come to her
-to-morrow afternoon she was going to make her willfor your sake.  Oh, yes,'Who knows how soon my
death may come?'-she was cleverer than any of usand would have shamed many a learned man with her
wisdom, but she had never learned that verse of the hymn
by heart, or she would not have put it off so long I"
CHAPTER XVIII.
IT was quite early the next morning when Frau Hellwig appeared in the court-yard. She wore a black lace
cap instead of the stiff white muslin one, the style of
which had been unchanged for so many years.  The
worldly woman, who had so often desecrated the Sabbath
of the Lord with her songs and frivolities, was dead,even the form which had been the abode of that spirit of
levity had vanished from the old house. The body had
been already removed the previous evening to the undertaker's. But in spite of all this, the dead woman had
borne the name of Hellwig, and therefore Madame wore
the black cap, and the crape collar which to-day replaced
the stiff, white linen strip that usually surrounded her
throat.




ThE OLD MAMI'SELLE'S SECRET.         179
She unlocked the door behind which Felicitas had once
seen the old Mam'selle disappear. Besides the well-known
flight of stairs behind the painted door, another narrow
winding staircase led directly up to the old Mam'selle's
dwelling from the steep street without.  Here HIeinrich and her maid had always found entrance and
e gress.
The marble busts still looked down unchanged from
their brackets, but the genius of the place had fled from
the room which Madame now entered with the air of a
possessor. A cold, contemptuous smile hovered about
her lips as she passed through the little suite of rooms,
each of which revealed in its tasteful arrangement the
poetic mind, the gentle spirit of its former inhabitant;
but she contracted her brows with an expression of hate
as her glance rested upon the rows of volumes in their
costly morocco bindings upon the shelves of the various
book-cases-those books which bore the names of the
poets and authors who had been the old Mam'selle's
favourites.
She picked up a large bunch of keys which was lying
upon the table and opened a desk, apparently the most
interesting article of furniture in the room to her. The
most thorough order reigned in all the drawers and boxes.
She opened each and took out bundles of letters, yellow
with age, and tied with faded ribbon, and piles of manuscript. The large white hands thrust them back again
impatiently-what interest could all that'trash' have for
Madane?-she was not curious. But a box, containing
doeds and legal documents, was treated much more respectfully. With the greatest care and an expression of
much inward satisfaction Frau Hellwig unfolded paper
after paper. She was an excellent arithmetician. In a
very few moments she had counted, added, and multiplied,




180      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
and was entire mistress of the amount of the old Man'selle's property,-it exceeded her expectations.
But she was by no means at the end of her search,she now examined the contents of all the different closets,
wardrobes and trunks, and as she proceeded, she became
more hurried and impatient. Gradually her face grew
flushed,-her clumsy figure wandered from room to room,
-her hands rumaged recklessly in the linen-pressestossed about the delicately folded laces and caps of the
departed, and moved the porcelain and glass in the cupboards so carelessly that they rang again,-but what she
sought was not to be found. At last, greatly irritated,
she stepped out into the gallery. With her clumsy, awkward movements she overthrew several flower-pots, and
scattered flowers and leaves in every direction, —but she
paid no attention to the mischief that she was doing-she
was too much preoccupied even to bestow her usual
amount of contempt upon the'useless trash.'
Frederika was feeding her fowls below. Frau Hlellwig
called down to her to send up Heinrich, and stepping
back into the rooms, began her search anew.
"Do you know where the old Mam'selle kept her
silver?" she asked, addressing Heinrich immediately
upon his entrance. "She must have had a great deal,I know about it from my mother-in-law. There were at
least two dozen heavy large spoons, and the same number of heavily gilt teaspoons, besides silver candlesticks,
a coffee-pot, and a cream pitcher." The enumeration
rolled glibly from off her tongue as though it had been
well committed to memory. "I can find none of these
articles,-where can they be?"
"I do not know, Madame," replied Heinrich quietly.
He stepped up to a table, opened a box upon it, and took
out two silver dishes. ",This is all the silver of the old




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           181
Mam'selle's that I have ever seen," he said, —"I had
to clean it often, for the maid did not make it bright
enough."
Frau Hellwig bit her lips and walked heavily up and
down the room. The stern reserve which she usually
retained before her servants forsook her for a moment.
"It will be a fine thing —a perfect shame —if the old
woman has sold this valuable family silver, or perhaps
-given it away,-it would have been just like her I" she
continued as if to herself. " She had diamonds too-some
very beautiful jewellery-everything which the Hellwig
family ever possessed of the kind, was divided between
her and my mother-in-law."  She paused suddenly, and
her eyes rested upon the old cabinet with the glass doors
that held the portfolios of music. She had not yet searched
that.
The lower part of this cabinet was closed by massive
doors of richly carved wood. She tore open these, and
searched the shelves, which were filled with carefullyarranged magazines and periodicals.
The hard malicious smile appeared on her face, disclosing her strong well-preserved teeth. She dragged out
one pile after another, throwing them with such haste
upon the floor that the single sheets flew all about the
room.
The old servant was boiling with rage. He clenched
his fists and looked savagely at the Vandal. He had
brought all those papers and pamphlets from the post
himself, —they had been the intellectual food of the old
Mam'selle,-how well he remembered the sparkle of her
kindly eyes as he laid a new book upon her table I
"These are all arch-enemies of our church!" she muttered. "These blasphemous sheets! —these devilish inventions! Yes, yes, she has led a life of sin, the misera16




182      TIIE OLD JIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
ble old maid! —and I have been forced for so many years
to endure this ungodly creature beneath my roof'"
She arose and looked through the glass doors of the
cabinet. At sight of the music a sort of harsh discordant
laugh broke from her. She opened the doors, and told
Heinrich to bring a clothes-basket, into which she ordered
him to put all the music-books and portfolios filled with
notes. Heinrich racked his brain with guessing what
was to be the fate of these beautiful books which had so
often lain upon the piano, and from which the old Mamn'selle had read such exquisite music. Madame stood beside him and took care that not a scrap was left behind;
she herself did not touch a single sheet-it almost seemed
as if she were afraid they would burn her fingers.
Then she ordered the old servant to carry the basket
down stairs. She carefully locked all the doors in these
rooms, and followed him. To the vexation of Frederika,
who always dreaded her visits, she went into the kitchen,
where Heinrich deposited his burden and was then sent
into the sitting-room for a paper-knife. The old cook had
just made up a blazing fire.
"You will not need so much wood to-day, Frederika,"
said Madame, throwing one of the loose sheets into the
flames. The beautiful portfolio containing the old Mam'selle's costly collection of autographs lay upon the top of
the basket. The silk ribbons with which it was tied together were loosened one after the other by Madame's
large determined fingers, and ah! how eagerly the blazing
fire devoured them! There a red flame played around the
name of'Gliick'-the notes of a brilliant cadenza of Cimarosa's glowed like fiery pearls, —all, Italian, German,
and French, enveloped in the same burning shroud, sunk
peacefully to rest.
Heinrich stood looking on at first in utter bewilder



THE OLD MAJI'SELLE'S SECRET.          183
ment, choking with rage. The body of his dead friend
was not yet consigned to the earth, and this unfeeling
woman was already abusing and destroying what had
belonged to her-more roughly than a common soldier
in a hostile country.
"But, Madame," he said at last, "perhaps there is a
will!"
Frau Hellwig looked up at him. Her face, scarlet with
the heat of the fire, expressed mingled displeasure and
contempt.
" Since when have I allowed you to utter your opinions in my presence?" she asked sharply. In her hand
she held the manuscript operetta of Bach's which the old
Mani'selle had lately declared to be worth its weight in
gold, as it was the only copy in existence. With increased energy and a singular look upon her countenance,
she cut and tore at the leaves, thrusting them all into the
hottest part of the fire.
At this moment the bell at the street door rang loudly.
Heinrich went to open it. An official, accompanied by a
lawyer, entered. He bowed to Madame, who came from
the kitchen in much surprise, while he introduced himself as the legal commissary, who had been sent to seal
up the property of the deceased Cordula Hellwig, spinster.
Perhaps for the first time in her life Frau Hellwig lost
her iron self-possession and presence of mind.
"Seal up?" she stammered.
"She has left a will with her lawyer."
"That must be a mistake," she returned. "I know
for a certainty that according to her father's will she was
powerless to make one,-her property all reverts to the
ilellwig family."
"I am very sorry," said the official, shrugging his




184      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
shoulders. "The will exists, and although I greatly regret being obliged to trouble you, my duty compels me
to persist, and place seals upon her effects immediately."
Frau Hellwig bit her lips, took the keys of the rooms
under the roof, and preceded the unwelcome visitors.
But Heinrich ran up-stairs exultingly to Felicitas, who
was fulfilling her duties as nurse-although, to Anna's
amazement, she sat mute and stiff as a statue to-day beside her chattering little charge. The old servant told
her all that had happened. At his description of the auto
daft she started up.
"Were they single sheets that she burnt?" she asked
in a choking voice.
"Yes, single sheets. They were all in blue portfolios,
tied with beautiful ribbons    "
She did not wait to hear any more, but hurried down
to the kitchen. There stood the basket, it still contained
some music and some exercises for the piano, but the
portfolios were lying open and defaced upon the brick
floor, not a sheet of their contents remained. The draught
had blown out of the fire a little scrap of paper which was
lying upon the hearth. Felicitas picked it up,-' The MS.
composition of Johann Sebastian Bach, written by his own
hand, and received from him as a remembrance, 1707.
Gotthelf v. Hirschsprung,' she read with streaming eyes.
It was the last remains of the mysterious manuscript.
The melodies were hushed forever I
Apparently, Frau Hellwig had not intended at first
that her son's pleasure-trip should be interrupted on account of the death of the old Mam'selle, but when the
business of sealing up was over, from which she returned
in an extremely provoked and irritated mood, she wrote
a hasty note recalling him.' For, according to Aunt Cordula's directions, her will was to be read the day after




THIE OLD MIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         185
the funeral. To enable her to listen to it Madame needed
some support, she had never in her life seemed to possess
so little self-reliance. The terrible idea of the probable
loss of a considerable property which she had always regarded as eventually her own, had a most depressing
effect even upon her iron nerves.
The pleasure party had started without any definite
plans as to where they should first proceed. The programme was:'a pleasure excursion wherever we please,
with pleasant halts where the woods are greenest.' And
accordingly Frau Hellwig could not direct her letter with
any precision. The search that Madame had begun in
the rooms under the roof she now continued in her deceased husband's study. Surely among the family papers
the proof could be found that the old Mam'selle had no
right to will away her inheritance as she pleased. Perhaps indeed her own savings had accumulated. Madame
had suspected as much on the previous evening, and had
trusted in the bolt of the bird-room to preserve these
savings also to the Hellwigs. But although Madame
pondered and tried to remember, she could not recall or
discover why the conviction was so strong in her mind
that Aunt Cordula had no control over the disposition of
her inheritance. Whether she remembered it as a direction in the will of Cordula Hellwig's father, or whether
she had been assured of it upon sufficient authority, she
did not know, but convinced she was; and there must be
papers in existence which would reveal why, and which
she must search for. She searched and read until the
perspiration stood upon her pale forehead,-to-day was
an unlucky day-the afternoon's exertions, like those of
the morning, were entirely without result.  Fortune
usually delights to cast her roses at the feet of coldIblooded, calculating, unimaginative people-it seems al16*




186      THIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
most as if she thought her treasures less safe with richly
endowed, generous natures, than with those whose souls
are as tightly closed as their money-bags. Madame had
hitherto been one of fortune's favourites, and was all the
more provoked and surprised by this unlucky day.
Two days had passed. Madame's letter was apparently
travelling in the well-crammed mail-bag through the
green valleys of the Thuringian forest, and the old
Mam'selle was borne to ber last resting-place, without
one of the name of Hellwig to see her coffin laid in the
ground.
FeIicitas bore her sorrow silently with that self-control
which belongs to strong natures. She did not know the
weakness that finds consolation for grief in constantly
speaking of it. From her childhood she had been accustomed to struggle through every trial alone and to let
her inward wounds bleed sorely, without allowing those
around her to suspect their existence. She purposely
avoided looking upon the dead face of her dear old friend.
The last conscious glance of the dying woman had been
a farewell look-she would have no memory of that dear
face uninformed by the light of life. But on the afternoon
of the day of the funeral, when Frau Hellwig had gone
out, she took down a key which was hanging in the servants' room,-it unlocked the corridor upon which opened
the old lumber room, which the reader has already seen.
Madame's increase in size and weight during the last few
years had made her very averse to mounting the upper
flights of stairs, and the keys to the upper rooms had
consequently been handed over to the cook, who had free
ingress here.
Aunt Cordula must and should have fresh flowers laid
upon her grave-but only those which she herself had
nourished. The rooms under the roof were all, with the




THE OLD MAM'SEILE'S SECRET.          187
exception of the bird-room, locked and sealed up, and
there was therefore no way of getting through the house
to the flower-garden, which the carelessness of the officials
had thus left exposed to neglect. After nine years, Felicitas now stood once more at the window of the garretroom, and looked across to the flowers on the roof. How
much lay between that wretched day, when her wounded
childish heart had rebelled against God and man, and today I Over there she had found a home. The lonely occupant of those rooms had taken the despised player's child
to her large, noble woman's heart, and had warded off
every blow from her with the weapons of her cultivated
intellect. There the child had studied diligently, and a
new life of the mind had opened before her. He who was
at present wandering through the Thuringian forest with
a brilliant party of friends, did not dream that his wonderful schemes-based upon narrow prejudices and false
views of duty-would be made of no avail by two little
feet tripping lightly along those tumble-down gutters on
the edge of the roofs.
And now she must tread that path again. Felicitas
got out of the window and walked bravely across —the
firm even floor of the gallery was soon beneath her feet.
Those poor flowers which were so unconsciously waving
their heads in the gentle breeze were far worse off than
the lilies in the fields. Magically suspended in air, as it
were, they knew nothing of the nourishing soil-nothing
of the warm, fresh mother-earth which takes to its kindly
heart the tenderest fibres of the most delicate flowers, as
well as the gnarled roots of the mightiest oak-their
weal or woe had depended upon two little withered white
hands. which were now folded under ground, and would
soon crumble into dust. The orphaned plants could not
yet know their loss-it had lately rained several times




188      TIIE OLD AIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
in the night, and they were flourishing and blooming
gorgeously.
Felicitas pressed her face against the panes of the glass
door and looked into the room. There stood the little
round table —the knitting lay in a basket upon it, as
though it had just been put down to be. resumed immediately. Directly across an open book lay the spectacles
— Felicitas could read the page which was open —the last
intellectual pleasure which the old Mam'selle had had in
this world had been Antony's speech, in Shakspeare's
Julius Coesar. There stood the beloved piano, and on
one side glimmered the glass panes of the old cabinet, but
the shelves were empty-the old piece of furniture had
proved but a faithless guardian of its musical treasures,
which it had yielded up to the ruthless despoiler, and
which were now devoured by the flames; but it had
tightly clutched other treasures. Madame had sought
in vain for the old Mam'selle's silver, and    Felicitas
suddenly started. The secret depository in the cabinet
contained not the silver only —in one corner was a little
gray pasteboard box. "It must die before me," Aunt
Cordula had said,-was it destroyed? It was on no account to fall into the hands of her heirs, and yet how
averse she had been to consign it to destruction herself!
It was more than probable that it was yet in existence.
If the will revealed where the silver was to be found,
possibly a secret might come to light which Aunt Cordula had guarded from the whole world with iron determination-this must never be.
The glass door was bolted from within.  Felicitas,
without a moment's hesitation, broke one of the panes,
and felt for the bolt. It was not slipped-the door had
been locked and the key taken from the keyhole-a disheartening discovery. A passionate impatience took pos



TIIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         189
session of the young girl at the thought that fate always
stepped in to prevent any service that she wished to render Aunt Cordula. There was now, mingled with her
grief for the departed, anxiety for the future. Could the
contents of the little gray box effectually crush all whispers of any guilt attached to the old Mam'selle? Or
might they not be sufficiently incomprehensible and mysterious to cast a darker shadow upon her memory?
She hastily gathered a large bouquet, put two jars of
auriculas, Aunt Cordula's favourite flowers, into her
basket, and retraced her steps across the roof, with a
much heavier heart than she had brought with her.
And now she had three graves in the large quiet
grave-yard. The earth covered those who had loved her,
and to whom her warm heart had clung with the fondest
affection. She looked bitterly towards heaven when she
had strewn and planted the flowers upon Aunt Cordula's
grave. There was no one left now to be taken from her.
Her father must have been long dead-his bones were
crumbling in some foreign land,-here, upon a marble
monument, was the name in gilt letters,'Friedrich Hellwig,' and there-she walked over to her mother's grave,
which, thanks to the tender kindness of the old Mam'selle,
had for the last nine years been covered with exquisite
flowers as soon as spring opened. To-day the head-stone
was lying upon the ground. Heinrich had declared a short
time before that the letters upon it needed renewing, and
probably the stone had been taken up by his orders. It
had before sunk so deep into the ground that the name
could be deciphered only with difficulty, but now of course
every letter was plain enough.'Meta d'Orlowskla,' Felicitas read, her sight dimmed by tears,-but there was
another name below it, which had hitherto been entirely
covered with earth. The black colour of the letters was




190      TIHE OLD MIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
of course faded,-but they were cut in the sandstone, and
geb. von Hirschsprung, from Kiel,' could be deciphered
without trouble.
Felicitas sunk into a reverie. This was the name which
had been written upon Bach's manuscript,-and-it had
also been borne by the noble Thuringian family whose
crest was so often found carved upon the walls of the old
merchant's mansion,-the little silver seal too, which
Felicitas had discovered in her embroidered pouch long
ago, showed the same leaping stag,-what a riddle it all
was! The haughty race whose crest it had been, and
whose last scions had been driven by poverty to spade
and hoe, had utterly vanished. Heinrich had known the
last one of the name,-he had been a student at Leipzig,
and had died young, and unmarried. And yet, fourteen
years before, a young creature from the far north had appeared here whose maiden name was the same. Had a
branch been torn from the old Thuringian parent stem to
take root in a distant country? Let the haughty knight
whose enduring image gazed upon the altered world from
the walls of the Hellwig mansion rise from his leaden
coffin and wander over this grave-yard: various stones
bear his name carved upon them, and beneath them are
resting men with labour's hard horny hands, men who
earned their bread in the sweat of their brows, although
he left behind him the parchment rolls which should confirm the rights and claims of his family to all eternity,
and closed his eyes in the unshaken delusion that the
lofty blood, the aristocratic hands of his posterity could
never be degraded by hard labour. Let him stand by
this grave which covers a daughter of his house who had
wandered hither from afar. The bread that she ate was
bitter indeed. Hers was a despised calling, and had destroyed her blooming body. How incomprehensible are




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          191
the changes which, in the history of an individual family
as well as of the world, show here heaven-ascending
heights and there yawning abysses, which a few years
may once more level and connectl
Were any of Felicitas' relatives still living?  The
young girl, when she asked herself this question, replied
with a bitter smile, at all events they did not exist for the
daughter of Meta von Hirschsprung. They had been
twice publicly appealed to and had not responded. Perhaps this branch of the old race had preserved its original
purity until the time when a daughter of the house bestowed her heart and hand upon the juggler and was
rejected and ignored forever by all with whom she was
connected. So much was certain-her child would never
cross the threshold of those who could publicly disclaim
all relationship to the juggler's wife.
CHAPTER XIX.
FELICITAS, after leaving the grave-yard, did notsreturn
directly to the house on the market-square. Rosa and
Anna were awaiting her in the garden, whither Frau Hellwig was also coming later in the afternoon, to take the
evening meal beneath the shade of the acacias. Madame
had apparently recovered her outward composure; the
only change in her was that she went out much more frequently than formerly. She seemed to feel the necessity
of some variety and distraction in her life while waiting
for her son's return.
She appeared to desire to ignore entirely her meeting




192      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
with Felicitas by the old Mam'selle's bedside. She had
evidently not suspected the young girl's previous intimacy
with Aunt Cordula, but had regarded Felicitas' intrusion
as the result of curiosity, which would most certainly have
met with a severe rebuke under other circumstances, but
was passed over without further allusion in view of the
subsequent occurrences of that afternoon, which were best
forgotten as soon as possible.
Felicitas had made almost the entire circuit of the little
town, and now stopped before a garden-gate. She drew
a long breath, and then with quick decision lifted the latch
and opened it. It led into the garden belonging to the
Franz family. The young girl had now been thrown back
entirely upon her own resources. Although her heart was
torn and bleeding, her inward suffering had no effect upon
her hard-won decision of character. The heavy blows of
misfortune could not long paralyze the clear understanding which confronted the inevitable with calmness; the
mists of sensibility and enthusiasm had never for one moment clouded her reason.
The gentle distinguished old lady in the white cap who
had accosted Felicitas a few days before was sitting
writing in a shady arbour. She instantly recognized her
visitor, and beckoned to her to approach.
"Ah, here comes my young neighbour, and wants some
good advice, does she not?" she asked with winning kindness, making room for the young girl on the seat beside
her. Felicitas told her that at the end of three weeks she
should leave the Hellwigs, and be in need of some employment.
"Will you tell me, my child, what duties you can undertake!" asked the lady, regarding Felicitas kindly with
the large honest eyes which reminded one vividly of her
son's. The girl blushed scarlet. At last she must speak




TIIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         193
of her long-guarded secret, and display her accomplishments and attainments as a peddler does his wares. It
was a painful duty, and yet it must be done.
"I think I can give thorough instruction in French
and German, in geography and history," she replied with
hesitation. "I have also had excellent instruction in
drawing. I am not a thorough musician, although I
could teach the rudiments of singing,"-her hearer's eyes
opened wide with astonishment-" and then I can cook,
wash, and iron, and if need be, scrub." These last accomplishments came much more glibly from the young
girl's tongue than the first had done.
"You do not certainly wish to remain here in our good
little town of X —?"' asked the lady with interest.
"I cannot say that I wish to stay here for any length
of time, but there are graves here that are very dear to
me. I cannot leave them immediately."
"Well, then, let me tell you something. My sister's
dame de compagnie in D — is going to be married; her
place will be vacant in about six months. I can easily
procure it for you, and until then you must stay here
with me. Do you consent?"
Felicitas, overcome with surprise and gratitude, kissed
the kind old lady's hand, but then stood up and looked
wistfully into her eyes. It was evident that some request was hovering upon her lips; the old lady instantly
noticed it.
"There is something else on your mind, my child. If
we are to be together for a time, we must be open and
candid with each other. Come, tell me what it is," she
said encouragingly.
"I wish to ask you to give me a definite office in your
household, even although it should be a most menial
17




194      THE OLD MIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
one, and only undertaken for a few months," Felicitas
answered hastily and with decision.
"Ah, I understand   You are tired of eating bread
which is indeed hardly-earned, and which-let us be
frank-is notwithstanding looked upon as given in
charity."
Felicitas assented.
"Well, you shall occupy no such humiliating position
in my house, you dear proud child. I now engage you
as my companion. You certainly shall not wash and
iron and scrub; but you must undertake a general superintendence of the household, and give the orders in the
kitchen, for I and my old Dora are growing feeble together. Will you not?"
"Ah, how gladly!" For the first time since Aunt Cordula's death a happy smile hovered about the grave young
face.
A, delicate sunbeam that had played up and down upon
the shady walk in front of the arbour was suddenly extinguished-the sun was declining. Felicitas remembered
that she must be at her post in the garden when Frau
Hellwig arrived, and therefore begged leave to retire.
The old lady dismissed her with a warm pressure of the
hand, and a few minutes afterward she stood in the adjoining garden with little Anna in her arms. Frederika
shortly appeared; she carried a heavy basket of crockery, and looked greatly heated.
" They came an hour ago," she cried quite out of breath,
and very much out of temper, as she deposited her burden
on the ground. "The fact is, everything is turned topsyturvy with us now. Madame told me when she saw the
carriage coming across the Square that I must get everything ready to stay in the town this afternoon. Just as
I have got everything in order, as she told me, the Pro



THE' OLD MlA M'SELLE'S SECRET.       195
fessor insists upon going out to the garden here, and so
I had to pack up everything and drag out."
Then she rushed away to the beds to cut a few heads
of salad.
"Oh, they've had a time there, I can tell you-a disgraceful time I" she said in a low voice as Felicitas stood
by her in the kitchen dressing the salad. "Madame would
hardly say,' how do you do?' she was so full of the story
of the will. I'll tell you what, Caroline, I never have
seen our Madame as raging as she was to-day in my
whole life. And the young master talked like a fool all
the time. He declared that the old aunt had been disowned by the family, who had never troubled themselves
about her living or dying, and he could not see how people who despised her could pocket her money. The idea
of her property had never entered his head. And Whenever Madame stopped to take breath, he persisted in asking about the family, whether every one had been well
during his absence. Oh, he looked queer enough; and
there was the young widow with her dress as if the rats
had gnawed it!"
As usual, Felicitas made no reply to the old cook's
gossip. She took her sewing and sat down under the
chestnut-tree, while little Anna played upon the grass
at her side. Through a gap in the cypress wall that
stretched like a curtain before her, she had a full view of
the garden-gate. This gate, with its delicate cast-iron
tracery framed in on each side by blooming wild rosebushes, and opening into the garden from the avenue of
dark-green lindens that stretched beyond it, had always
possessed a mysterious charm for the young girl. How
many forms had appeared and disappeared through this
gate, —some kind friendly faces which she had once run
joyfully to meet,-but others there had been, at sight of




196: HE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
which her heart was chilled, and behind which as they
retreated the peculiar creaking, jarring noise of the closing gate had been music in her ears. Yet never had she
so thrilled with sudden terror and strange pain as at this
moment when Madame, leaning upon her son's arm, and
followed by the Councillor's widow, entered the garden.
What had she to fear from those people? Madame, for
the most part, ignored her existence, and the man by her
side had relinquished all attempt to convert her to his
views-those views in accordance with which she was a
despised outcast in the world.
Frederika had said he looked'queer enough,' and Felicitas herself thought she remarked something strange
in his appearance. No' one could connect the idea of
haste with the careless motions and air of indifference
that characterized him in everyday life,-and yet it was
the only word that Felicitas could have used in describing his present manner. He was evidently trying to
walk quickly-an utter impossibility with his mother's
clumsy figure hanging upon his arm,-and with head
erect he scanned the entire garden,-naturally he was
anxious to see his patient again.
Rosa came running along the paved walk to get little
Anna, and Felicitas followed the two for a few steps that
she might see from behind the first cypress screen the
meeting between the mother and child. The Councillor's
widow,'tis true, took the child fondly in her arms, and
kissed and patted its cheeks, but all the while she was
scolding Rosa for having brought away the key of her
room in her pocket so that she could not perform any
toilette, but had to walk through the town in'this horrid
dress.' The becoming travelling-dress had indeed lost
some of its original colour, and hung above the crinoline
limp, and much bedraggled about the hem.




THE OLD MJAI'SELLE'S SECRET.         197
"Yes, to the very last this excursion has been, and I
shall always maintain it, the most stupid expedition imaginable!" said the young widow peevishly, and pouting
visibly as she drew together with a needle and thread a
rent in the unfortunate dress. "I wish I had stayed at
home with you, aunt, in your quiet room! We had a
thousand unlucky accidents. Let me tell you, whichever
way we went we came upon a shower of rain,-and then
this cousin Bruin of mine was in such a bad humour all
the timeel You have no idea, aunt, how rude andcharming he was! He wanted to turn round and come
back the very first day. And such trouble as lye had to
clear up his cloudy face now and then  Fraulein von
Sternthal took up the matter with such intense interest,
that I expected every minute she would either make him
a declaration of love or extort one fr6m him. Now say,
John,-was she not all amiability and attention?"
Felicitas did not hear the Professor's reply. She had
already returned to the chestnut-tree, and was sewing
diligently in the hope thatfhe might escape notice. They
did not look pleasantly. The deep flush of violent excitement could still be seen upon Madame's cheeks,and the ill humour that the journey had produced in her
son seemed not to have been improved by his reception at
home.
For awhile it appeared as though the lonely sempstress
beneath the chestnut-tree would certainly be allowed to
remain unmolested in her retirement; only once she lifted
her eyes and saw through the gap in the cypress wall the
figure of the Professor.  He was sauntering down a
gravel walk with his hands behind him, but the expression of his face contradicted the negligent indifference of
his manner,-it was excited, expectant,-and he looked
17*




198      T~E OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
searchingly down all the shady walks and behind the
green old walls.
Felicitas sat still and watched him; involuntarily she
laid her right hand upon her beating heart, —she was
afraid of the moment when she should be discovered by
him. More and more slowly he walked up the broad
gravel path that encircled the lawn. His head was bare
-was it his strange excited expression, or was the
healthy colour gone from his cheeks?-the young girl
thought him altered.
He reached above into the boughs of an apple-tree, bent
down one of the branches, and looked with great interest
at the growing fruit,-he could not have seen the girl beneath the chestnut-tree yet.  The bough snapped up
again, and he pursued his way. He was coming directly
towards Felicitas,-he stopped and plucked something on
the edge of the grass.
"See, Felicitas, it is a four-leaved clover," he said
quietly, without looking up. it sounded as unrestrained
and easy as though'his intercourse with her had never
been interrupted or troubled, as though she would naturally be found sitting under the chestnut-tree, —but still,
something in his manner chained her to the spot.
"Men say these four leaves bring good fortune to him
who finds them," he continued, coming quickly towards
her. "Well, let me see now how much of the saying is
pure superstition!"
He stood before her. In his bearing there was a certain tension, as if the man were summoning to his aid
the whole force of his strong will. The clover leaf fell
from his hands,-he stretched them both out to Felicitas.
"Good evening!" The voice vibrated'which spoke
these two common words. Oh, if he had only lised this
tone long ago to the child nine years old, whose pu"ion



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          199
ate little heart was longing for love and sympathy! To
the sad brooding heart of the girl whom he had so long
misunderstood, the confidential greeting which revealed
unmistakably the delight of return, was too unintelligible.
But she raised her hand, she, the Pariah, who had declared she would reject his aid even though he sought to
save her from imminent death, for one moment placed
her right hand in his,-overcome by some mysterious irresistible power. It was a kind of miracle, and as such
he seemed to regard it —one unguarded look or motion,
and it might fall from his grasp forever. With all the selfcontrol that he could command, he took a different tone.
"Has little Anna given you much trouble?" he asked
kindly and sympathizingly.
"On the contrary, the child's dependent state touches
me- I like to take care of her."
"But you are paler than you were-and those melancholy lines around your mouth seem to me more deeply
graven than before. You say the child's dependent state
touches you,-others are dependent, too, Felicitasl I
will prove it to you. I am sure you have not wasted a
thought upon those who fled from the little town of X,
seeking new strength for mind and body in the invigorating air of the wide forest?"
" I had neither time por inclination for such thoughts,"
she said, blushing deeply.
"I know it. But it was otherwise with me. I thought
of you. Let me tell you when and where. I saw a noble
young fir-tree growing all alone upon a rocky cliff, it
looked as if it had been wounded and made sore in the
forest at its feet, and had fled to this lonely height. There
it stood fixed and gloomy, and my fancy lent it a human
face, with familiar, proudly-disdainful eyes. A tempest
arose, the rain drenched its branches, and the storm tossed




200      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
and beat it pitilessly, but after every attack it reared itself again and stood more proudly than before."
Felicitas raised her eyes and looked at him half-shyly,
half-defiantly. Ie had come back strangely altered. This
mlan with the cold steel gray eyes, the former devotee and
ascetic, the ingrained conservative in whom law and the
letter must have smothered every spark of poetic freedom-he, the pedant, who wearied of a song sung by a
human voice, and was supposed to use his own only in
the service of science, was telling her, in deep melodious
tones, a kind of fairy story, composed by himself, and the
significance of which she could not misunderstand.
"And only imagine," he continued, "there I stood in
the valley watching it through the tempest, while my
companions jeered my folly in not seeking safe shelter.
But they did not know that the shy, awkward physician
was contemplating a vision that no chilling rain or driving storm could banish or destroy. For he saw a bold
traveller leave the wood below, climb up the lonely cliff,
and throw his arms around the lofty fir, saying,' You are
mine!' And what happened then? -'
"I know what happened then," the girl interrupted him
in a low, muttering tone, "the lonely tree was true to
itself, and used the weapons which nature had provided
it with."
"Even when it saw how he longed to take it close to
his heart, Felicitas? Though it knew that it could rest
there safe from all storms, and that he would cherish it
tenderly as the apple of his eye all his life long?"
The narrator had evidently become inspired by a kind
of passionate interest in the fate of these creatures of his
fancy, for he spoke with quivering lips, and there awoke; -'an:'~2 ~1 those tones which had so touched Felicitas
by the bedside of the sick child-but they were powerless
noVw.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          201
"The lonely tree must have known too well that he
was telling it only fables," she replied coldly. "You say
yourself that it braved the attacks of the storm-it must
have been firm and strong, and could need no other support!"
It had not escaped her that he was growing deadly
pale-for some seconds every trace of colour left his
cheeks. He seemed about to turn and go away, but
steps were heard approaching. He stood still close by
Felicitas, and calmly awaited his mother, who stepped
through the gap in the hedge upon the arm of his cousin.
"Well, upon my word, John," she remonstrated, "here
you are, keeping Caroline from her work and letting us
wait an unconscionable time for supper. Do you think I
shall be pleased if the biscuit are overbaked?"
The Councillor's widow left her aunt's side and camne
across the grass to Felicitas. She was not looking as
well as usual,-the light curls were hanging about her
face in great disorder, she was flushed, and there was a
malicious fire in her eyes.
"I have not yet thanked you, Caroline, for the care
you have taken of little Anna in my absence," said she.
The words should have been friendly, but the soft voice
was sharper than usual, the tone was almost shrill. "But
you are sittingb there like a lonely hermit under the chestnut-tree-how could I know where you were?  Have
you often played this retiring, interesting part lately? It
would explain in a measure my finding Anna upon my
return so shamefully neglected. I have been scolding
Rosa for it. Her hair has not been attended to at all,
and her skin is so tanned that she looks like a Hottentot
child, and I am afraid that she has overheated herself."
"Have you no other reproach for her nurse, Adele?
Think for a moment!" said the Professor with a sneer.




202      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Perhaps it is her fault that your child is not healthypossibly she was the cause of the showers in the Thuringian
forest which have spoiled your temper, who knows   "
he stopped, and turned away contemptuously.
"No, you had better not finish your sentence, John,"
said the young widow, struggling with tears of anger.
"It seems to me that you don't care any more what you
say to me. I did not mean to offend you, Caroline," she
turned to the girl, "and to show you that I did not, I
beg you to take Anna home and keep her with you tonight, I am really worn out and ill with our journey."
"'No, that cannot be!" said the Professor sternly.
"The time is past for these endless sacrifices. Adele,
you are too willing, you understand too well how to use
other people, you must now take upon yourself the charge
of your child again."
"Yes, I am glad to hear it!" cried Frau Hellwig from
where she stood, "for then the girl can weed these beds
to-night thoroughly-I cannot well require Heinrich or
Frederika to do it any longer, they are growing too old."
The Professor's face flushed. Difficult as it was usually
to decipher those strange features, they now showed unmistakable shame and embarrassment. Perhaps he had
never until this moment appreciated fully the position in
which he had helped to place this young gifted creature.
Felicitas left her seat beneath the chestnut-tree. She
knew that Madame's few words were equivalent to a
command, and that if she did not wish to be loaded with
biting reproaches she must instantly obey. But the Professor stepped up to her.
"I believe my word as guardian is needed here," he
said, with apparent calmness, "and I do not wish that
you should perform labour of this description."
"Ah-would you like to enclose her in a glass case?"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           203
asked Madame, stepping her huge foot upon the grass
and advancing with more speed than usual. "She has
been brought up strictly in accordance with your directions, —strictly. Shall I show you your letters, where
you repeated again and again until I was almost tired of
seeing the words, that she was to be brought up to service, and that she must be subjected to strict discipline?"
"I have not the smallest intention of disclaiming an
iota of what has been done according to my express desire," replied the Professor firmly, but gloomily, "nor
can I deny that I did what I did from honest motives,
and in the full conviction that I was acting for the best,
-but I trust I shall never be guilty of the weakness of
persisting in what I have discovered to be an error, for
fear of the consequences-therefore I wish now to declare
that my views are changed, and that of course I must act
differently."
The Councillor's widow stooped as she heard the last
words. She plucked a lonely clover-leaf which the scythe
had spared, and tore it to pieces. But Madame laughed
contemptuously.
"Don't make yourself ridiculous, John," she said with
a cold sneer. "At your age a man does not adopt a new
set of ideas. Those which he has must be decided and
strong, or his life will be a failure. Besides, you are not
the only one who has had to do with this matter. I have
done my part, and I should think that the proof might
be found in my life that, by the grace of God, I have
always done what was right. I shall be sorry indeed if
the Hellwig weakness is about to manifest itself in your
character, for, should it do so, I might as well tell you at
once, we must be strangers to each other for the future.
As long as the girl lives in my house, she is subject to
my commands-she shall spend not one idle minute, if I




204      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
can prevent it, —but after she leaves me she may be as
useless as she chooses, for all I care,-fold her hands in
her lap and play the lady."
"That she will never do, Madame Hellwig!" said
Felicitas, glancing at her hands, which were exquisitely
shaped, but tanned and hard with labour. "Labour is
one of the conditions of her life. Will you have the
goodness to point out to me the beds which you wish
weeded?"
The Professor, who had received his mother's coarse
attack with entire composure, turned hastily to Felicitas,
and regarded her wrathfully:
"I expressly forbid you to do itI" he cried harshly and
with decision, and a stern frown contracted his brow.
"And if as your guardian my command is powerless to
combat your stubborn determination, let me as a physician appeal to your reason. You have over-exerted
yourself with nursing little Anna. Your whole appearance shows it. In a very short time you will leave my
mother's house, —it is our duty to take care that you at
least carry a healthy physique with you into your future
sphere of action."
"That," said Madame, "is a sensible reason, which
carries weight." To her ears, after waiting in vain to
hear her son reprove Felicitas, the words'stubborn determination' were actually like music. "Let her go to
the house now-I don't care"-she added,-" although I
cannot see how all the nursing she has had to do should
have done her any harm. She is young, and has always
been well fed. Look at other girls in her position, John,
-they work day and night, and yet what red cheeks
they have I"
She took the young widow's arm, and went back across
the lawn, evidently expecting that her son would follow




TIlE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         205
her,-and the young widow, in a pouting, cross mood,
evidently avoided looking back for him. At first he
seemed to be about to accompany them-but he turned
back after a few steps, and as the last glimpse of the
unfortunate blue dress disappeared behind the cypress
hedge, he slowly approached the chestnut-tree, and stood
for a few seconds silently beside Felicitas, who was tying
the string of her straw hat beneath her chin. Suddenly
he stooped and looked under the broad brim of the hat,
which entirely shaded the girl's forehead and eyes. The
irritation that was still visible in his face melted away as
he looked at her.
"You do not know that you have pained me to-day
more than I can tell you?" he asked, shaking his head,
and as gently as though he were speaking to a child.
She was silent.
"Felicitas, I cannot for one instant believe that you
are one of those women who delight in hearing a man
sue humbly and repeatedly for forgiveness."
She arose. The pure maidenly face flushed painfully.
" Such entreaties, it seems to me, are always most painful to those to whom they are addressed," she answered,
after a pause, in a gentler tone than she was accustomed
to use to him. "I would not willingly listen to them
from any one who was not my companion-my friend.
Children should ask forgiveness of a parent. I should
not like to see the case reversed. Nor should I    " she
paused, but the blush still coloured her cheeks.
"Nor would it be any gratification to you to see a man
continually humble himself before you, Felicitas. Am I
not right?" he concluded her unfinished sentence quickly,
and something like hope sounded in his voice. "But to
carry out such lofty views as yours would bring about
evil results," he continued, after a moment's silence.
18




2( 6     THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"And now be truly kind, and consider whether it be not
a woman's duty to extend her hand in aid to a man, and
assist him to extricate himself from the error which he
acknowledges I Stop, I do not want an answer now, —I
see in your eyes it would not be the one that I wish to
hear. I will wait patiently,-perhaps the time may
come when the angry fir-tree upon the rock will not use
its weapons."
He left her. Upon the ground at her feet lay the fourleaved clover which had fallen from his hands, and which
had been plucked as a symbol of good fortune. It lay
upon the closely-cut lawn with all its four leaves delicately
spread out. She would not pick it up —she had nothing
to do with his good or evil fortune-but she made a wide
circuit around it,-she would not absolutely trample the
little green prophet under foot.
CHAPTER XX.
AFTER a series of lovely days full of sunshine and
spring breezes, a leaden stormy sky hung above the little
town of X. The dull clouds seemed almost to touch
the top of the lofty tower, whose round white shaft shot
up into the air, surmounted by a brilliant green point,
like a stalk of asparagus. On such days, under such a
dark sky, the old merchant-house in the Square seemed to
partake once more of the gloomy grand character of its
ancestral times, when grim portraits of robber knights
adorned its walls-and a breath from the middle ages
seemed to sweep through its lofty rooms.
To-da y the curtains were closed before the windows of




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          207
the rooms in the front of the house inhabited by the Councillor's widow. Their lovely tenant was suffering with
headache, and was in such a state of uncontrollable excitement, that her rooms were darkened and every sound
near them hushed. The stern face which was seen behind
the asclepias plant from year's end to year's end, did not
appear to-day. The gray skies above seemed to bode evil
— and, indeed, this day was to be one of the grayest and
gloomiest in Madame's experience,-it was the day of the
reading of the old Mam'selle's will. Her two sons only,
with old Heinrich, had been summoned to appear by the
lawyer,-it would seem that Madame's existence had been
entirely ignored in the matter,-but Nathanael was absent
and his mother appeared in his stead.
Towards noon she returned to the house in the Square,
accompanied by the Professor, while Heinrich followed at
a respectful distance. Sudden deaths and dangerous illnesses among her friends and connections had been powerless to affect any change in Madame's appearance in
public,-her strong will, which would not bend, her evident piety preserved her marble features in their tearless
repose, even in the presence of such visitations of Providence. How often had she seemed to some writhing, despairing soul, robbed of its dearest treasures, a revelation
of saintly resignation! But to-day there was presented to
the little town of X   an unwonted spectacle. This
model of invincible composure had undergone a change.
Her features were undeniably flushed with agitationthe deep solemnity of her usual gait was perceptibly
altered, and she moved with unseemly haste, while the
words which she addressed to her son walking silently
at her side, though whispered, were evidently none of the
gentlest.
Notwithstanding her headache, the young widow had




2 V8     THE OLD MAM'SEL _E'S SECRET.
been peeping from between the curtains of her room, upon
the watch for their return, and as soon as they entered the
house she came down stairs-with pale cheeks and heavy
eyes,'tis true, but most charmingly dressed —to hear the
results of the morning. They all entered the sitting-room
together.
"Well, congratulate us, Adele," cried Madame, with a
bitter laugh, full of malice and contempt. "She has left
property worth forty-two thousand thalers, and not one
cent to the Hellwig family, to whom the money all belongs by right!  The will is the craziest piece of work
that can be imagined; but it cannot be touched-we must
not say one word to prevent such injustice-and all because the men of the family have had not one particle of
energy,-matters would have been different if I had been
the head of the house! I cannot understand how my deceased husband-without having the smallest securitycould leave that old woman up there under the roof to do
just as she pleased."
The Professor was walking up and down the room with
his hands clasped behind him. His brow was clouded,
and from beneath the thick eyebrows he shot lightning
glances of displeasure, as his mother was speaking. At
last he stood still before her.
" Who insisted that our old aunt should be banished to
those rooms under the roof?" he asked, gravely and pointedly. "Who strengthened the former head of the house,
my father, in his prejudice against her, and so strictly forbade us children ever to approach or have any intercourse
with our old relative? You did this, mother. If you
wished to inherit her property, you should have pursued
a different course!"
" How! do you think I could ever have been upon terms
of intimacy with her? I-who have walked in the fear of




THE OLD MAM'"ELLE'S SECRET.          209
the Lord my whole life long-have anything to do witb
that guilty woman, who desecrated the Sabbath and had
no religion! She knows now that the Lord has turned his
face away from her forever. No power upon earth should
have compelled me to hold any intercourse with her. But
she should have been declared of unsound mind, and
placed in confinement-there were fifty ways in which
your father could have done so I"
The Professor's face grew white-he looked at his
mother in absolute terror, took his hat and left the room,
without another word. He had had a glimpse of a frightful abyss. And this stubborn religion of the letter-this
pietistic arrogance, beneath which such boundless spiritual
pride had been at work-had surrounded his mother, in
his eyes, like a halo of light. This was the character
which had so long seemed to him the model of feminine
perfection! He confessed to himself that he had once
held the same views which were entertained by his
mother and the relative who had been the guide of his
youth-yes, he had even gone beyond them in intolerance
and devotion to forms-he had been unwearied in the
work of proselytism, seeking to compel all to walk in the
path which he himself was treading, and which he had
believed to be the only one leading to salvation. And
that poor innocent orphan girl, with her brain full of
bright hopeful visions, and her proud honest heart-he
had seized her with an iron grasp, and had thrust her
into that cold dark region. How she must have suffered
-that nightingale among ravens! He covered his eyes
with his hand as if he were giddy, slowly ascended the
stairs, and shut himself up in his lonely study.
While the above was taking place in the sitting-room,
a like scene of excitement and irritation was going on in
18*




210      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the servants' room. The old cook was flying about with
her cap-strings streaming and fluttering, but Heinrich
withstood the stornl of feminine passion, like a rock in the
midst of the ocean. He had on his Sunday coat, and his
features expressed a strange mixture of joy, sorrow, and
a sense of the ludicrous.
" Don't think I'm envious, Heinrich-that would be unchristian!" cried Frederika: "I don't grudge it to you!Two thousand thalers!" She clasped her hands, wrung
them, and let them fall again. "You have much more
luck than wit, Heinrich I Ah! good Heaven-here have I
been working all my life long, going to church all winter
on the very coldest days, and praying God' to send me
some good fortune-and I've never had any luck, while
you've got all this! Two thousand thalers! it's a perfect
mine, Heinrich! But I can't help thinking of one thing
-can you take the money with a clear conscience?  The
old Mam'selle ought not to have willed away a penny of
her money-it all belonged by good rights to our people,-and when you come to think of it, it would be
actual stealing to take it, Heinrich. I don't know exactly
what I should do in your place, but — "
"I'll take it-I'll take it, Frederika," said Heinrich,
with great composure.
The cook ran into her kitchen and slammed the door
behind her.
The old Mam'selle's will, that had elicited so much
emotion in the Hellwig house, had been deposited with
her lawyer ten years before. It had been written by the
testator herself, and after the usual formal introduction
read in effect as follows:' 1. In the year 1633, Lutz von Hirschsprung, a son of
Adrian v. Hirschsprung, who was murdered by Swedish
soldiers, quitted t' e town of X  to settle elsewhere.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           211
To the direct descendants of this branch of the old noble
Thuringian stock, I bequeath-'a. Thirty thousand thalers.'b. The golden bracelet, upon which are engraved
certain verses in old German, surrounded by
a wreath of flowers.'c. Bach's manuscript copy of his opera. It will be
found among my autographic collection of
famous composers, in portfolio No. 1, and, is
inscribed with the name- Gotthelf von Hirschsprung.'I herewith direct my lawyers to make an appeal, repeating the same if necessary, through the public journals, to any existing descendants of the afore-mentioned
branch of the Hirschsprung family. Should such appeals
be without result, and no claimant appear, it is my wish
and will at the end of a year that the above-mentiofied
capital of 30,000 thalers, together with the proceeds of
the bracelet when sold, and of the Bach manuscript also
to be sold, be handed over to the worthy mayor of the
town of X, to be by him appropriated as a fund to
the following purpose:'2. The yearly interest of the capital safely invested,
shall be divided in all future time equally among eight of
the teachers employed in the public schools of X, in
such a manner that all the public school teachers shall
receive a portion in regular rotation ivithout favour or
partiality. Directors and professors have no claim.' I dispose of my property thus in the firm conviction
that it will be of as much use as if I should call into existence with it a new institution. The office of public
school teacher is as yet only the stepchild of the State,the men whose exertions are so useful in building up
what must be our national bulwark, are still exposed to




212      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
pressing pecuniary anxieties, while they enrich tl ousands
by their mental labour. May the eyes of others be opened
to this dark shadow in the advancing light of our times,
and may others aid in exalting and supporting a callingat present so often under-rated!'3. Whatever I possess in silver plate and jewellery,
with the exception of the afore-named bracelet, reverts to
the existing head of the Hellwig family, as old heirlooms
which must not fall into the hands of strangers, as well
as everything which I possess in the way of furniture
and linen.'4. My manuscript autographic collection of celebrated
composers, with the exception of the afore-mentioned Bach
manuscript, will be sold by my lawyers. The proceeds
of the sale I devise to my two grand-nephews, John and
Nathanael Hellwig, in token of the sorrow I have always
felt in not being allowed to send them gifts at Christmas.'
Various legacies to poor mechanics and others followed,
to the amount of 12,000 thalers, among which was the
legacy to Heinrich of 2000, and one to her maid of 1000
/halers.
Heinrich related to Felicitas as correctly as he could
the contents of the will. There was no mention made of
the place where the old Mam'selle kept her silver-that,
at least, she gathered from his account, and was rejoiced
indeed. Now, if the secret repository were not discovered by accident, it would be in her power to destroy the
little gray box before any other mortal eyes should rest
upon it.
"I shall always lament it, Fay!" said Heinrich sadly,
as they sat alone together in the servants' room. "Now
you. have nothing in the world! If the old Mamn'selle
had only lived twenty-four hours longer, she would have




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           213
made another will, and you would have had heaps of
money, —she loved you dearly."
Felicita, smiled. The self-confidence of youth, which
never dreams of sordid cares for daily bread, or of providing for a helpless old age, beamed in that smile.
"It is better as it is, Heinrich," she replied. "Those
poor people whom Aunt Cordula has taken care of, want
the money more than I do,-and depend upon it, she had
reasons for the disposition that she has made of the bulk
of her property, which would have held good with any
other will that she might have made."
" Yes, yes,-there's some strange connection with the
Hirschsprungs!" said Heinrich thoughtfully. " I remember old Hirschsprung very well,-he was a shoemakerhe made my first pair of boots. I shall never forget them.
He lived in the little street there at the side of the house.
And so it came about that his boy and our old Mam'selle
played together sometimes when they were children. The
boy became a student afterwards, and people said was a
lover of our old Mam'selle's. And they say, too, that
this love affair-and this is what provokes me-hurried
old Herr Hellwig, her father, into his grave. He could
not endure the thoughts of it,-and they say that once he
got so angry with her about it, and she provoked him so,
that he fell dead upon the spot,-if it's true, I don't believe it. A little while afterwards the old Mam'selle
went to Leipzig, —the student had a nervous fever, and
she stayed there and nursed him until he died. All her
relatives were raging about it,-they declared that her
character was gone, and they cast her off. The people
here followed their example, and no one went near her
when she came back at last. However all that may be,
it seems to me very odd that those people should be her




214      TlHE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
heirs who went off so long ago,-they had gone long before the student was born. I can't understand it."
The following day the seals were removed from the
rooms under the roof.
Dreary days followed. The uniform gray tints of the
skies were unbroken by any ray of sunlight. Day and
night the rain dropped upon the roofs and pavements,
and the dragons' heads on the old house poured down
torrents of water in the Square below,-they looked angrier than ever, those distorted wide-mouthed faces,and the discoloured flood that splashed upon the pavemlent below might have been poisonous gall; for had they
not been looking in all these years upon the swelling
treasures which poured into the chambers and coffers of
the old house, while but a thin stream had ever flowed
back again into the world? And now,-'twas un-heardof,-a large sum of money was to leave this house forever, and the stout old walls and the iron figure behind
the asclepias plant had no power to retain it.
Felicitas spent these rainy days for the most part in the
retirement of the chamber next to the servants' room.
She had been, probably by the Professor's express desire,
relieved from all hard household labour,-but she sat almost buried in huge piles of linen, mending. She must
not eat the bread of idleness.
Without, in the court-yard, the fountain in the corner
bubbled monotonously,-the rain fell without cessation,
pattering upon the broad leaves of the coltsfoot growing
there; sometimes the crow of a cock was heard from the
adjoining poultry-yard, —or the gray tone of colour that
brooded over all was broken by two or three doves, who
would light upon the dripping stones and spread their
feathers to receive the rain. Light, sound, and motion
all seemed muffled-dulled; and the universal gloom was




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           215
apparently shared by the pale young girl sitting at the
bow-window. True, the hand with its thimble moved
regularly and without intermission,-but the exquisite
profile bending over the work never stirred from its posi
tion. Life, with its fearful experiences, had thus far
failed in stamping any impress of suffering or submission
upon those beautiful features,-they had only grown
paler, as if they were stiffening into marble, wearing the
same proud expression of unconquerable power of resistance.
But beneath the coarse dark dress an anxious heart
was beating,-and while the hand mechanically repaired
many a rent, the mind was tortured at the thought of
severe tasks and of the hard struggles that must ensue.
For the lawyers had also searched in vain for the old
Mam'selle's silver plate and antique bracelet. At first
the circumstance had acted soothingly upon the girl's
disturbed and anxious mind; but Heinrich had since then
been in a state of the greatest distress.  Frau Hellwig
had informed the commission, with ambiguous glances
and unmistakable emphasis, that Heinrich and the maid
had for years been the only persons possessing free admission to the old Mam'selle's apartments,-and upon
this declaration, which looked very much like an accusation, the honest fellow had immediately been subjected to
a most degrading examination. He was beside himself.
What a trial it was for Felicitas, to see the grief of her
faithful old friend without allowing one word of her
secret to pass her lips I Quiet and thoughtful as he had
always been, his composure seemed entirely to forsake
him before such an accusation,-and she justly feared
that, in the feakul pressure of his anxiety to free himself
from the horrible suspicion, he might commit some indiscretion, which would be unfortunate indeed just at this




216      THIE OLD AIAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
time, when so much caution was needed to preserve the
old Mam'selle's secret.
It was now doubly difficult to visit the rooms under
the roof. The Professor had gone through them on the
day when the seals were removed, in a state of the greatest astonishment, and had immediately taken formal possession, as the head of the house, of the habitation of
the mysterious old aunt. Perhaps, at sight of the original and tasteful arrangement of the rooms, his eyes had
been suddenly opened to the character and pursuits of
his disowned relative. He would not have a chair moved
from its place, and was greatly provoked when he saw
the Councillor's widow take a needle out of a pincushion.
He seemed determined to spend as much time as possible, during the remainder of his stay with his mother,
in the rooms under the roof. He only came down stairs
at mneal-times, —and then, as Frederika declared,'looking
as cross as a bear.'
But the Councillor's widow, she, too, had been seized
with a kind of passion for the'charming quiet asylum,'
and she begged her cousin to allow her, as a special fa.
vour, frequently to share it with him. Rosa swept the
floor, and the young widow removed the dust from the
furniture with her own fair hands. Thus Aunt Cordula's
room -was scarcely ever unoccupied,-and besides, the
Professor had taken care that the antique lock of the
painted door should be replaced by a new one, to open
which Felicitas' key was of course useless; there was no
way of ingress for her except over the roofs.
At the thought that she should be obhged to steal into
the rooms like some midnight thief, she shook her head
with disgust,-and this perpetual watching for the first
moment when their unsuspecting inhabitants should leave
them, was abhorrent to her. Nevertheless, -he held most




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          217
firmly to her determination, and a cold shudder ran
through her whenever she thought that two weeks were
all the time now left in which to accomplish the task.
At last the rainy days seemed over. A piece of clear
blue sky hung above the square court-yard-the coltsfoot
dried its well-washed leaves in a most refreshing breeze
-the swallows, whose nests were hanging thick under
the eaves, constantly flew in and out, their shining little
backs actually sparkling in the pure warm sunshine. It
was a day to spend in the open air. Perhaps they would
take the evening meal in the garden to-day, and then the
path over the roofs would be free. But this hope of Felicitas' was not fulfilled. Immediately after dinner, Rosa
came to the bow-window to tell her that she must take
little Anna to the garden-the Professor had promised
the child she should go. The other members of the family
would follow later in the afternoon, and take their supper
there.
And soon Felicitas was walking, with the child by her
side, in the lonely garden. Instead of the slates of the
roofs and the wooden floor of the gallery, she had beneath her feet the gravel of the sunny garden paths.
During the rainy weather, thousands of roses had come
into bloom. In the broad flower-beds were rare species
of roses rearing their lovely buds with crimson-velvet
leaves proudly above the humbler flowers, like the royal
purple above a crowd of subjects-while in the vegetable
garden the more common but exquisitely fragrant antifolia grew everywhere among the plants, and mingled its
delicious breath-taith the commonplace odour of dill and
sweet marjoram.
Felicitas passed by the gorgeous flowers with her head
sunk upon her breast, holding little Anna by the hand,
and the sympathetie little child limped along silently, in19




218      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
terrupting the reverie of her kind friend by no childish
prattle. With wild burning pain, Felicitas thought of
the roses of other years,-how much sweeter was their
fragrance, how much more brilliant their beauty, when
Aunt Cordula's dear kind eyes were still beaming, as on
still Sunday afternoons she read aloud many a delightful
page from her rich library to the pupil at her side, who
listened eagerly to the melodious voice, while from the
flowers around the sweetest fragrance floated on the air,
and the fair land of Thuringia lay spread out before
them! Then gradually the sweet sensation of home had
risen in the girl's soul-she felt that she belonged in the
peaceful, happy rooms where she was cherished and
guided by motherly love-where, if only for a few hours,
she was free, unfettered in her actions and thoughts, encouraged to speak of whatever arose in her mind,-no
wonder the roses were fairer and sweeter, and the whole
world was flooded with golden sunshine!
She raised her head and looked across the hedge into
the next garden. There she saw the spotless white cap
of Madame Franz. The old lady was seated at a table
with her son, taking her coffee. She was leaning comfortably back in a fauteuil and knitting, while he read
aloud to her. The scene was peaceful and homelike.
Felicitas said to herself that, among such kindly cultivated people, she should be once more to a certain degree
free, that it was impossible that with them she could
ever be degraded to a hard-working automaton, whose
hands never rested, but whose eyes and lips must never
betray the existence of an active, self-reliant mind.
And yet in spite of these thoughts her melancholy
mood remained unaltered. Even before Aunt Cordula's
death, there had been a secret corner of her soul which
was entirely unintelligible to her-a dull pain that van



THE OLD MAM'SELLE S SECRET.          219
ished like a phantom, if she attempted to analyze it. All
she knew with any distinctness about it was that it had
grown out of the presence of him who once was her chief
oppressor. She had, it is true, before his arrival, been
convinced that the sight of him would intensify her dislike and bitterness,-but she had not dreamed that these
sensations would so react upon her as to produce this
mysterious state of mind which made her a riddle to herself.
Now and then, the reader's voice in the next garden
would make itself heard. It was indeed a clear, fulltoned voice -but there was in it none of that delicate
modulation, that melodious intonation, which years had
so wonderfully developed in the former monotonous
voice of the Professor. Felicitas threw back her head.
Why should she make the comparison? She forced her
thoughts into another channel, and occupied herself with
considerations fraught with intense interest to her, and
upon which she had pondered much since the reading of
Aunt Cordula's will. The young lawyer, Franz, had
been constituted, by the legal authorities of the town,
curator to the Hirschsprung heirs, if any such heirs yet
existed. The summons to them had been made for two
days through the public papers. Felicitas was awaiting
the result with feverish impatience-it might bring her
bitter pain. If any Hirschsprungs from K    should
appear in answer to this call, which held out hopes of a
rich inheritance, her supposition that the wife of the juggler had been disowned by her family would be confirmed. But what kind of people could they be whose
affection for one of their nearest relatives had so died out
that even the tragical death of the juggler's wife could
not revive it I Felicitas, therefore, had not based a single
hope upon the possible appearance of her near relatives




220      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
-for them she could never have an existence; but her
heart notwithstanding throbbed wildly at the thought of
a possible meeting between the cruel grandparents and
their unknown silent grandchild.
Madame Franz had observed Felicitas across the
hedge. She arose and came forward, supported by her
son. Both greeted her cordially, and the young lawyer
expressed his pleasure in the prospect of future intercourse with her as a member of his mother's household.
And then they passed to other topics of conversation.
Something like embarrassment took possession of the
travelled man of the world, as he talked with this young
girl who had led so secluded an existence,-and yet who
looked so fearlessly and seriously into his eyes while she
gave utterance to the most original opinions. They conversed long and earnestly, touching upon a wide variety
of topics. At last Madame Franz asked after the health
of the child, and Felicitas took little Anna in her arms
and pointed with delight to the delicate colour-the tinge
of health that was just appearing upon the pale cheeks.
As they parted, the old lady held out her hand to Felicitas,-her son too stretched his right hand over the
hedge, and Felicitas frankly laid her own in it. Just at
that moment the gate creaked upon its hinges, and the
Professor entered the garden. He stood still for a few
seconds, as if rooted to the spot, then slowly lifted his
hat and bowed gravely. The young lawyer opened his
lips to address him, but he turned abruptly away and
went into the summer-house.
"Well, that really was done like a genuine absentminded philosopher," said young Franz, laughing, to his
mother. "My good friend, the Professor, certainly has
his brain filled with some unfortunate patient,-at such
times he hardly recognizes his best friends."




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          221
Mother and son went back to their coffee, and Felicitas
sought protection and shade under the hedges and trees
upon the lawn.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE tall screen of the green cypress-hedge afforded an
excellent protection from the sun, from the wind, which
had just begun to blow with some violence, and probably
from the reproachful glances directed towards Felicitas
from the summer-house. She knew the Professor's face
too well not to be sure that he had been vexed and irritated, but not absent-minded. She thought too that she
perfectly understood the cause of his displeasure. He exacted the most implicit obedience to his medical directions,
and was, according to Rosa's account of his practice in
Bonn, accustomed to have his wishes respected. He had
repeatedly, and with some irritation, forbidden Felicitas
to carry little Anna,-and yet when he entered the garden she had the child in her arms. Thus only could she
explain the irritated surprise that his face expressed upon
his entrance.
Felicitas seated herself upon a mound upon the distant
dam. A lonely birch-tree was growing here-its smooth
white trunk crowned by the falling branches, which made
a kind of arbour around it. The wind was scarcely to be
felt in this sequestered spot-only now and then the tall
grass trembled as if drawing a deep breath, and the
boughs overhead rustled gently. But the brook swollen
by the recent rains rushed noisily by, its gurgling discoloured waters swirling boisterously about the roots of
the hazel-bushes on its brink.
19*




222      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
The child plucked with its poor little awkward fingers
a quantity of buttercups, and brought them to Felicitas
that she might tie up the poor things, broken off close to
the flower, into a short-stemed nosegay for'Uncle John.'
This tedious task required patience and attention,-Felicitas' eyes were busy with the bouquet in her hands,
she did not see -the Professor come through the gap in
the cypress-hedge and advance quickly towards her
across the wide lawn. Little Anna's exclamation at his
approach first made her look up,-he was already standing beside her. She would have risen, but he put out his
hand and gently detained her, and then without a word
he seated himself beside her.
For the first time she utterly lost her self-possession
in his presence. Four weeks before she would have
rejected his hand with aversion and left him instantly,now she sat there as if paralyzed, as if beneath the spell
of a magician. It provoked her that he had lately adopted
such a familiar, unconstrained tone in speaking to her,she longed for nothing more ardently than to show him
that she thoroughly hated and despised him as she had
always done, —but suddenly courage and words both
failed her to tell him so. She shyly glanced up at his
face —he looked anything but provoked or angry,-the
flush of displeasure was gone. Felicitas was irritated to
be obliged to confess to herself that the power and determination in those irregular features impressed her against
her will.
He sat for a few moments beside her without speaking. She felt, although she could not see, that he was
regarding her fixedly.
"Do me the kindness, Felicitas, to take that ugly thing
off of your head," he at last broke the silence, and his
voice sounded calm, almost gay, as, without waiting for




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           223
the young girl's consent, he gently lifted the faded worn
hat from her head, and fliuhg it contemptuously upon the
grass. Through the quivering birch-leaves a sunbeam,
which had hitherto played upon the old straw hat, now
rested upon the girl's chestnut hair-a tress sparkled like
spun gold.
"So-now I can see the angry thoughts at work behind your brow," he said with a slight, sad smile. "I
cannot bear the idea of a battle in the dark- I want to
see my foe,-and that I have a bitter one there," he
pointed to her forehead, "I know only too well."
To what would this strange introduction lead?  Perhaps he expected an answer from her, but she was persistently silent. Little Anna was, with untiring assiduity,
heaping her lap with buttercups, daisies, and grass, and
she tied them diligently together without the slightest
attempt at grace or symmetry. Those fingers that would
not be delayed in their work, had lost much of their
brown colour during the several days spent in the retirement of the bow-window-they were really rosy. The
Professor took her right hand, opened it, and looked
gravely at the palm —there were traces there of hard
labour which it would need more time to obliterate. The
girl who at the express command of her stern guardian
had been brought up to servitude, had undeniably done
her best to fit herself for a life of labour.
Although during this examination a deep blush overspread Felicitas' cheeks,-very sensitive natures are as
much affected by a close observation of the palm of the
hand as of the features of the face,-she recovered at
this moment all her former self-possession. She looked
up, and he slowly let her hand drop-then he rubbed his
forehead several times, as if seeking words for an embarrassing thought.




221      TIlE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET
"You liked to go to school, did you not?" he asked
suddenly. "Mental occupation gives you pleasure?"
"Yes," she replied with astonishment. The question
sounded strangely-it was so very abrupt. But spite of
the command of language that this man possessed, diplomatic ambiguity was foreign to his nature.'-Well," he continued, "I hope you have thought
sometimes of what I said to you the other day?"
"I remember what you said."
"And have certainly arrived at the conviction that it
is a woman's duty faithfully to assist a man who desires
to retrieve an error?" He leant his elbow on his knee,
bent forward, and looked eagerly into her face.
"Not exactly," she answered decidedly, letting her
hands with the bouquet fall in her lap, and looking her
interrogator full in the face. "I must first know how he
wishes to retrieve the error."
"Subterfuges!" he murmured,-and his face darkened
perceptibly. He seemed to forget that lie had hitherto
spoken in generalities, and he continued with irritation.
"You need not be so frightfully upon your guard. I can
assure you that no one who could see your face at this
moment would dream of requiring anything superhuman
of you. The question simply is that you should-whatever your future plan of existence may be-remain under
my guardianship a year longer, and devote this time to
your mental improvement. Let me speak," he said with
a frown, raising his voice as he saw she was about to
interrupt him, "forget that it is I who propose this plan
to you, and only remember that, in caring for your mental culture, I do just what my father would most certainly
have done if he had lived."
"All this comes much too late."
"Too late? At your age?"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           225
"You misunderstand me. I wish to say that as a
helpless, irresponsible child, I was forced to accept ot
charity,-this I have been obliged hitherto to submit to.
But now I stand upon my own feet, and I refuse to
accept a penny which I do not earn."
The Professor bit his lips, and contracted his brows so
that his eyes almost disappeared.
"I anticipated this reply," he said coldly,-"for I am
thoroughly aware of your unconquerable pride. My
plan is this, —I will lend you the means for the necessary
instruction, and later, when you are independent, you
shall pay me back, if you choose, every penny of the
money. I know of a most excellent school in Bonn, and
am family physician to the cultivated instructress who
has charge of it. You would be well taught there, and,"
he added, with a slight tremor in his voice, "a separation never to meet again would be postponed for at least
a little while. In fourteen days my holidays will come
to an end. I shall go back with my cousin to Bonn,-it
will be the most natural thing in the world for you to
accompany us thither. Felicitas, I entreated you the
other day to be good and kind,-let me repeat the entreaty. Do not listen to the whispers of wounded feeling..
I pray you to forget, if only for a few moments, the past,
-and let me redeem, as far as I may, my error."
She had listened uneasily. As before, while relating
his so-called vision, there was a certain fascination in the
tones of his voice. He was not as evidently excited as
before,-but the sincere, honest repentance which he so
frankly and seriously expressed without in the least
compromising his manly dignity, touched her in spite of
herself.
"If I still possessed the right of deciding what my life
for the next year should be," she said more gently than




226      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
she had ever spoken to him, "I would unconditionally
and willingly accept your offer, —but I am not free to do
so. The day upon which I leave Frau Hellwig's house
will open for me a new sphere of action."
"Unalterably?"
"Yes,-my word once given is sacred to me. I never
change or tamper with it, although to keep it cause me
the greatest inconvenience."
He arose and stepped beyond the shelter of the birchtree.
"And may I now be permitted to ask what you intend
to do?"
"Oh yes," she replied with entire composure. "I
should have told Frau Hellwig, if I had had an opportunity. Madame Franz has engaged me as her companion."
These few words acted like a thunderbolt.' The Professor turned short round-his eyes flashed lightning.
"The lady over there?" he asked, pointing toward the
next garden, as though he could hardly trust his ears.
"Dismiss any such project entirely from your mind," he
said with decision and an air of command. "I will never
give my consent to it I"
The young girl arose with a defiant gesture-the carefully plucked flowers fell to the ground. "Your consent?" she said proudly. "I do not ask it. In fourteen
days I shall be free, and can go wherever it pleases me."
"The case is altered, Felicitas," he said, controlling
himself. "I have more right over you than you imagine.
Years may elapse before this right expires —and even
then it is a question whether I shall release you."
"We shall see about that!" she said coldly, with determined reserve.
"Yes, you shall see about it! I had a long and satis



THE OLD MAM'SEIJLE'S SECRET.          227
factory conversation yesterday with Dr. Boehm, my
father's most intimate and confidential friend, concerning
the circumstances of your reception in this house. I
learned from it that you were committed to my father's
care upon the express condition that you should remain
under his protection until your own father reclaimed you,
or until some other true protector shall present himself
who will —give you his name. My father appointed
me in his stead in case of his death, and I am firmly resolved to abide by these conditions."
And now Felicitas entirely lost all composure.
"God in heaven!" she cried, beside herself, clasping
her hands. "Is my misery, then, never to end? Must I
be forced to live forever in this horrible state of dependence? For years I have been sustained by the thought
that my eighteenth birthday would bring me deliverance.
This thought alone has enabled me to preserve my outward composure, while I suffered inconceivably! No,
no,-I am no longer the patient creature who will allow
herself to be trodden under foot out of respect for the
wishes of the dead. I will not! —I will have'nothing
more to do with these Hellwigs. At any cost I will rid
myself of these hateful fetters!"
The Professor seized both her hands in his as she spoke
these last words; his face grew deadly pale.
"Oh, think what you are saying, Felicitas!" he said,
and his voice was tender, but almost stifled with emotion.
"Do not rebel so, like a helpless bird that beats its wings
against the bars of its cage in a useless struggle with the
inevitable. Hateful fetters! Have you, then, no conception of the bitter, bitter pain that your hard angry words
cause me? You shall be free —free to think and act as
you please,-only guarded, protected like a —fondly-loved
child I Felicitas, you shail Tearn what it ls teabe behhiue




228      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
and surrounded by love. This is the last time I shall ever
use my authority as your guardian. I pray you do not
make me wretched by your resistance, for I declare to you
now it will be of no avail. I shall take matters into my
own hands, and will myself break any engagement you
may have entered into with Madame Franz."
"Do so," cried Felicitas almost hoarsely, with quivering lips, and a face from which every drop of blood had
departed. "But I too can act, and be sure I will defend
myself against you as long as I live."
Never before in her tempest-tossed existence had she
braved so fearful a storm as the one now raging in her
soul. Suddenly new voices arose there, appealing loudly
in the midst of the uproar, and they sounded like the echo
of his earnest words of entreaty. A fearful peril overshadowed her like a dark thunder-cloud, she felt instinctively that she must separate herself from him at any
sacrifice, if she did not wish to succumb irrevocably to
the danger that encompassed her. Already he seemed to
possess an indefinable power over her whole being; every
harsh word that she spoke to him struck painfully back
upon her own heart.
He had until now held her hands firmly in the clasp of
his own, and gazed, as if he would read her very soul, into
her face which involuntarily mirrored for a moment the
fierce conflict raging within. The keen eyes of the physician, who had made mankind his study, had probed many
a human breast, although he had never before tried to
read a young girl's heart that, however pride might seek
to defend it, was yet unguarded from the very fact of its
innocence. "You will not succeed!" he said suddenly,
with regained composure.  "My eyes are watchful and
my arm is powerful. You will not escape me, Felicitas.
I will under no circumstances leave you here in X..-,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          229
and it is equally certain that I will not go back to Bonn
without you."
The garden-gate had creaked upon its hinges some time
before, but the noise had been unheard. Rosa now approached and informed the Professor that Frau HIellwig
awaited him in the summer-house, and that the Councillor's widow begged him to come immediately.
"Is she ill?" asked the Professor, without looking at
the maid.
"No," she answered in some surprise, "but my mistress says that the coffee, which she is making herself,
will soon be ready,-she wishes the Herr Professor to
enjoy it while it is hot,-the young lawyer, Herr Franz,
is also in the summer-house. "
"Very well, I am coming," said the Professor; but he
made no motion to go. Perhaps he hoped that Rosa
would return to her mistress,-if so, he was mistaken.
The girl busied herself with little Anna, who was making
a sorrowful lament over'the pretty flowers all trampled
dead' upon the grass. At last, evidently disappointed,
he walked down the slope of the dam.
"Do not stay there any longer," he called to Felicitas.
"The wind is rising every moment. I think we shall have
a storm. Come with Anna into the summer-house."
He disappeared behind the cypress-hedge, but Felicitas
walked hurriedly along the whole length of the dam. All
was chaos in her mind, usually so clear and decided. In
vain she strove to recover her accustomed composure, to
analyze her sensations and regain her mastery over herself. She must then continue to bow beneath the yoke,
and not only be denied all chance of independence for an
indefinite period of time, but she must live in unavoidable
proximity to him,-in daily intercourse with him for
years,-as if this were not the most fearful punishment
20




230      THE OLD MAiJ]'SELLE'S SECRET.
that she could undergo. Had she not done everything
to prove to him how her very soul abhorred him, how
implacable she should always be while she lived? And
was it not, therefore, the very refinement of cruelty to
fetter her in this way? Why, she would rather a thousand times be subjected for years to Madame's most cruel
treatment, than pass one month more in the society of
the man who was developing this demoniac power over
her. His voice already sufficed to bewilder her thoughts,
-the indescribably gentle and tender tone that he had
lately adopted, thrilled every fibre of her heart and made
it beat wildly,-that must be because of the old hate that
stirred so at his approach. But would not this intensity
of feeling, brought so continually into play, destroy her
physically and morally? The fable of the fir-tree had
constantly occupied her mind, and now its only possible
explanation was made clear by his recent declaration:
"Felicitas, you shall now learn what it is to be cherished
and cared for by love."
He intended then, in spite of her repeated and determined declarations that she would decide for herself in all
questions regarding her future, to dispose according to
his pleasure of her hand-she must marry as he should
direct,-she would thus be provided for, and his error,
which he now fully admitted, atoned for. At these
thoughts she grew absolutely faint and giddy. How
hard, how wrong, such designs were!  Could he compel
any one to love her?  He himself had acknowledged
that he cherished an unfortunate passion, that he must
pass a lonely existence, thus yielding to his heart the
right to influence his whole future life. Hle should see
that she claimed exactly the same right —she would not
be treated like merchandise.
What prevented her from instantly going to Madamle




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          231
Franz and claiming her protection?-Ah, there was the
little gray box —it bound her more firmly to this wretched
house than any human will could have done-for its sake
she would endure until the last moment.
CHAPTER XXII.
LITTLE ANNA interrupted the young girl's anxious and
troubled meditations. The child took her hand coaxingly
and tried to lead her away from the dam. The wind was
already blowing with great force through the tops of the
trees,-keen blasts penetrated even the more sheltered
portions of the garden,-the terrified little flowers in the
grass bent before their persecutor. Flying clouds now
and then obscured the setting sun, throwing shadows as
of huge birds of prey across the paths and lawn,-roseleaves whirled about in the air, and even the stiff cypress
hedges bent like so many stately solemn court-dames.
It was more comfortable within doors. Felicitas brought
a garden-chair into the hall of the summer-house, seated
herself, and took out her sewing. The doors of the little
kitchen and the cosy summer-room were wide open. It
was not easy to imagine anything more charming than
the Councillor's widow when she undertook the role of a
notable hostess. She had on a richly trimmed coquettish
black silk apron, a dark crimson rose peeped out from
among her fair curls just above her left ear,-she had
evidently plucked it from its stem as she passed the parent-bush and placed it where it now was, unconsciously,
while lost in thought,-the effect was charming. Her




2-32     THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
skirt was festooned above her petticoat that it might not
impede her hospitable labours, and the little feet beneath
it in their well-fitting boots moved with childlike grace,
according well with the expression of the rosy face, which
was that of a happy harmless child zealously performing
some important duty entrusted to it-who would have
suspected the widow and mother in this impersonation
of innocent naivete?
While she was busily preparing the coffee in the kitchen,
a lively conversation was going on in the next room between Frau Hellwig and the young lawyer-the subject
was the old Mam'selle's will. Heinrich and Frederika
had already declared to Felicitas that Madame no longer
spoke or thought of anything that had not something to
do with this unlucky story of the will. She saw Madame's face for one moment through the open door-she
thought it perceptibly altered, and there was an unwonted
degree of haste in her manner of speaking. Chagrin and
anger had evidently retained the upper hand in this woman's mind.
The Professor took no share in the conversation,-it
even seemed as though he heard nothing of what was
going on. Lost in thought, with'his hands behind him,
he paced steadily to and fro in the room, only raising his
eyes as he passed the open door, to regard the girl sewing in the little hall without.
"I shall never be reconciled to it as long as I live, my
dear Franz," repeated Frau Hellwig. "It would be different if every farthing had not been hardly earned by the
Hellwigs.  And then to have some worthless person
appear who will squander in a few months the careful
savings, which would have been such a source of blessing in our hands."
" Oh, aunt,' said the young widow, who had just then




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           235
entered the room with her coffee-pot and was filling the
cups,-" I am afraid you are exciting yourself again about
that miserable will-indeed it is not good for you, you
will be ill. Think of your children-think of me, dear
aunt, and try to forget it'!"
"Forget it!" cried Frau Hellwig.  "Never!  How
can any one forget who possesses a particle of character,
which indeed our young people now-a-days are strangely
wanting in,"-here she cast a withering glance at her
son, who was still pacing the apartment. "I feel too
deeply the disgrace of submitting to such gross injustice
-I cannot away with it. How can you ask such a thing,
or require such tanme forgetfulness of me! You are sometimes dreadfully superficial, Adele!"
The face of the Councillor's widow.flushed, a hard, obstinate line appeared around her mouth, and the cup
which she was handing to Madame trembled in her hand,
but she possessed sufficient self-control to suppress the
sharp reply that rose to her lips.
"Indeed I do not deserve your reproach," she said very
gently, after a few moments of silence. "No one can
take this miserable affair more to heart than I. It is not
only that I lament the pecuniary loss, dear aunt, which
you and my two cousins must sustain, —my woman's
nature recoils from the idea of such moral turpitude.
Here has this cunning old woman spent half her life
under your roof devising all the while means of injuring
most deeply her nearest relatives. She has left the world
unreconciled to God or man, and with a catalogue of sins
upon her soul which must eternally shut her out from
the joys of heaven-how terriblel Dear John, shall I
pour you out a cup of coffee?"
"No, I thank you," replied the Professor, and went on
pacing the room as before.
20*




234      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
The work fell from  Felicitas' hands.  She listened
breathless to every word uttered by that traducing
tongue. True, Heinrich had told her that the world had
judged the old Mam'selle most hastily and unjustly,but this was the first time that any condemnation of her
had reached her ears. Her temples throbbed —every
word went to her heart like the stab of a knife,-the pain
which she now endured for the dead was greater than
the pang of separation.
"I do not know whether the old lady was really guilty
or not," said the young lawyer. "From all that I hear,
nothing has ever been clearly proved against her. The
scandalous chronicle of our good town has been content
with spreading only vague surmises. Her will, however,
proves that she must undoubtedly have been a most original person, of extraordinary power of mind."
Madame laughed contemptuously, and scornfully turned
her back upon the bold defender of the dead.
"My most excellent friend, it is the duty of your profession to whitewash the darkest crimes, and to discover
angelic innocence where the whole world has justly condemned,-when I consider this, I can understand what
you have just said," declared the Councillor's widow with
evident malice. "But there is an opinion which I value
in this case-I pray you to forgive me-very much more
highly than yours: papa used to know her. She was a
person of such stubborn obstinacy that she literally worried her father to death. She certainly showed by her
visit to Leipzig how little regard she entertained for her
own reputation,-and her'extraordinary power of mind,'
as. you call it, led her into most devious and crooked
paths, —she was a free-thinker-an atheist."
At this moment Felicitas rose hastily and appeared upon
the threshold of the door, —she stood there for one moment




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           235
with her right hand commandingly extended, her pale
cheeks suffused with a burning glow —beautiful in her
wrath as an avenging angel. The rosy lips which had
just made such frightful accusations with such easy, selfsatisfied confidence, were struck dumb at this apparition.
"She never was an atheist!" said Felicitas sternly, and
her flaming glance rested full upon the countenance of
the slanderer. "But she was indeed a free-thinker. She
pondered earnestly, without one fear for the salvation of
her soul or one thought wasted upon mere dogmas, upon
the works of God,-for she knew that every path through
them leads to Him. The conflict between the Bible and
Natural Science never troubled her or led her astray. Her
faith was rooted not in the letter, but in God's fair creation
— in her own consciousness, in the heavenly gift of
reason, and in the self-reliant thought and action of the
immortal soul. She did not, it is true, go with the multitude to worship God in a church,-but when the bells
rang, she stood in humble adoration before the Highest,
-and I cannot think that her prayers were less acceptable to Him than the worship of those who honour him
with their lips while their hearts are full of evil thoughts
of their fellow-men!"
Involuntarily young Franz arose,-he leaned his hand
upon the back of his chair, and regarded the courageous
girl with incredulous wonder.
"You knew this mysterious lady?" he asked breathlessly, as Felicitas ceased.
"I enjoyed the privilege of daily intercourse with her."
" This is a most delightful piece of news!" said the
Councillor's widow. The observation was meant to be
ironical, but the voice was uncertain, and the colour forsook the beautiful face for an instant. "You can then,
without doubt, relate many a charming and piquant anec



236      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
dote from the early experience of your revered friend?"
she asked in a tone which she studied to make indifferent,
as she carelessly played with her coffee-spoon.
"She never alluded to her past life," replied Felicitas.
She knew that she had evoked a terrible storm-she must
now await it coolly with perfect self-possession.
"What a pity!" lamented the young widow ironically,
shaking her curls, —the roses had already returned to her
cheeks. "But how I admire your rare histrionic talent,
Caroline! How wonderfully you have contrived to carry
on this secret intercourse I Dear John, do you still continue to repent your previous false conception of this
character?"
The Professor had stood perfectly still from the moment
when the young girl appeared upon the threshold. Her
justification of Aunt Cordula had found ready utterance
in clear scourging words. Her keen decided intellect
never lacked power of expression. The last biting question of the Councillor's widow remained unanswered.
The Professor looked steadily at her, and an almost imperceptible smile hovered upon his lips, as, in spite of all
her self-control, he saw her wince under that sting.
"Was that your well-guarded secret?" he now asked
her.
"Yes," answered the girl —and her earnest eyes gleamed,
for, strangely enough, at the sound of that voice, the conviction suddenly took possession of her that she was not
alone in the coming unavoidable struggle.
"You were going to live with Aunt Cordula, and that
was the happiness to which you were looking forward?"
he asked further.
c" Yes."
If the Councillor's widow had not been so much absorbed in the contemplation of the'unmasked hypocrite'




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           237
standing there upon the threshold, she would certainly
have been shocked by the joy that now sparkled in the
Professor's eyes and transfigured his grave face most
strangely.
Question and answer had hitherto succeeded each other
with such lightning rapidity, that Frau HIellwig had had
no time to recover from her astonishment. She leaned
back in her chair as though stiffened into stone, and the
stocking that she was knitting fell from her hands, and
the white ball of yarn rolled into the middle of the
room.
"This is an extremely interesting and important dis.
covery for me!" cried the young lawyer as he hastily approached Felicitas. "Do not be afraid that I shall attempt
to pry into the private affairs of the deceased lady, —far
be it from me to dream of such a thing. But perhaps
you may be able to give me satisfaction in regard to certain unaccountable allusions and directions in her will
that    "
Oh, Heavens! she was then to be examined concerning the missing silverl A shudder ran through her
whole frame-her face grew whiter than snow,-in great
confusion she cast down her eyes —she was the very
image of convicted guilt.
"As a passionate lover of music and a devoted collector of autographs, I have been in a state of delighted expectation since the reading of the will," continued the
lawyer, after a momentary pause occasioned by his surprise at the girl's sudden change of countenance. "The
will alludes expressly to a manuscript collection of the
works of famous composers. WXe have searched for such
a collection in vain. It is maintained by many that the
deceased suffered from aberration of mind, and that this
part of her possessions was a chimera, a phantom of her




238      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
brain. Have you ever seen such a collection in the old
lady's possession?"
"Yes," said Felicitas, drawing a breath of relief, but
outraged by the suspicion hirted at by the young lawyer,
"I knew every sheet of it!"
"Was it large and valuable?"
"It comprised works by all the famous musicians of
the past century."
" There is also mention made several times in the will
— but here I believe there is really an error existing-of
an opera by Bach. Can you remember the title of any
such work?" the lawyer further inquired, with an air of
intense interest.
"Oh yes," replied the young girl quickly.  "There
has been no error committed here either. It was an
operetta. Johann Sebastian Bach composed it for the
town of X, and it was brought out in the old townhall. It was entitled'The Wisdom of the Magistracy
in the Establishment of Breweries."'
"Impossible I" cried the young man, actually starting
back in the excess of his astonishment. "This composition, then, which has been a kind of myth for the musical world, did really exist I"
"It was a partitur written by Bach's own hand," Felicitas continued. "It was presented to a certain Gotthelf
von Hirsch sprung, and was afterwards left as a legacy
to the deceased."
"These are priceless revelations I And now I conjure
you to tell me where this collection is to be found."
A gulf suddenly yawned at her feet. In her great indignation at the thought that any one could doubt the
soundness and power of Aunt Cordula's mind, she had
told all that she could to refute so horrible a slander. In
her zeal to defend her dear old friend, she had not re



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.            239
flected whither her revelations were of necessity leading
her.  Now  she must answer this question directly.
Should she tell what was untrue? No, that was impossible I
"As far as I know, it no longer exists," she said in a
much lower voice than before.
"It no longer exists I You mean doubtless that it exists no longer as a collection."
Felicitas was silent-she wished herself miles away
from her importunate interrogator.
"Or can it be possible," he continued in a tone of
alarm, "that it is really destroyed? Should this be the
case, you must tell me how such an accident occurred."
Here was a dilemma indeed! There sat the woman
whom her statement must compromise. How often in
passionate moments had an evil desire for revenge upon
her heartless tormentor possessed her I She had thought
then that it would be sweet to see this odious woman
suffer. And now the moment had come when this desire
could be gratified,-she could humiliate the great ladyconvict her of an act not to be justified. How little had
she understood the nobility of her own nature! She was
entirely incapable of revenge. She ca.st a stolen glance
at her foe, and was met by a look positively ferocious. It
was powerless to affect her.
"I was not present when the collection was destroyed,
and can therefore give you no account of its destruction,"
she said, so firmly, so conclusively, as to render all further
interrogatories obviously useless. - But her forbearance
cost her dear, for now the storm which had been darkly
muttering above her head broke loose. Frau Hellwig
arose, leaned both hands upon the table before her, and
a gleam of truly demoniac rage illumined her colourless
countenance.




240      THE  OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Wretched creature, do you think to spare me?" she
cried in a voice trembling with passion. "Do you presume to suspect that I desire to conceal anything I have
done from the world, and that you can assist me in such
concealment-you!" She turned away contemptuously,
and addressed the young lawyer with all. her previous
coolness and self-confidence. "It is true, I am used to
render an account of my actions to my God alone," she
said. "Whatever I do is done in his name, in his honour,
and for the glorification of his holy church. Nevertheless,
I will tell you, my dear Franz, what has become of your'priceless collection,' chiefly with the view of convincing
this person of her madness in supposing that I could possibly act in concert with her. The deceased Cordula
iHellwig was an infidel, a lost soul,-and whoever undertakes her justification will share her condemnation. Instead of praying for her vanished peace of mind, she
silenced the voice of conscience with the poison of profane music full of ihcitement to worldly pleasure. Even
on the Sabbath she desecrated my quiet house with her
sinful practices. She would sit for days before those
profane books, and the more she was absorbed in them,
the more obstinately did she reject and resist my efforts
for the salvation of her soul. Since then I have had no
more earnest desire than to blot out of existence, to destroy from the face of the earth, these miserable human
devices in which the Lord has no part, and which are
such a stumbling-block in the way of salvation. I burned
the papers, my dear Franz!"
She said these last words with a raised voice and an
expression of the greatest exultation.
"Mother!" cried the Professor, hastily approaching
her.
"Well, my son?" she asked, motioning him back. She




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          241
raised herself to her full height, and stood there as if
clothed in brazen armour. "You will probably reproach
me with having deprived Nathanael and yourself of this
valuable inheritance," she continued. " Rest contentI am resolved to replace the few paltry dollars from my
own purse. You shall be no losers by my act."
"The few paltry dollars!" repeated the lawyer-he
actually trembled with surprise and indignation. "Madame Hellwig, you will have the pleasure of refunding
to your sons five thousand thalers!"
"Five thousand thalers?" Frau Hellwig laughed
aloud. "That would be a rare jest! Those miserable
yellow sheets! Don't make yourself ridiculous, my dear
Franz!"
"Those miserable yellow sheets will cost you dear
enough, you will find," retorted the young man, trying
to control himself. "I will show you to-morrow a notice
written by the deceased lady herself, in which she estimates the value of the collection at five thousand thalers,
at the lowest-and this not including the Bach manuscript. As for that, —pray understand what I say, Madame Hellwig,-you can have no idea to what legal
penalties you have made yourself liable by the destruction of that priceless treasure. The Hirschsprung heirs
must settle that in the future i IncredibleI" he exclaimed,
in utter dismay. "At this moment, John, all that I said
to you in the garden a few weeks ago occurs to me,you could not have a more striking illustration of my
remarks."
The Professor did not answer. He had stepped to a
window, and his face was turned towards the garden.
No one could judge of the effect of his agitated friend's
appeal to him.
For a moment it seemed as if Frau Hellwig under21




242      THE OLD MAAI'SELLE'S SECRET.
stood that she had wilfully subjected herself to an endless
succession of most annoying and even distressing consequences,-her attitude suddenly lost its air of conscious
infallibility and unassailable self-confidence, and the contemptuous smile which she struggled to maintain almost
faded from her lips. But it could not be,-no unforeseen
combination of circumstances could ever produce in Madame's mind any remorse for anything she had done.
She did everything in the fear and to the glory of the
Lord,-any fault or error was impossible. She recovered
herself instantly.
"I must remind you, Herr Franz, of what you mentioned yourself a little while ago," she said. coldly and
formally. "The deceased is justly accused of mental
aberration,-it would not be at all difficult to adduce sufficient proof to substantiate the charge. Who will then
maintain that that ridiculous valuation was not written
in the wanderings of insanity?"
"I will!" cried Felicitas, with decision, although her
voice shook with the violence of her conflicting emotions.
"I will defend the dead from those attacks as long as I
live, Madame Hellwig.  There never existed a clearer,
healthier intellect than hers. My declaration can, of
course, possess no legal weight; but should you succeed
in refuting all other evidence of her unclouded mind, the
portfolios in which the collection was placed still existthose I rescued! Each one contains on the inside of the
cover a complete index of its'former contents, with a
faithful account of how and at what cost each autograph
was obtained."
"Aha! I have then nourished in my own house a witness against me!" sneered Madame. "' But it is your turn
to be called to account. How dared you deceive me
through all these years with such unexampled insolence?




TIHE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.        243
You have eaten my bread while you scoffed at me behind
my back. If it had not been for me, you would have had
to beg your bread from door to door! Out of my sight,
treacherous hypocrite!"
Felicitas did not stir from the threshold. Her slender
form seemed to dilate beneath the reproaches heaped
upon her; her face was deadly white, but the fearless
pride, the unbending spirit of the girl had never been as
manifest as it was at this moment.
"Your reproach that. I have deceived you I deserve,"
she said with most admirable composure. "I have been
uniformly silent, and would have endured death, sooner
than have allowed a hint of my other life to pass my lips,
-that is true. Nevertheless, my resolution could have
been easily shaken-one kind, cordial word from your
lips-one gentle glance from your eyes would have sufficed to overthrow it, for nothing is more odious to me
than concealment of any kind. But there was no sin in
my deceit. Who would call the early Christians deceivers because they assembled in times of persecution in
direct opposition to the law? And I too had my soul to
save!" She took breath and riveted her clear brown eyes
with an expression of the greatest decision upon Madame's face. "I should have been plunged into blackest
night, had I not found an asylum and protection in the
rooms under the roof. In the wrathful and avenging
God, to whom you pray, who tolerates the existence of a
hell, and leads his children into temptation that He may
try, prove, and then punish them,-in this implacable
Supreme Being, I never could believe, Madame Hellwig.
My dear old friend revealed to me a Heavenly Father
who is all Love and Pity, Wisdom and Omnipotence, and
who alone rules in heaven and on earth. The desire of
study, the appetite for knowledge was unquenchable in




244      TIIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
myv childish soul, —if you had starved my body, Madame,
it would not have been as cruel as were your systematic
efforts to fetter my thoughts, to kill my mind. I have
never scoffed at you, for when I was with her your name
was never mentioned, but I have baffled all your plans
with regard to me. The old Mam'selle has been my
teacher!"
"Begone!" cried Frau Hellwig, no longer mistress of
herself, pointing towards the door.
"Not yet, dear aunt I" begged the young widow, seizing the outstretched arm of the great lady. "You will
not let such a precious moment slip without taking advantage of it, I hope. Herr Franz, you have performed
your duty as a'passionate lover of music,' most admirably,-let me entreat you to inform yourself with the
same zeal concerning the missing bracelet and silver
plate,-if any one can throw any light upon their whereabouts, it is this person!"
The young lawyer approached Felicitas, whose left
hand involuntarily sought the support of the frame of the
door, and, offering her his arm with a profound bow, he
said, with kindly courtesy: "Will you permit the to conduct you to my mother?"
"Her place is here!" said the Professor suddenly, in a
clear ringing voice. He had been hitherto entirely silent.
Now he stood erect by the side of Felicitas, and grasped
her right hand firmly in his own.
Young Franz recoiled involuntarily; for one instant
the two men measured each other silently,-there was
none of the warmth of friendship in their eyes.
"Ah, bravo! two knights at once-what a charming
picture!" cried the Councillor's widow, laughing loudly.
A cup dropped from her hand, and lay in a hundred
pieces upon the floor,-a carelessness which would have




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          245
provoked a stern rebuke from her aunt at any other
time, —but now Madame was speechless with anger and
amazement.
"It seems to-day that I am repeatedly tempted to appeal to the past," said Franz, in a bitter tone, interrupting
the momentary silence. "Perhaps you may remember,
John, that not long ago, in virtue of your guardianship,
you fully empowered me to take my present step "
"I neither forget nor refuse to acknowledge one iota of
what I said. Should you desire a conclusive explanation
of my inconsistency, I am always entirely at your service
-but not here."
He drew Felicitas from the threshold, and went with
her into the garden.
" Go- back into the town, Felicitas," he said-and the
gray eyes that used to glitter so coldly, rested upon her
face with the utmost tenderness. "It shall be your last
struggle, poor little Fay! This is the last night that you
shall pass beneath my mother's roof,-to-morrow, you
shall begin a new life!"  Unconsciously he pressed the
hand, which he still held in his, close to his heart,-then
dropped it and went back into the house.
CHAPTER XXIII.
FELICITAS left the garden with winged speed. The
Professor was mistaken, —so far from spending the night,
she would not even spend the evening beneath Madame's
roof. The moment had arrived, when she could go to
Aunt Cordula's rooms. In the narrow street she met
21*




246      TilE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the old cook carrying the supper out to the garden. No
one then but Heinrich was left in the house. How the
gust roared and howled through the thick boughs of the
old lindens I The wind drove the girl on,-but there was
level, firm ground beneath her feet. What a walk was
before her, over crumbling tiles in the rushing blast!
Heinrich opened the street door.  Felicitas glided
breathlessly past him, went into the servants' room, and
took the key of the garret from the wall.
"What are you going to do now, Fay?" asked the old
man, with surprise.
"I will bring back with me unstained honour for you,
and freedom for myself, Heinrich," she cried, in her excitement. "Keep steady watch here below," and she ran
up the stairs.
"Do nothing rash. Fay child, Fay!" he called after
her, "don't run into any danger,"-but she did not hear
him. He had to remain upon his post below stairs, and
walked impatiently up and down the hall.
As Felicitas reached the long corridor, upon which the
garrets opened, the wind moaned above her in long sighing gusts, which ended in low whistling tones. The
woodwork creaked, and the sultry breath of the storm
blew in sudden blasts through the hollow water-pipes
along the edge of the roof. Just now, a mottled gray
and white hail-cloud hung above the four roofs,-a lurid
light quivered over the hanging flower-garden, glistened
like a deceitful eye upon the glass panes of the door,
above which wreaths of ivy, loosened from the wall by
the wind, hung helplessly, and illuminated strongly the
tossing leaves of the wild vines.
As she put her head out of the garret window a violent
gust blew directly in her face-it took away her breath
and forced her to draw back. She let it rage by, and




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           247
then leaped out. Any one who could have seen that
beautiful pale face, with its tightly-compressed lips and
its air of stern determination, emerge from the dark gal
ret window, would have admitted that the. girl was fully
aware of the terrible danger she was braving, and that
she was prepared to encounter death, if need be, in pursuit of her object. What a strange mixture this young
creature was! A head so cool and clear above a heart
throbbing so wildly and capable of such strong passion.
With an airy tread she ran along the creaking gutters,
and no giddiness dimmed her clear eyes for an instant,but her roaring foe gave her scarcely time to breathewith a shrill whistle he was down upon her again with
terrific force. The glass door of the gallery flew open,
and some large flower-pots fell from the railing to the
floor, and the crumbling tiles trembled and creaked beneath Felicitas' feet. She was still upon the next roof,
but with her hands she clasped the railing of the gallery
which she had just reached.
The gust loosened her hair and tossed about the thick
masses as if to scatter them abroad, but she herself stood
firm. After a moment of patient waiting to recover her
breath, she swung herself over the railing into the gallery
and instantly entered the music-room. Behind her, the
storm moaned and roared, but she no longer heard itshe never thought of the death that threatened her return;
with clasped hands hanging idly before her, she stood in
the cool ivy-wreathed apartment-it was her last glimpse
of it. The calm snow-white faces upon the walls looked
like old friends, and yet so strangely unfamiliar,-they
had once informed this room with life, for their living
thoughts had been conjured up to float around their pale
brows-but now they were mere ornaments, decorations
of the wall,-they looked impartially upon the youthful




248      THIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
figure of the coquettish young widow and the pale girlish
face now lifted to them, streaming with tears.
For the rest, the room looked just as cosey and comfortable as during Aunt Cordula's lifetime. There was not
a speck of dust upon the large piano-countless tender
sprays of ivy were shooting forth everywhere from the
green walls in token that they were kindly cared for, and
in a recess by one of the windows stood a young caoutchouc tree and a slender little palm which the old Mam'selle had specially delighted in, and which had evidently
been carefully tended. But the other window looked
oddly,-the delicate little work-table stood there no longer
-the Professor had adopted this corner as his study.
A burning blush rose to Felicitas' cheek. Here she
was standing like a thief in his room. Who could tell
what letters and papers might be lying there, which no
strange eye should see,-he had left them exposed without fear, for he carried the key of the room in his pocket,
-she flew across to the old cabinet. On one side of the
old piece of furniture, in the middle of a richly-carved
arabesque ornament, there was a little metal knob, which
could hardly have been perceived by an unitiated eye.
Felicitas pressed it firmly and the door of the secret repository flew open. There lay the missing treasures in
all their former order. The antique silver coffee-pot and
cream-jug-the heavy bundles of spoons tied up with silk
ribbon-the old-fashioned case containing the set of diamonds, —all these things occupied the same places in
which they had lain in dim concealment for so many
years, —there in the corner was the casket with the
bracelet, and beside it-yes, beside it-was the gray box,
pushed a little on one side, just as the old Mam'selle had
hurriedly thrust it there a few weeks before,-evidently
she had not touched it again.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          249
Felicitas lifted it with trembling fingers,-it was not
light, —its contents must be destroyed,-but how? What
was it made of?
She carefully lifted the cover-a thick book, bound
rather coarsely in leather, met her eyes,-the stiff leaves
were gaping open, and the corners of the covers were
bent and worn with age. One shy glance within told
the girl that the pages of this book were covered not with
printed but with written characters.
Two eyes, Aunt Cordula, are resting upon your secret
-two eyes in which you have countless times read faithful childlike love and devotion, and a youthful heart, which
has never for one instant swerved from its faith in you,
is throbbing to solve the riddle of your life. It is as
firmly convinced of your innocence as of the existence of
the shining sun, but it would know why you suffered so
-it would comprehend the magnitude of your life-long
sacrifice. Your secret shall die-these leaves shall crumble to ashes, and the lips which even in earliest childhood
so well understood how to hold their peace, will forever
be as silent as your own.
The girl's trembling fingers opened the book.'Oscar
von Hirschsprung, Studiosus Philosophie,' was written
in bold characters upon the first leaf. It was the journal
of the young student, the nobly descended son of the
shoemaker, for whose sake, as report averred, Aunt Cordula had literally worried her father to death. The
writer had only used one side of each leaf, leaving the
other for future annotations. But these others were
covered closely with the delicate handwriting of the old
Mam'selle.
Felicitasread the beginning. Profound original thought,
with a rare power and felicity of expression, riveted the attention and forced reflection. He must have been a remark



250      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
able mati-the shoemaker's young son-with a brain full
of gorgeous fancies and the soundest judgment, and a
glowing heart full of the tenderest affection! And therefore Cordula, the stern merchant's daughter, had loved
him to the death. Thus she wrote:
"Your eyes are closed forever, Oscar, and you did not
see how I knelt beside your couch and wrung my hands
in passionate entreaty that God would spare you to me.
In the delirium of fever you called my name repeatedly
in tones of ardent love,-but then too there were times
when your cry for me seemed to come from the depths of
a wounded heart and to breathe revenge,-when I spoke
to you, you looked at me with strange eyes in which was
no recognition, and pushed my hand away.
"You have gone in the belief that I have broken my
vow to you,-and when all was over, and they had removed you from your couch, I found this book under
your pillow. It tells me how I have been loved, but it
tells me also that I have been doubted, Oscar! I longed
and watched in your death-agony for only one conscious
look-one would have convinced vou that I was true to
you, and my sad fate would have been robbed of its keenest sting. In vain! There is no greater torture for the
soul than to part forever from one who is dearest to it
unreconciled. If I had committed the blackest crime,
my punishment could not be greater than to carry about
with me this heart, which will not rest, but cries out and
urges me on like the outcast Cain.
"Your stronger spirit is released, and is exploring new
realms, but I must wander here upon this little earth without even knowing whether you can look back to me,-I
can speak to none of my inward struggles, and I do not
wish it-for who could understand my loss? No one except myself knew you. But once only, I must tell how it




TIlE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         251
all happened. You have written down your thoughts in
this book; bold and striking as they are-there comes
from them a refreshing breath of tender and undying love
for me, Oscar. Your words speak to me as from your
living lips, and in your sympathetic voice. I will. answer
you here, upon the same pages where your hand has
rested. And I will fancy that you stand beside methat your deep dark eyes are following my pen as stroke
by stroke the riddle is made plain before youI
"Do you remember the day when little Cordula Hellwig was searching for her favourite white chicken which
the house-dog had chased into the house? She found it
in one of the deserted rooms in an upper story, where
only a board partition divided the merchant's mansion
from the humble dwelling where lived the shoemaker
Hirschsprung. The room was dark and gloomy, but
through a crack between the boards the golden light was
streaming, and thousands of motes were playing in the
pillar of sunshine. The little girl peeped through the
crack. In there, neighbour Hirschsprung had just housed
the golden grain from his small field, and high upon the
yellow sheaves sat his wild boy Oscar, with his black
eyes and raven curls.
"' You can't find me!' cried the child through the crack.
The boy sprang down and looked searchingly and boldly
around him.'You can't find me,' repeated the girl.
Then came a crash, and one of the boards behind which
little Cordula was peeping fell in upon the floor of the
room where she was. Yes, Oscar, it was your work!
and I know how you would have levelled other barriers,
and destroyed many a false worldly structure which had
been carefully erected, if you had lived, just as you threw
down the old planks behind which the little girl was
teasing you.




252      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
" I cried bitterly with fright, and in a moment you were
all gentleness and tenderness, and through the gap you
led me down stairs into the smoky little room where your
father was at work. The board was replaced, but from
that time I ran across to see you every day. Ah, what
winter afternoons those were! Without, the wintry wind
roared, and the snow beat against the little round leaded
panes of the window, where the geranium on the sill quivered with the violence of the storm outside, and the goldfinch that was usually so merry, retreated to the farthest
corner of his cage. But within, the coffee was heating
on the gigantic stove,-your good mother was spinning
at her wheel, while your father upon his bench worked
for his daily bread.
"I can still see his grave melancholy face as he told
us of by-gone days. Then the Hirschsprungs had been
a powerful family-a famous race, gigantic in form, and
mighty in prowess. What a multitude of heroic deeds
had been done by their strong armsI But I shuddered at
the tales of the rivers of knightly blood which they had
spilt. I liked much better the story of the knight who
loved his young wife so faithfully and tenderly. He had
two bracelets made, and upon each was engraved half of
an old love song; he wore one, and his dear wife the
other. And when he fell mortally wounded in battle, a
savage foe tried to tear from him the costly love-token,
but the dying man clutched the jewel convulsively with
his left hand, which was almost hacked in pieces before
his squire could come to his aid. The bracelets were
kept in the family as relics until-yes, until the Swedes
came. Ah, how you hated those Swedes, Oscar! They
were the cause of the downfall of the Hirschsprungs. It
was a sad, sad story, and I could not bear to hear your
father tell it, for he always concluded with'Ah, Oscar,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         253
if that had not happened, you could have gone to the
University, and have become a great man,-but now
there is nothing for you but the shoemaker's bench.' Ah,
the story had another side, which he knew nothing of!
"The Hirschsprungs were all good Catholics,-they
clung to the old faith when the whole country was converted to the Lutheran doctrines. On account of their
religion they lived in strict retirement; but this did not
satisfy old Adrian von Hirschsprung, who was a zealous
Papist, and would rather give up his knightly mansion
and his Thuringian home than dwell among heretics.
He sold his possessions, with the exception of the mansion on the Square, for sixty thousand thalers in gold
coin, and his two sons rode off one day to purchase a
home for him in some Catholic country. Then it happened that the Swedish king, Gustavus Adolphus, with
twenty thousand warriors, came marching through
Thuringia. He halted for one day at the little town of
X  -, on the twenty-second of October, 1632, and his
troops were quartered upon the townsfolk. The old
knight's house upon the Square was also crowded with
Swedish soldiers, who filled old Adrian with rage and
abhorrence. A terrible quarrel arose between the knight
and the half-drunken men, sitting at their wine in the
rourt-yard, and then the dreadful deed was committed;
a common soldier stabbed the stern old Papist to the heart.
He fell back with extended arms upon the stones of the
court-yard, and died upon the spot without a word. But
the furious Swedes destroyed and burned everything in
the house that they could lay their hands upon, and when
the sons came home to tell the results of their expedition,
old Adrian was lying beneath the aisle of the church of
the Holy Virgin, and they sought in vain for their inheritance. The Swedes had carried off the sixty thou22




254      THIE OLD HAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
sand thalers, chests and caskets were empty, and their
contents lay torn and trampled under foot; the family
papers were scattered to the four winds-not a sheet of
them was left. This was your father's story, Oscar.
And thus the old house was sold for an insignificant sum
to the merchant Hellwig. The two sons of Adrian shared
the proceeds of the sale. Lutz, the elder, left the town,
and nothing was ever heard of him again; but the other,
who remained here, hung his knightly sword upon the
wall, and the descendants of those who had fought the
Saracen, and whose bravery and high-born courtesy had
graced imperial halls, took to spade and hoe.
"You did not follow their example, Oscar. As the
thick locks above your forehead curled and waved, defying all but nature's own arrangement, so your spirit left
the narrow paths which your father and his father's
father had pursued, and followed its own course in life,
although you knew that that course must be thorny and
stony, that privation and want must be your close companions.  You only saw the goal, the lofty brilliant
goal-and your heroic courage led you to a garret to die.
The spirit fled because the body starved! Almighty
God! to think that one of thy noblest creatures died
from want!
"Who that had ever listened to your noble thoughts
and glorious dreams for the future could have pictured
such an end to your high hopes! And when you sat at
the piano with such wondrous melodies breathing from
your fingers! A wretched little spinnet stood in one
corner of your father's room, its tones were dull and
harsh, but your genius inspired it-it could utter the
wild tones of the tempest or bring visions of a smiling
heaven above a sunny world. Do you not remember
how your good father rewarded you when he was pleased




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          255
with you? With what a solemn air he would open a
little antique secretary and place a manuscript musicbook upon the desk of the old spinnet! It was Johann
Sebastian Bach's operetta-his grandfather had received
it as a gift from the great composer, and it had been
guarded like some saintly relic by the family. When
you left the world you left in your room not a penny of
money, not a crust of bread, but this manuscript of
Bach's-whose material value you well knew-was
found upon your table directed to me.
"On the other page just opposite to where I am now
writing stands written'My sweet Cordula, with her
golden curls, came in to-day in a white dress,'-that was
the day of my confirmation, Oscar. My stern mother
told me it must be my last visit, for that I was now grown
up and there must be no intercourse between the wealthy
merchant's daughter and the shoemaker's family. Your
parents were not in the room and I told you of my mother's prohibition. How pale your face grew beneath
your coal-black curls!'Well, go then!' you said roughly,
stamping your foot, but your voice broke, and tears filled
the angry eyes. I did not go-our trembling hands suddenly met in a clasp which death only could sever-that
was the beginning of our love.
"Could you think that I could forget this, and after
withstanding for years the angry entreaties of my parents,
break my troth to you of my own free will? They called
you a beggar, the vagabond son of a shoemaker, who
would never earn a living, even with all his grand ideas
-they threatened to curse and cut me off, but I was firm,
and it was easy to be firm, for you were near me. But
when your parents died and you went to Leipzig to
study, then a fearful time came! One day, a tall, slender
figure appeared in my father's house, a man with a pale




256      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
face and sly cunning lines about his mouth and around
his eyes which looked out from under a low forehead
crowned by straight thin hair. My instinct was true,
Oscar, I knew that evil crossed our threshold in that
man's shape. My father judged this Paul Hellwig otherwise. He was a near relative of ours, the son of a man
who had made his way in the world, and was now installed in a lucrative office. Thus the visit of our young
cousin was an honour to us, and he had a low bow and a
sweet sanctimonious smile and word for all!
"You know how the wretch dared to speak of love to
me, and you know how indignantly I rejected him-he
was mean and dishonourable enough to appeal to my
father, who ardently desired the connection, and now terrible days for me began. No letters came from you. My
father intercepted them. I found them with my own
among the papers which he left. I was treated like a captive, but no one could force me to remain in the room
when he entered it. I flew then like some hunted thing
through the house, and the spirits of your ancestors protected me, Oscar,-I found many a hiding-place where I
was secure from discovery.
"Was it the invisible finger of one of these spirits
which one day pointed out to me a glittering gold coin
upon the ground?
"A wall in the poultry-yard had sunk somewhat, and
workmen had been busy in the afternoon in repairing the
damage, and had torn down the defective portion. I was
sitting upon the ruins dreaming of the time when these
stones had first been heaped together, when, just at my
feet, I saw a golden coin lying in the grass. It was not
the only one, and, in the masonry of the wall, there was
a yellow glimmer. Probably a large portion of the hugely
thick wall had fallen after the workmen had left the yard,




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           257
for there was a great pile of rubbish lying there, and from
among the broken edges of the part that was still standing, projected the sharp corner of a wooden chest —there
was a crack in one side of it, and through this crack the
yellow gold gleamed.
"Oscar, I did not follow, as I should have done, the
shadowy finger of your ancestor. I called my father, and
the man whom I loathed came into the poultry-yard with
him. They together extricated the chest, and turned the
large key, which was yet sticking in the lock.
"The Swedes had had nothing to do with it, Oscar.
There lay the two bracelets carefully preserved-there lay
the sixty thousand thalers in gold and the yellow parchments and papers of the Hirschsprungs.  Old Adrian
had concealed everything here as the Swedish army approached. -I was intoxicated with joy.'Father,' I exulted,' Oscar is no longer a beggar!'
" 1 see him still as he stood there! You know his face
was grave and stern; mirth was hardly possible in his
presence, but his whole appearance bore the impress of
incorruptible integrity. He was more respected than any
one else in the town,-but now he stood leaning over the
chest plunging his hands into the heap of golden coin.
What a strange glance fell upon me from his cold
eyes!'The shoemaker's son!' he said,'what has he to
do with it?'
"'Why, this money is his, father!' I had old Adrian's
will in my hand, and pointed to the name of Hirschsprung.
" Oh, how terribly his face changed!-that face usually
so rigid.
"'Are you mad?' he cried aloud, shaking my arm violently.'This house, with all which it contains, belongs
to me, and I should like to see who can rob me of one
penny of my property!'
22*




258      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"'You are quite right, dear cousin,' affirmed Paul Hellwig in his gentlest voice.' But some years ago the house,
with all that it contained, belonged to my grandfather.'
"'Yes, Paul, I do not deny your claim,' said my father. They carried the chest into the house. No one
knew of what had happened except myself and the last
ray of the setting sun which had glided curiously over
the golden store. It faded to rise again on the morrow
upon many a happy human being, but I wandered about
seeing only night and woe and crime wherever I looked.
"That very evening I heard from my father that Paul
Hellwig had claimed and received twenty thousand thalers and one of the bracelets.
"Do you know now what I endured while you were
thinking me faithless and frivolous? I stood alone in
the struggle with my two tormentors. My stern but upright mother was dead, and my only brother was away
travelling in foreign lands. They no longer required of
me only that I should renounce my love for you-I must
bind myself to secrecy concerning all that I knew-secrecy toward you and toward the world-and this I could
not do. Did not your heart sometimes throb in sympathy with mine at the times when I firmly confronted my
father, even when his hand was raised to strike to the
earth his'obstinate and unnatural daughter?'
"I had retained in my possession old Adrian's willthey did not know that-and one evening, when Paul
Hellwig contemptuously asked how I could prove the
discovery of the treasure, I referred to this paper,-and
then came the fearful end! My father had just returned
from a public dinner, his face was flushed,-he was evidently somewhat excited by wine. Upon my reference
to the will, he seized my wrists in his iron grasp, and
held them so tightly that I cried out with the pain, while




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          259
he looked savagely in my face, and and asked me whether
his respectability was worth nothing to me. He had
scarcely uttered the last word, when he dropped my
hands, his face grew purple, —he put up both his own
hands to his neck, and suddenly fell powerless upon the
floor at my feet. He still breathed when we lifted him
up. Yes, he was even conscious, for his gaze rested
upon my face with a fearful, imploring look. Then, Oscar, I gave up I When the physician left the room for a
moment, I drew out the will from my bosom and held it
to the lighted candle. I could not look at my father,but with averted face, I took a solemn oath that I would
be silent forever, that no blot should stain his honour by
my consent. And Paul Hellwig smiled like a fiend as
he heard my oath. Oh, Oscar, this I did. I secured to
my family your inheritance, just at the time when want
had stretched you upon your death-bed!"
CHAPTER XXIV.
FELICITAS closed the book,-she could read no further.
Without, the storm howled and beat against the windowpanes, so that they rattled again, —but what was their
raging to the tempests that had torn the soul of her whose
hand had written what she had just read 
Aunt Cordula had been racked and tortured. Those
who revelled in the possession of stolen wealth, had taken
up their position upon the pedestal of hereditary virtue
and integrity, and had rejected her as utterly depraved,and the blind world had confirmed the sentence passed




260      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
upon her. She had lived alone, slandered and defamed,but not one word of her secret ever passed her sealed
lips. She had called down no curse. upon the world of
the little town at her feet,- but many of those who believed her guilty, had been nourished and supported by
her helping hand, which was never closed against a suffering fellow-creature. Her strong mind had created its
own world, —and the gentle smile which transfigured the
features of the old Mam'selle, was proof of the triumph
of her exalted nature.
What an inexplicable riddle is public opinion! The
world contains nothing more untrustworthy, and yet how
often it decides the entire earthly fate of individuals! Do
not whole families sometimes suffer for years, under the
ban which public opinion has passed upon one of its members; and are there not other families who live always
surrounded by a nimbus of hereditary virtue and honesty
which they have been at no pains to acquire, simply because public opinion declares them'good!'  Ah, how
much bold knavery goes unpunished, how much quiet
merit unrewarded, at the arbitrary nod of public opinion I
The Hellwig family had always stood on the loftiest
height of an hereditary stainless reputation. If any one
had dared to point to the stateliest and most solemn of
the portraits which hung on the walls of the large room
in the second story and declare: that man is a thief! the
accuser would have lost caste at once,-and yet that
stately merchant had robbed the poor shoemaker's son of
his inheritance-had died with this crime on his soul,
and his posterity prided themselves upon the wealth-'hardly and honestly earned'-of the old house. Ah, if
he who had sacrificed his own hopes in life to time-honoured tradition —who had so long held to the belief that
virtue, intellect, integrity were the consequences of rank




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          261
and position, while personal worth had so little weightcould only have had a glimpse of these pagesl
Involuntarily Felicitas lifted the book high in air, as
if in triumph, and her eyes sparkled,-what prevented
her from leaving the little gray box with its terrible contents there upon the writing-table? He would enter and
sit down unsuspectingly in the pleasant ivy-hung room.
With his mind full of his work he would take up the pen
to go on with the manuscript before him. Suddenly he
would see the strange little box,-would raise the cover,
take out the book, and read-read till the blood should
forsake his cheek and the light of the still gray eyes grow
dim under the load of the terrible discovery. His proud
self-confidence would be gone forever. In secret he must
bear the burden of his disgrace. The comfort that he
takes in his luxurious surroundings is stolen joy,-when
he thinks of his respectable name-there is an ugly blot
upon it,-his peace of mind is fled-destroyed for all
time!Box and book fell to the ground, and the hot tears
streamed over the girl's cheeks. No I a thousand times
rather die than do him this injury. Were the lips from
which those last words came gaspingly the same from
which, within these four walls, so short a time before, the
words had proceeded —"I know that I should feel no
pity for any misfortune that might happen to him, and if
by only raising my finger I could do him a kindness, I
should never do it?" Was it really the old wild hate
which forced the tears from her eyes and filled her heart
with woe at the thought of his possible suffering? Was
the sudden glow with which she conjured up his well-knit,
powerful figure before her mental vision, aversion? and
had the blissful conviction that she was destined to guard
him from an annihilating blow any connection with the




262      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
hateful desire for revenge? Hate, aversion, and the wish
for revenge-they were all extinguished in her soul! On
she was drifting, rudderless. She staggered and covered
her face with her hands. The mysterious struggle within
her was made clear to her now,-not by the light of a
heavenly ray revealing a sunny landscape before unsuspected, but by a lurid flash of lightning showing
her the abyss before her, upon whose brink she was
tottering.
Away, away from the spot I There is nothing to keep
her here any longer. Across the roofs once more,-then
a step over the threshold of the old house and she is free
-gone never to return-gone forever.
She picked up the book, dropped it into her pocket,
and, holding her breath for a moment, stood as if stiffened into stone,-in the passage without a door was
heard to shut, and hasty steps approached the room
where she was. She flew to the glass door and tore it
open. The wind rushed in, blowing large drops of rain
into her face. Her eyes wandered over the four roofs,she could not pass over them now —she would be seenher only safety was in immediate concealment.
On the broad railing at the side of the gallery, out of
sight of any one standing within the glass door, there
was a narrow space unoccupied by any flower-pots. In
an instant Felicitas had climbed upon it, and, as the
rushing wind struck her, she seized and steadied herself
by the iron elbow of the lightning-rod which was carried
over the roof of the apartments just at this spot. Ah,
how the gust shook the slender figure, threatening in a
new access of rage to hurl her down the abyss which
yawned on one side of her into the street below I Black
storm-clouds were driving furiously above her. Was
there no angel behind that tossing, tempestuous mass to




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           263
stretch-his arms protectingly over the young girl who
was wrestling with such frightful peril?
If any one should come out upon the gallery now, the
girl standing there must be in his eyes as a thief. She
had entered a closely locked and bolted apartment, —the
world called such an act burglary.  Suspicion that she
knew all about the missing silver had already been attached to her, and now her guilt would be clear as daylight. She would not be allowed to leave the old merchant's house voluntarily-she would be expelled from
it, with the brand of crime upon her brow-and, like
Aunt Cordula, she would be obliged silently and innocently to bear the burden of unmerited disgrace and
shame as long as she lived. Would it be so hard to yield
herself up to the fury of the storm, and, after only a few
moments of agony, breathe out her young life upon the
stones of the street below?
She looked once more towards the glass door,-the
person who had entered the room had not fulfilled Felicitas' last despairing hope by remaining behind it.
Spite of the storm and rain, he stepped out further and
further upon the gallery, and now she could see who it
was-it was the Professor. Had he heard the girl's retreating steps? His back was turned to her-it was still
possible that he might return without seeing her, but
down swept the traitor-blast-it forced the Professor to
turn round, and wildly tossed the garment and hair of
the fugitive,-and he saw the girl, her face looking down
upon him, white and ghostly, with despairing eyes, from
among the tossing masses of loosened hair, while one
arm was convulsively encircling the lightning-rod.
For one moment it seemed to her that all the blood in
her body forsook her veins beneath the look of horror
with which he gazed at her, and then it rushed wildly




264      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET
to her head and robbed her of the last'remnant of selfpossession.
"Yes, here stands the thief! Bring the officers of justice! call Madame Hellwig! I am discovered!" she
cried with a wild laugh. She let go the lightning-rod
for a moment and put back her hair which the storm had
blown about her face.
"For God's sake," shouted the Professor, "clasp the
rod tightly,-you are lost!"
" It were better for me if the end had come I" sounded
wailingly through the roaring and whistling of the wind.
He did not see the narrow space upon which Felicitas
was standing. In an instant he threw over the boxes of
flowers and mounted to her side. With irresistible force
he clasped her struggling form, drew her down to the
gallery and into the apartment. The door closed after
them with a crash.
The girl's strong courageous spirit was broken; utterly
bewildered, she was unconscious that her supposed accuser was still supporting her,-her eyes were closed,
and she did not see how earnestly his gaze was resting
upon her pale face. "Felicitas," he whispered, in a deep
tone of entreaty.
She started up, and her consciousness returned. Once
more the bitter hatred which she had fed in her soul for
so many years seemed to take possession of her, —she
tore herself away from him, and again the old demonic
expression lighted up her face,-the deep frown appeared
between her eyebrows, and the lines around her mouth
grew hard and full of scorn.
"How can you touch the Pariah!" she cried. But her
erect form staggered again,-she buried her face in her
hands and said, in a smothered voice: "Question me,my statement shall satisfy you!"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          265
He took her hands gently between his own.
"You must first be more composed, Felicitas," he said
in that tender soothing tone which had touched her in
spite of herself by the bed of the sick child. "Forget
the wild words with which you always seek to wound
me. Look round,-see where we are. Did you not play
here when a little child? Was it not in these rooms that
the lonely woman, whom you so bravely defended today, extended to you protection, instruction, and love?
Whatever you did here, or came for, I know well that it
was nothing wrong, Felicitas. You are defiant, wounded,
-and very proud,-and this sometimes makes you unjust
and unkind,-but you are utterly incapable of meanness.
I cannot tell why,-but I felt that I must find you up
here. Heinrich's shy, embarrassed face-his involuntary
glance towards the stairs when I asked after you, confirmed me in the thought. Do not say a word!" he continued, raising his voice, as she lifted her burning eyes
to him, and opened her lips. "I will question you —but
not in the sense that you mean-and have I not some
-right to question you after climbing through wind and
storm to bring down my noble fir-tree?"
He drew her further into the room,-it seemed as if
the light near the glass door was too brilliant for him,he needed the half-twilight of the more retired part of the
apartment to speak further. Felicitas felt his hands tremble. She stood just upon the spot where a few moments
before she had had so fearful a struggle with herselfwhere she had been tempted to stab him to the heart, to
inflict a wound upon him that he would carry with him
as long as he lived. She bent her head like one convicted
of guilt beneath the eyes, once so grave and serious,
which now glowed with such intensity of feeling.
"Felicitas, you might have fallen," he said, and at the
23




266     4THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECR FT.
mere thought a shudder ran through his powerful frame.
"Shall I tell you what you have caused me with your
unconquerable pride, that would rather die than appeal
to the calm reason of others? Do you not think that a
moment of such concentrated agony-such indescribable
despair-may partly expiate the injustice of years?"
lie ceased, waiting for a reply, but her pale lips did
not move, and her eyes sought the ground.
"Your own embittered views of all that I can do and
say have actually grown into your very soul," he said,
after a moment of vain expectation, in a despairing tone.
"It is impossible for you to believe in any change." He
had dropped her hands, but he took her right hand once
more and pressed it to his heart. "Felicitas, you said a
little while ago that you idolized your mother, this mother
called you Fay, all who love you call you thus. Listen
to me when I say'Fay, I pray you to forgive me!"
"I am no longer angry," she managed to gasp out in
a smothered voice.
"That is much-much from your lips-more than I
had a right to expect,-but it does not content me. What
consolation is it to know you are reconciled if we must
part never to meet again? What comfort can I have in
knowing that you are no longer angry if I cannot convince myself of it at all hours? When two people who
have been as far apart as we.have been are reconciled,
they belong to each other. I cannot endure that a single
mile should separate us. Ah, go with me, Fay!"
-" The life in the school which you propose to me would
be odious, I cannot conform to its rules," she answered
hurriedly and with effort.
The shadow of a smile flitted across his countenance.
"Oh I do not propose it to you!-That school plan
was only a pretence, Fay. I could not hat e endured it




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET."    267
Why, one, two days might have passed without my seeing you, and when I did see you a dozen impertinent
girls might have stood around us hearing all that we
said, or Madame Berg, the strict disciplinarian, would
have been present, and would never have suffered me to
take this little hand in mine. No, I must be able to look
into this dear proud face every hour of the day,-I must
know that when I return home after the weary labour of
the day, my Fay is waiting for me and thinking of me.
On still evenings when we are alone together I niust be
able to entreat for a song, Fay,-but all this can onlyah, be my wife, Fay I"
Felicitas uttered a cry and tried to extricate her hands
from his clasp-but he held them more firmly than before.
" The thought terrifies you, Felicitas," he said, in great
agitation. "Let me hope that my abruptness has some
share in causing your terror. I know that a long time
must elapse before you can respond to me-with your
character the change must be a slow one which can convert a detested enemy into an object of affection. But I
will woo you with the patience of undying love; I will
wait-hard as it will be-until you yourself, of your own
free will, say to me:'John, I will I' I know what miraculous changes can take place in the human heart. I
fled from the little town to escape from myself and the
fearful struggles in my soul,-and what happened? The
previous conflict was insignificant in comparison with
the torturing longing that possessed me. I knew that I
had been endeavouring to crush out my eternal happiness.
" Fay, in the midst of gay conversation and coquettish
faces, the lonely girl with her proud bearing and her
white brow, bel ind which dwelt such a brave honest




268      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECGRET.
spirit, was always by my side wherever we went, —over
hill and dale, she belonged to me; she was the other half
of my life. I could not tear myself from her without inflicting upon myself a mortal wound! And now give me
one kind consoling word, Felicitas."
The young girl had gradually withdrawn her hand
from his. How was it possible that the change in her
face and figure while he spoke should escape him? The
eyes from which all hope seemed to have departed were
riveted to the ground: the forehead was contracted as if
with physical pain, and the icy hands were clasped convulsively.
" Shall I give you consolation?" she rejoined in a low
tone. "An hour ago, you said to me,' This shall be your
last struggle,' and now with your own hand you plunge
me into the most fearful conflict that the human soul can
undergo. What is the struggle with foes without in
comparison with a conflict within with one's self?" She
raised her clasped hands and threw back her head with
a gesture of despair. "What crime have I committed
that God should put this wretched love into my heart I"
" Fay I"
He extended his arms to draw her to his breast,-but
she repulsed him with outstretched hands, although a
ray of joy lit up her face for one moment. "Yes-I love
you-you shall know it,-I love you," she repeated in
tones vibrating between exultation and tears. "I could
at this moment say'John, I will I' but these words shall
never be spoken!"
He started back, —he knew the girl with that proud
bearing and fair forehead much too well not to fear that
this declaration was a death-blow to his hopes.
"You fled from X —, and why?" she began again,
looking most searchingly into the eyes whose glc w had




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         269
entirely faded. "I will tell you. Your love for me was a
crime against your position, —your name; it contradicted
all your most cherished prejudices and ideas, and was to
be rooted out of your heart as unworthy of you. That
you return from your flight uncured was not your fault.
The same power which forces me to love you against my
will, conquered you. You must have had a hard struggle before you could ask the player's child to take her
place among your proud, respectable merchant kin,nothing in the world could convince me that I should
retain this place foreverl You told me a few weeks ago
of your unalterable conviction that inequality of position
was always an obstacle to happiness in marriage. You
have held firmly to this conviction for God only knows
how long, and it is impossible that in six weeks it can
have vanished, leaving not a trace behind; it is only
whitewashed over-suspended for awhile. And, even if
it has yielded to other convictions, what time must not
elapse,-what changes must not occur before the remembrance of ydur declaration can fade from my mind!"
She ceased for a moment, exhausted. John had covered his face with his hands. Now he dropped them
slowly, and said, with despairing composure: "The past
is all against me,-and yet you are wrong, Felicitas. O
God, how shall I prove it to you!"
"There has been no change, not the smallest, in our
outward circumstances," she. continued unrelentingly.
"No stain has fallen upon your family, nor has anything
occurred to elevate my despised position,-it is my personal influence alone which has effected this change in
you; it would be rash and unjustifiable in me to take advantage of the moment when, hushing with determination the voice of your firmest convictions, you give ear
only to tl e voice of love. I ask you, upon your con23*




270      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
science, do you not value above all things the unstained
past of your family? And have you succeeded in per.
suading yourself for one moment that those ancestors,
whose wives were always of equal rank with their own,
could look with favour upon the alliance of their descendant with a juggler's daughter?"
"Felicitas, you say you love me, and yet you can torture me so frightfullyl" he cried.
Her gaze, which had rested unalterably upon his countenance, melted. Who had ever before seen in those
proud eyes the unutterable tenderness which now glowed
in them I She took his right hand in both her own.
"While you were, a little while ago, describing to me
life by your side, I suffered more than I can tell," she
said, deeply moved; "hundreds of others, perhaps, would,
in my place, have shut their eyes to the future, and seized
upon present happiness,-but, made as I am, I cannot do
this. During my whole life the dread that you might
repent your act would stand like a phantom between us.
At every gloomy look of yours —every frown upon your
forehead, I should think:'The time has come now, he
laments his conversion from his former views-he has
returned to them, and he inwardly blames you as the
cause of his fall I' I should make you wretched with my
mistrust, which I could never overcome."
"This is a fearful retaliation I" he said in a low suffering tone. "But I will gladly take this wretchedness that
you speak of to my heart. I will bear your mistrust, however wounding it may be, without a murmur. A time
must come when all will be clear between us. Felicitas,
I will make a home for you where anxious thoughts dare
not intrude. It may indeed often happen that I shall
bring home with me gloomy looks and frowns,-but if I
can find my Fay there, the frowns will disappear, the




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          271
gloom be changed to sunshine. Can you really find it in
your heart to trample your own love under foot and to
render wretched a man whom you can make supremely
happy?"
Felicitas had gradually approached the door-she felt
that her resolution was proving false to her against his
pleading eloquence, and yet for his sake she must be
firm.
"If you could live with me alone, and in retirement,"
she replied as she seized the handle of the door as if it
were her last refuge, "I would willingly follow you. Do
not think that I dread the world and its sentence-its
judgments are almost always blind and undiscerning, but
I fear the enemy within you in intercourse with society.
There a'respectable origin' is everything, and I know
that you agree with the world. You have great family
pride, although at the present moment you give no ear
to its warnings, in intercourse with others sooner or later
the thought would come that you have sacrificed much,
very much for me."
"In other words, if I would call you mine, I must
either give up all hope bf being of any service in the
world, and live in a desert, or I must search out some
stain, some unworthy act in the past of my family I" he
exclaimed.
A flaming blush suffused her cheek at these words.
Involuntarily her hand glided among the folds of ]her
dress, and she felt for the sharp corners of the little gray
box, that she might be sure it was quite safe in its hidingplace.
The Professor walked up and down the room in the
greatest agitation.
"The stern unbending element in your character never
yields, I know it well," he continued. "It fascinates and




272      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
embitters me at the same time. Even at this moment,
wheL with harsh consistency you trample my affection
beneath your feet and condemn yourself to such a useless
sacrifice, my love burns stronger than ever. I know well
that I cannot for the present advance one step with you,
-but give you up! I do not dream of it. Your assurance
that you love me I regard as a solemn vow. You will
never be false to me, Felicitas?"
"No!" she replied quickly, and entirely against her
will a ray of unutterable love beamed from her eyes.
The Professor put his hand upon her head and gently
bent it back, looking in her face with a gaze in which pain,
anger, and passion were strangely mingled. He shook his
head as her eyelids fell and her lips closed firmly beneath
his scrutiny-and then he sighed profoundly.
"There,-go I" he said with forced composure. "I consent to a temporary separation, but upon condition that I
may see you often wherever you are, and that you will
write to me and let me write to you."
She blamed herself for her weakness in extending her
hand to him assentingly, but she could not resist the
temptation to accord him this consolation. He turned
away and she left the room.




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          2'73
CHAPTER XXV.
OUTSIDE in her agony she stretched her ar:ns to
Heaven. How had the torturing pain of these last
moments caused all the other griefs of her young life to
fade into insignificance I
Unconsciously she drew out of her pocket the little
box —within it lay the secret which would level the barriers between the man whom she loved and herself,-it
would weigh heavily in the balance against her mean
origin,-was the tempter again assailing her? No, Aunt
Cordula, your will shall be done-although this book
would justify you so thoroughly I And he? Time will
work wonders,-the pain of renunciation ennobles the
soul. The fatal little book shall be destroyed instantly
-it shall be consumed to ashes. Felicitas looked back
once towards the room, where she could hear the Professor pacing restlessly to and fro, then glided down the
narrow staircase, and noiselessly opened the painted
door.
The traveller who, wandering through the meadows,
steps unconsciously upon the writhing body of a snake,
and sees the reptile erect his deadly fangs directly before
him, is not more horrified than was Felicitas as she
stepped into the corridor. Five fingers encircled with an
iron grasp her left hand in which she held the little box,
and close to her face glistened two greenish eyes,-they
were the soft Madonna-like orbs of the Councillor's
widow.
The beautiful woman had at this moment entirely
thrown aside her fascinating garment of grace and ten



274      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
derness,-how energetically and even roughly those rosy
fingers, which were accustomed to be so gently folded in
prayer, could clutch and hold! What an expression of
satanic malice transformed those angelic features! They
were scarcely to be recognized I
"How charming this is, my beautiful proud Caroline;
I happen to meet you just as you are about to secure this
lovely little jewel-case I" she cried with a jeering laugh as
she seized also with her other hand the wrist which the
girl was vainly struggling to free from her vice-like grasp.
"Have the kindness to hold this little traitor one moment
longer in your hand,-I would not have you let it fall
quite yet. Have patience for one instant. I need a witness to prove in court that the thief was caught in the
act. John I JohnI"
The young widow's melting voice, usually so expressive
of Christian love and pity, rang shrill and piercing through
the corridor.
"I beg you, for God's sake, Madame, let me go l" implored Felicitas in deadly terror.
"Not for the world  He sball see whom he placed by
his side to-day. It was delightful to hear-' Her place is
here I'-was it not, my charming coquette? Your aim
was, you thought, accomplished,-but I am here,-the
game is not yet at an end!1"
She repeated her cry for help,-it was unnecessary,her cousin had already descended the stairs, and was just
opening the door as Heinrich also appeared at the other
end of the corridor.
"Oh, were you up there, John?" cried the Councillor's
widow. "I thought you were below. But the art of the
juggler's daughter is only the more admirable since she
has contrived to conjure away your old aunt's legacy from
unde your very eyes!"




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           275
"Are you beside yourself, Adele?" he asked, quickly
leaving the last stair, whence he had surveyed the incomprehensible scene in the greatest astonishment.
"Oh, not at all," she replied. " Do not think me violent,
cousin, because I am compelled to undertake the office of
a bailiff; but Herr Franz, you know, indignantly refused
me his assistance in the discovery of the theft of the silver
plate, and you yourself took this sweet innocent under
your wing, —what was there for me to do but to act upon
my own responsibility? You see these five fingers holding the casket which they have just brought down stairs,
-so far, so good,-now we will see what the magpie was
bearing off to her nest."
She snatched the box from Felicitas' hand.  The girl
uttered a cry and tried to recover it, but the young widow
fled with her prey along the corridor, laughing loudly, as
in feverish haste she lifted the cover.
"A bookl" she.muttered, disappointed,-the box fell
upon the floor. She took the volume in both hands, held
it open by its covers, and shook it violently, —there must
certainly be banknotes, deeds, or some papers of value
hidden between the leaves,-but nothing of the kind appeared.
In the mean time Felicitas had partly recovered from
her terror. She followed the lady and earnestly requested
her to return the book to her; but in spite of her forced
composure her feverish anxiety was only too apparent.
"How, —are you really in earnest?" said the young
widow spitefully, clutching the book tightly as she turned
her back upon her. "You appear altogether too much
disturbed to allay my suspicions," she continued, looking
contemptuously back over her shoulder at Felicitas. " The
book must have something to do with some r ot of yours.
-let us see what it is, my dear I"




276      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
She opened the volume,-it contained no banknotes,nothing Af value, only delicately written words upon its
yellow leaves; but had a dagger been suddenly pointed
at the young widow's breast from its ugly pages, she
could not have been struck more utterly aghast than she
was at the sight of the few words which met her eye
upon one of the leaves which she had hastily turned over.
The rosy'face grew ashy to the very lips, —instinctively
she covered her eyes with her hand, and tottered for one
moment as though she were giddy.
But she had learned to control every outward look and
action, in order to walk before the world surrounded by
the nimbus of sanctity. She knew how to cast up her
eyes piously to Heaven, while her heart was full of spite
and malice,-she could listen with an air of intense devotion to a sermon, while her mind was busied with a charming new toilette,-she often lamented, with holy indignation flushing her cheeks, over the sinful ways of the world
and the neglect of the Bible, while she was devoted in
secret to the worst of French romances
This incredible flexibility and elasticity of outward demeanour had often during her life stood her in good stead,
and it did not fail her now. In a few seconds s-he had
entirely recovered herself. She closed the book with an
admirably simulated smile of disappointment.
"It is, indeed, wretched old trash I" she said to her
cousin,-while, as if half unconsciously, she put the book
into her pocket. "You certainly have been uncommonly
silly, Caroline, to make such a noise about such nonsensical stuff!"
" J)id she make the noise?" asked the Professor, stepping quickly towards her, and with difficulty controlling
himself. "i thought you called me to your assistance,
that you mig't convict this young girl of the theft of




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           277
the silver in the presence of witnesses. Do me the favour
to justify now, here upon the spot, your shameful accusation?"
"You see that I really am not prepared, instantly-"
"Instantly I" he interrupted her. " You must recall on
the spot this insulting charge; and in Hejnrich's and my
presence make the fullest apology for all you have said
and done!"
"Most willingly, dear John  It is our Christian duty
to acknowledge and beg forgiveness for an error. My
dear Caroline, pray forgive me, I have done you injustice."
"And now give back the book," said her cousin, in a
harsh, unrelenting tone.
"The book?" she asked, with all her old air of naive
innocence. "Ah, dear John, it does not belong to Caroline!"
"Who told you that?"
"I saw Aunt Cordula's name written in it. If any one
has any right to it it is yourself, as heir to her books and
furniture.  But it is apparently not of any value,-it
seems to be. filled with old poetical extracts. What
would you do with such sentimental stuff? But I like
such old yellow books. In spite of their worn soiled
leaves, they have a great charm for me. I pray you give
it to me?"
"Perhaps I may, after I have looked at it," he replied,
shrugging his shoulders, and holding out his hand for
the volume.
" But I should value it much more, if you would give
it to me without looking at it," she continued, in a gentle,
coaxing tone of entreaty. "Do not let me think that you
wish to ascertain the actual worth of the only present that
I have ever asked you to make me!"
The Professor looked angry indeed. "I declare to you,"
24




278      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
said he, "that what you may think of my persistence is a
matter of entire indifference to me. I insist upon seeing
the book,-I suspect you. Some extracts from old sentimental poetry could scarcely suffice to.make so selfpossessed a lady as yourself turn suddenly pale with
terror. "
As he spoke he stepped in front of her,-her uncertain
glance which had measured like lightning the length of
the corridor, and a quick gesture betrayed unmistakably
that she wished to take to flight. Her cousin seized her
hand and detained her.
Felicitas was beside herself at the thought that he
might attain his purpose. It was terrible to see the book
in the possession of the dissembler, but she acknowledged
to herself that it was as safe there as in her own hands,
and that it would certainly be soon devoted to destruction.  She therefore placed herself by the side of the
young widow to assist her flight if necessary.
"I pray you, Herr Professor, to let your cousin keep
the book," she entreated with all the serious composure
that she could command at this critical moment. " By its
perusal she can easily convince herself that she was too
hasty in supposing that the little box could contain anything of value."
The first distrustful glance that she had ever seen in
the steel gray eyes scanned her face —it was like, the stab
of a knife,-she crimsoned and cast down her eyes.
"And you too come with an entreaty!" he said. " There
is certainly something more in the matter than'sentimental trash.' I remember now that my cousin declared that
you looked very anxious, and I confess to having observed
the.same thing. Now I ask you,'upon your conscience,'
-'What does the book contain?"'
It was a terrible moment,-Felicitas struggled for cornl




THIE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           279
posure,-she opened her lips, but they refused to utter a
word.
"You need n6t'trouble yourself," he said to her with
an ironical smile, while he grasped still more firmly his
cousin's wrist, as she writhed in all directions ta escape
from him. "The book then contains no.poetic fancies,
but facts,-and facts which I shall most certainly make
myself master of at all hazards. Will you at last have
the great kindness, Adele, to give up to me what, as you
have already declared, is my own property?"
" Whatever you do to me, you shall never have it," the
Councillor's widow replied with despairing energy-dropping in her fierce passion her role of childlike gentleness.
She made a violent effort to extricate herself, and succeeded,-she flew down the long corridor, but at the end
of it stood Heinrich, his arms spread out like a wall, fiIling the entire passage.  She shrunk back.  "Insolent
wretch I get out of myv way I" she cried, stamping her foot
frantically.
" In a moment, most gracious lady," he replied very
quietly and respectfully without altering his position one
hair's breadth, —" only give up the little book, and I will
step aside instantly I"
" Heinrich I" cried Felicitas, rushing up to him, and attempting to pull down his arms in her despair.
"Ah, that'll do no good, Fay," he said with a grin as
his old bones easily withstood her efforts to move them.
"I am not as stupid as you think. You'd be very likely
to do yourself an injury out of pure good nature,-and I
won't have it!"
"Let the lady pass, Heinrich!" said the Professor
gravely.  "But let me tell- you, Adele, that I shall immediately adopt all the means in my power to recover
my property! No one can hinder me from supposing that




280      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
that book contains important revelations concerning my
aunt's estate-possibly it may allude to portions of her
property that have hitherto lain undiscovered."
"Oh no, no l cried Felicitas interrupting him.
"It is my affair to suppose what I choose l" he rejoined
sternly, —"and you as well as Heinrich can testify, if
need be, before the proper authorities that this lady has
perhaps appropriated a considerable portion of my family
property."
His cousin started as though stung by an adder. She
looked savagely at her unrelenting tormentor, and then
the frenzy took possession of her under whose sway she
tore up handkerchiefs and shattered cups. She snatched
the book from her pocket and threw it upon the floor at
his feet with a shrill, bitter laugh.
" Take it, you stubborn fool 1" she cried, and her whole
frame quivered convulsively. "I wish you joy of your
prize. Bear the disgrace which you will find in it with
what dignity you may I"
She flew along the corridor, down the stairs, and they
heard the door of her own room locked and bolted behind her.
Her cousin looked after her with an expression of utter
contempt, and then picking up the book, he examined for
a moment its clumsy covers, while Felicitas' eyes were
riveted in the greatest anxiety upon the hands that held
the volume, and that might open it at any moment. His
features betrayed a mixture of anxious thought and painful emotion,-the last mysterious words of the Councillor's widow had evidently not shocked him, he had apparently expected some such termination to the previous
scene-it only remained to be ascertained what manner
of disgrace had been foretold him. Suddenly he looked
up into Felicitas' beseeching brown eyes,-what power




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.           281
those eyes had over the stern manI It seemed as if
some gentle hand passed over his face, smoothing the
wrinkles on his brow, while a half smile quivered about
his lips.
"And now you must be brought to judgment!" he began. "You have shamefully circumvented me; while
you confronted me up-stairs with an appearance of integrity upon which I would have staked my existence you
were carrying the Hellwig family secrets about with you
in your pocket.' What must I think of you, Fay? You
can atone for such ugly dissimulation only by answering
all my questions frankly without any reserve."
"I will tell you anything that I may, but then I beseech you, oh, I entreat you, give the book back to me."
"Is this my proud, wilful, unbending Fay, —this girl
who entreats so bewitchingly?"
At these words of the Professor's, Heinrich noiselessly
and wisely retired,-but at the bottom of.the first flight
of stairs he sat down in actual terror, and seized his gray
head with both hands, as if to satisfy himself that, after
what he had just heard, it remained in its old place.
"XYu went up to-day to the rooms under the roof expressly to get this book, then?" inquired the Professor., Yes."
"How did you get there? I found all the doors
locked."
" I went over the roofs," she replied with hesitation.
"That is, through the upper rooms?"
She blushed. Although she was entirely acquitted of
all sinister design, still her mode of entering what was
now his room was suspicious.
"No," she said in great confusion, " there is no way
thither through the upper rooms, —Igot out of the garret
window and came across on the roofs."
24*




282      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"In this fearful stormI" he ejaculated with horror.
"Felicitas, your resolution is frightful I"
"There was nothing else for me to do," she replied
sadly.
"And why were you so bent upon gaining possession
of this book?"
"I looked upon it as a sacred bequest of Aunt Cordula.
She once said to me that the gray box-I did not then
know what it contained-must be destroyed before she
died. Death surprised her suddenly,-and I was convinced that the box was not destroyed, —and besides, I
knew that it lay hid in the secret repository where the
silver was to be found. I could not point out that place
to you without giving up the book also, which would
then have fallen into wrong hands."
"Poor, poor child, how you must have suffered! And
all this heroic daring and endurance has availed you
nothing,-the book is after all'in wrong handsI"
"Oh no, you will give it back to me," she entreated.
"Felicitas," he replied, "I pray you answer me most
truthfully two questions. Do you know the exact contents of this volume?"
"Partly, since to-day."
"And do they compromise your old friend?"
She was silent. Perhaps if she replied in the affirmative he would return her the book, having no further interest in it, but then Aunt Cordula's memory would be
stained by her act, and she would seem to confirm the
terrible stories that accused her of crime.
"It is unworthy of you to contemplate a subterfuge,
however pure the motives may be which lead you to do
so," he interrupted the momentary silence. "Give me a
simple yes or no."
it No.))




THE OL~S bAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         283
"I knew it," he murmured. "And now be reasonable,
and resign yourself to the inevitable. Felicitas, I must
read this book."
She grew paler than ever, but she entreated no longer.
"Do so," she cried, "if you think it consistent with your
honour. You pry into a secret that was not intended for
your eyes. At the moment when you open the book,
you deprive the most fearful and sustained sacrifice of a
woman's whole life of all result."
"You make a brave fight, Felicitas" he replied, "and
were it not for the last words which that lady" —he
pointed in the direction in which the Councillor's widow
had disappeared-" uttered in her rage, I would give the
wretched secret back to you without trying to discover
it. But I must and will know what the disgrace is that
stains my name-and if the lonely tenant of the rooms
under the roof was strong enough to guard it from
stranger eyes during her whole life, I think I shall be
strong enough to endure the knowledge of it.  It is
doubly my duty to investigate the matter thoroughly.
The Hellwig branch on the Rhine is apparently in possession of the secret, and possibly concerned in some villainy-although you cast down your eyes and are silent,
I see plainly that I am right in my conjecture. Doubtless my cousin knew of this disgrace, and was only
shocked to see it suddenly start up from the written
page before her. Ah, there will be a heavy reckoning
with these hypocritesl But take comfort, Fay," he continued most tenderly, gently stroking the hair above the
forehead of the girl who stood before him in mute despair. "I could not act differently, although my reward
for doing so should be to call you mine. I should even
then have to say' No.'"
"I shall never forgive myself," she moaned, "for my
carelessness has doomed you to miseryl"




284      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"Let it console you, then, to know surely that your
love will enable me to bear whatever fate may have in
store for me in this life."
He pressed her ice-cold hand and went back to his room.
But Felicitas leaned her hot forehead against the windowframe, and gazed down into the court-yard, where the
rain was falling in such torrents that it seemed as if determined to wash away the stains of the murdered Adrian
von Hirschsprung's blood from the pavement-and with
it the blot upon the name of Hellwig.
CHAPTER XXVI.
AN hour later the Professor entered his mother's sitting-room. His cheek might perhaps be a shade paler than
usual, but his manner and bearing expressed more decidedly than ever the manly determination and resolution
which characterized him.
Frau Hellwig was sitting knitting behind her asclepias
plant; row after row those large white hands completed
-like the rounds of a ladder upon which she should
mount straight to heaven-for it was a missionary stocking that she was at work upon.
Her son laid a little worn book upon the table before
her.
"I must speak with you, mother, concerning a very important matter," he said, —"but first let me beg you to
glance your eye over the contents of this book."
She laid the stocking down in great astonishment, put
on her spectacles, and took up the book. "Ah, those are




TIlE OLD MAM'SELLE S SECRET.         285
old Cordula's scribblings," she said harshly, but she began
to read.
The Professor put his left hand behind him, and stroking
his beard continually with his right, silently paced to and
fro in the apartment.
"I cannot see what possible interest this childish loveaffair with the shoemaker's son can have for me," cried
Madame impatiently, after she had read a couple of pages.
" What induced you to bring me the old trash? It scents
the whole room with mould."
"I pray you read on, mother," said her son. "You
will soon forget the disagreeable odour in what the book
further contains."
She opened it again with evident reluctance, and looked
-over several pages. But suddenly the rigid features expressed great attention-the leaves were turned with feverish haste. A slight colour appeared in the pale.cheeks,
extended to the forehead and deepenedto a flush. Strangely
enough, however, Madame experienced neither terror nor
horror, but testified only overwhelming surprise, in which
there was soon a large admixture of contempt, as she let
the book fall in her lap.
"' These are wonders indeed! Who would have dreamed
of such a thing  The honourable, highly-respected Hellwig family!" she said, striking her, hands together, —in
her voice hate, triumph, and gratified malice strove for the
mastery. "Then the money-bags upon which my motherin-law so prided herself were stolen,-ahaI she flaunted
it in silk and velvet, — she gave entertainments where
champagne flowed like water, and where they all flattered
the gay, brilliant hostess. And I had to wait upon her
riotous guests! No one noticed, in the presence of the
proud mistress of the house, the poor young relative who
yet stood far above all those miserable rioters in her fear




286      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
of the Lord. How often have I ground my teeth and
prayed to my God in my heart that he would in his righteousness punish their wickedness I  He had already
judged them. Oh, how wondrous are his waysI It was
stolen money that they squandered. Their souls are
doubly lost I"
Her son was standing still in the middle of the room.
HIe had not for a moment foreseen such a result to his
request that his mother would peruse the little book.
" I cannot understand, mother," he said after a short
pause, "how you can hold my grandmother responsible,
-she was entirely unconscious that the money which she
spent was stolen. According to your view, our souls
must be lost too, since we have gone on until to-day
spending the interest of this sum. However, you will be
only the more anxious to assist me in getting rid of the
ill-gotten gold —in giving up every farthing of it as soon
possible."
Hitherto in her astonishment, Frau Hellwig had re*mained sitting with her hands quietly folded in her lap.
Now she started, and putting them upon the arms of
her chair, she pushed it back a short distance upon the
floor.
" Giving up?" she repeated, as if uncertain whether she
had heard correctly. "To whom?"
"Why, to the Hirschsprung heirs, of course."
"How-pay such an enormous sum to the first miserable vagabond who may lay claim to it I Forty thousand
thalers remained to this family after-"
"Yes, after Paul Hellwig, the man of unstained integrity, the champion of God, one of the chosen of the Lord,
had appropriated twenty thousand thalers I" interrupted
the Professor, trembling with indignation.  "Mother,
you say my grandmother's soul is lost because she un



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          287
consciously lived upon stolen money. What does he de.
serve, who, in cold bloQd, could steal such a sum?"
"Yes, he yielded in a moment of temptation," she replied, without losing her composure. "He was then a
young and thoughtless man, who had not yet entered the
true path. Satan always selects the best and noblest
souls to estrange from the kingdom of God,-but he has
struggled out of the slough of sin, and it is written:'There shall be joy with the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.' He battles unweariedly for our
blessed faith. The money has been blessed and sanctified
in his hands; for he uses it for aims well-pleasing to the
Lord."
"We Protestants have our Jesuits among us, I see,"
laughed out the Professor bitterly.
"And it has been just so with what fell into our hands,"
continued Madame, imperturbably. "Look around you 
Does not the visible blessing of the Lord rest upon all our
undertakings? If the sin still clung to the gold, it could
not bring forth such good fruit. We, you and I, my
son, have converted into a blessing what was once a
crime, by our zeal in the service of the Lord-our pious
lives."
"I pray you, mother, leave me out of the question,"
her son interrupted her, unspeakably shocked by what he
heard. He pressed his hands upon his temples with an
expression of acute suffering.
Madame cast one venomous glance towards him as he
made his protestation, and then continued in a raised
voice: "We are not justified in throwing away, to be
squandered in riotous living, the means which we devote
to such pious purposes. This is the principal reason why
I shall oppose with all my might any revival of this forgotten story. My further reason is that, by stirring at




288      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
all in the matter, you bring disgrace upon one of your
ancestors."
"He brought disgrace upon himself, and upon us all,"
said the Professor. "But we can at least rescue our own
honour by refusing to be dissemblers."
Frau Hellwig left her arm-chair, and approached her son
clothed in all the commanding dignity of her character.
"Well, then," she said, "suppose that I should agree
with you in your ridiculous views. Let us take these
forty thousand thalers, which, by-the-way, would reduce
us to very moderate means of subsistence,-but let that
go. Let us, I say, take this money, and return every
penny of it. What, if the exulting heirs should then demand interest and compound interest,-what then?"
"I do not think they would be entitled to do so,-but
if they did, we must remember that'The sins of the
fathers are visited on the children."'
"I am no Hellwig by birth-remember that, my son,"
she interrupted him. "I brought an unblemished name
-the same borne by your grandmother before her marriage-into this house. My father was court councillor,
the shame does not touch me, and I am not inclined to
make any pecuniary sacrifice to wash out the blot. Should
I, do you think, starve in my old age on account of the
sin of others?"
"Starve while you have a son who can take care of
you! Mother, do you not know that I can easily provide a comfortable, even a luxurious old age for you?"
"I thank you, my son!" she said icily. "But I prefer
to live upon my own income and be my own mistress. I
hate a state of dependence. Since your father's death I
have known no will but the Lord's and my own, and so
it must be in the future. And now do not let us quarrel
about nothing. I declare to you that I hold the whole




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          289
story to be an invention of that crazy old woman who
lived under the roof. Nothing in the world can force me
to believe it really true."
At this moment the door opened noiselessly, and the
Councillor's widow entered. The beautiful creature had
been crying, but not this time as a Mater Dolorosa,-the
traces of her grief were plainly visible in her reddened
eyelids, and in the blotches upon her velvet cheeks. Passion had raged within this tender soul,-there was no
doubt of it, although she had done her best to conceal its
undeniable consequences, and to present to the world a
touching picture of suffering innocence. In order to hide
her dishevelled hair she had wound around her head a
white tulle scarf. The lovely face looking out from the
airy cloud-like fabric, from beneath which some fair curls
escaped, was most picturesque. She had evidently attempted to regain once more, by the aid of her tulle, her
former expression of childlike grace.
She saw the fatal book lying upon the table, and started.
Siowly, like some penitent, she advanced towards the
Professor, and with averted face held out her hand to him
-he declined to take it.
"Forgive me, John," she entreated. "Ah, I cannot
account to myself for my impatience and irritation,-I,
who am usually so placid in mind, how could I be so excited! But that miserable book is to blame. Only think,
John, how it compromises my dear papa, and besides I so
longed to save you at all risks from such a humiliating
discovery. I really cannot help thinking that Caroline
hunted up the wretched story that she might wreak her
spite upon us before her departure —-"
"Hold your slanderous tongue!" he cried menacingly,
and with such suddenness that she was silent in terror.
"You shall have the forgiveness that you ask of me," he
25




290      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
added, after a pause, regaining his composure by a struggle, "but upon one condition."
She looked at him inquiringly.
"That you tell me, without any reserve, how you arrived at the knowledge of this secret."
She stood silent for a moment, and then she began in a
melancholy voice. "In papa's last illness, which, you
know, we all feared would be fatal, he asked me to bring
him from his secretary various papers, which I was to
destroy before his eyes. They were Hirschsprung documents, which he had apparently preserved as curiosities.
Whether the probable approach of death made him communicative, or whether he felt the necessity of telling
some one of his past life, I cannot say,-but,-he took
me into his confidence- "
"And gave you a certain bracelet, did he not?" asked
her cousin, interrupting her.
She silently assented, looking up at him imploringly
and helplessly.
"After this disclosure, do you still hold the contents of
the book to be the wanderings of delirium?" said the Professor turning to his mother with a cold smile.
"I only know that this person's transcendent giddiness
and folly exceed everything that I have ever imagined.
The demon of vanity, always by her side, induced her to
put on the strange bracelet which all the world would
notice, that the pretty white arm might be noticed also."
The young widow cast one flaming glance upon her
aunt, who so ruthlessly exposed her weaknesses —a glance
which did not belong to her r6le of suffering penitent.
"I will not inquire, Adele, how the wearing of stolen,,rooperty consists with the purity and innocence of your
soul, about which you have so much to say upon every
occasion," remarked her cousin with forced composure,in his voice there was something like the low muttering




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          291
of a coming tempest. "It is for you to decide who is the
most culpable, the mother who steals bread for her children, or the wealthy woman who revels in luxury and
receives stolen goods. But that you could have the insolence to offer this stolen ornament so ostentatiously to the
innocent girl who had just saved your child's life —you
said expressly that you prized the bracelet highly, but
that you would gladly sacrifice your most valued possession for Anna's sake-that you dared besides, in right of
your stainless descent, to cast reflections upon that girl's
birth, arrogating to yourself all the virtues which spring
from spotless antecedents, and degrading her as of a depraved origin, while you were all the while cognizant of
your father's deed,-that was so infamous an act that it
cannot be judged too severely."
The young widow tottered, closed her eyes, and with
uncertain hand grasped the table-cover as if to support
herself.
"You are not altogether wrong, John," said Madame,
shaking the apparently fainting woman roughly by the
arm-all fainting women were an abomination to her"there is some truth in what you say, but your last sentence was too much. Adele has certainly been very silly,
but you must not on that account forget what is due to
her position. Your comparison with the poor woman was,
excuse me, rather out of place. There is a decided difference between keeping property that has no owner, and
stealing bread from another's store. But that is all the
result of these modern ideas that would always be comparing common people with those of rank and station. I
am extremely surprised to hear you speak so. And to
compare a girl like Caroline —such a low person-with a
lady!"
"Mother, I declared to you this afternoon in the garden
that I would Do longer suffer these inexcusable assaults




292      THE OLD MAHM'SELLE'S SECRET.
upon Felicitas' honour," cried the Professor, while the
veins upon his forehead swelled with anger.
"OhoI I must request a little more self-control and
respect in my presence. Remember I am your mother,"
she said, commandingly, while she extended her hand
with a repellant gesture, and an annihilating glance shot
from her cold eyes. "You play the part of knight to
this wandering princess excellently well,-in a little
while there will be nothing for me to do but pay her the
tribute of my deep respect."
"If I should ask you to do so, you would surely comply with my request, mother," her son replied with great
composure. "I am sure you will not refuse her your
respect and esteem when I tell you that I trust she will
one day be my wife."
And-yes, the old house really remained standing
after this announcement I The earth did not yawn and
swallow up the little town with the unworthy descendant
of all the Hellwigs, as Madame, in the first shock of
astonishment, expected it would,-and he stood there
cool and collected, the image of a man clear in his own
mind, upon whom feminine rage, hysterics, and tears
could make no more impression than tossing waves upon
a rock.
Frau Hellwig staggered back, actually speechless; but
the Councillor's widow instantly recovered from her impending fainting-fit and burst into hysteric laughter.
The transfiguring tulle fell from her head upon her
neck, disclosing the dishevelled hair in which the crimson rose placed there in the afternoon was perishing
miserably.
"This is the end of your boasted'Wisdom, aunt," she
cried shrilly. "Now it is my turn to boast. Who begged
and prayed you to get this girl married at all hazards
before John came home?  I had a presentiment the first




THE OLD MAA'SELLE'S SECRET.          293
time I looked at her that she would bring misfortune to
us all, And now you must bear the disgrace to which
you so resolutely shut your eyes. But I shall return
immediately to Bonn, to inform our Professors' wives
there what a charming creature will shortly claim admittance into their exclusive circle."
And she rushed out of the room.
In the mean time Madame recovered from her astonishment, and spoke again in all the conscious worth and
dignity of her nature.
"I evidently misunderstood your last remark, John,"
she said, with great apparent calmness.
"If so, let me repeat it," he replied. "I hope to marry
Felicitas d'Orlowska."
"Do you dare to avow such a purpose in my presence?"
"Instead of answering you, let me ask you, would you
now consent to my marriage with Adele?"
"Most certainly would I  it would be a most suitable
match-would fulfil my earnest wishes."
The Professor ground his teeth to control the flood of
stormy words that rose to his lips.
" This declaration on your part deprives you of the last
atom of authority to decide in any important question for
me," he said with forced calmness. "You never take into
consideration that this despicable woman, this wretched
hypocrite, would poison my whole existence. You would
sit here in your comfortable home and content yourself
with saying of your absent son,' He married most suitably.' Let me tell you, mother, that I cannot respect
such boundless selfishness, — long for happiness, and I
can find it only with the orphan girl whom we have long
treated so cruelly."
Frau Hellwig burst into a scornful laugh.
25*




294      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"I will still restrain myself," she said,-"but remember'A father's blessing builds the son's mansion, but a
mother's curse levels it with the ground."'
"Can you maintain that your blessing could wash
away Adele's faults of character? Nor can a curse have
any effect if it is pronounced upon an innocent head.
You will not speak it, mother! God will not listen to it
-it would come home to you and make your old age
lonely and loveless."
"What do I care! I only know two things in the
world, they are what I think of-honour and disgrace.
You shall respect my will-it is your duty to recall your
words."
"Never, mother, rely upon it!" cried her son, and left
the room, while she stood like a statue with her arms
stretched out in an attitude of command. Did those
tight-drawn bloodless lips ever utter the curse? Not a
sound was heard in the hall,-if it were uttered, the air
refused to carry it,-a God of love does not entrust such
terrible power to the wicked and revengeful.
In the large square of the court-yard the shadows of
night were already falling. The rain had ceased, but
dark flying storm-clouds were driving and chasing each
other across the sky as if seeking to unite their forces for
another attack.
In the young widow's rooms doors were opened and
shut hastily, trunks pushed about, and clumsy and tripping footsteps heard running to and fro,-the tenants
there were packing up for departure never to return.
"Aha, this is the end of the forget-me-nots!" muttered
old Heinrich to himself with delight as he carried a large
trunk into the passage.
How composed and calm after all the bustle and hurry
the pale young face looked behind the bow-window across




THE OLD MAM'SELLE S SECRET.         295
the court-yard! A kitchen lamp was burning on the
table, and beside it stood the little sealskin trunk containing Felicitas' childish wardrobe. An hour before
Madame, stocking in hand, had given orders to have'the
girl's things' all taken to her'that she might have no
reason for spending another night in the house.' Felicitas
was just examining the old seal by the dim light of the
lamp when the Professor's pale face appeared outside of
the bow-window.
"Come, Felicitas,-you must not stay a moment longer
in this wretched house. Leave those things here, —Heinrich can take them to you to-morrow."
She threw her shawl over her shoulders, and met him
in the hall. He took her hand firmly in his, drew it under
his arm, and conducted her through the street until he
rang at Madame Franz's door.
"I bring you a fugitive," he said to the old lady, who
received them in her comfortable, well-lighted room with
a smile of welcome, but in great astonishment. He took
her hand and laid Felicitas' within it. "I confide her to
you, dear friend," he said, significantly, "guard and
protect her like a daughter-until I can ask her of you
again."
CHAPTER XXVII.
FELTICITAS had only passed through a few streets and
crossed two thresholds, and yet what a change had these
few steps effected in her outward and inward existence!
The huge pile of the old house on the Square lay behind
her, and with it she had cast off all traces of the unkindness which she had endured. Wherever she looked now,




296      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
she saw only bright sunshine,-there was not a particle
of gloomy pietism in her new abode,-not an atom of
that stern pretence of religion which brooded over the
Hellwig house, like some dark bird of prey. A healthy
interest in all that was going on in the world, and a
cheerful, affectionate home-life characterized the Franz
household. Felicitas felt in her element. There was a
pleasing pain in the sound of the old endearing names
which Aunt Cordula had once given her, and which she
now heard again. She became at once the pet of the
two old people-Councillor and Madame Franz.
Thus her outward life was changed indeed,-and how
was it with her inward life? She was herself not clear
concerning that, but her uncertainty was not hard to endure. That evening when the Professor had called her,
she had left her few possessions, without a word,-in
the hall she had laid her hand in his and followed him
willingly, without asking him whither, and if he had led
her along the dim streets and away through the gate of
the little town, she would have followed him still without a shade of distrust or doubt. She was an odd combination. With all her burning imagination, her strange
enthusiasm, she was unrelenting in her demand for a
firm foundation of principle and well-trained will in life.
The Professor's earnest pleadings —his agonized entreaties had wrung her heart, but had failed to effect
any change in her fixed resolution,-something else was
needed to win her entirely, and this something had happened without his knowledge. When he refused to return the book to her he had said-" I could not act differently, although my reward for doing so should be to
call you mine." In spite of the grief'and distress then
racking her very soul, her heart bounded at the thought
of the clear manly strength of will that obeyed the call




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         297
of honour at all hazards. She was filled with that boundless confidence in him without which life by his side
would have been impossible for her.
Every day he came to Councillor Franz's. He was
graver and more reserved than ever, —he was bearing
burdens heavy to be borne. His residence in his mother's
house had become unendurable. Apparently the previous unusual mental agitation had affected even her iron
nerves. She became ill and was confined to her bed.
She persistently refused to see her son,-Doctor Boehm
attended her,-but her illness of course detained the Professor in X-. In the mean time he had imparted the
family secret to young Franz as curator of the possible
Hirschsprung heirs, and had announced to him his determination to atone for the wrong. His friend endeavoured to combat his resolution, or at least to modify it
from a legal point of view,-but the Professor shattered
his arguments by the simple question —' Do you consider
the money honestly come by?'-to which even the young
advocate could not say'yes.' However, Franz agreed
with Madame that it was a coil about nothing, for he
had no faith in the existence of any Hirschsprung heirs.
But he was not inclined to spare the respectable Paul
Hellwig —the strait-laced relative on the Rhine-a nervous shock, and therefore the champion of the Lord was
legally summoned to produce the stolen twenty thousand
thalers. The pious man replied quietly, with his accustomed unction, that he had undoubtedly received that
amount of money from his uncle, in liquidation of an old
debt owing to his father from the principal branch of the
Hellwigs. Whence his uncle had procured the money
he had no idea,-it was no affair of his, and gave him no
concern whatever. At present the money was in the
best possible hands,-he did not consider his property as




298      THE OLD MAYJ'SELLE'S SECRET.
belonging to himself, —it was the Lord's,-he was only
the steward of his wealth. He should most assuredly
retain the sum alluded to, and was quite sure the law,
which must decide, would justify him in so doing.
Nathanael's views were very similar. It made no possible difference to him that some man who had been dead
for half a century had committed a crime,-he did not
consider it his duty to whitewash other people's characters, and should certainly not yield up one penny of
his inheritance.  He looked forward with great composure, he wrote, to the future lawsuit, which would cost
the probable heirs dear, and his lofty-minded brother his
good name.
" Then there is nothing for me to do," said the Professor, throwing the two letters, which bore such witness
to the keen sense of honour of the Hellwigs, upon the
table, " but to sacrifice every penny of my inheritance, if
I do not wish to be an accomplice in the crime."
And thus the last two weeks of the holidays gradually
slipped away. Frau Hellwig had left her bed, but had
declared her firm resolution of never seeing her son again,
unless he consented to admit the whole Hirschsprung
affair to be utter nonsense, and to give up all thoughts
of Felicitas. Of course mother and son were separated
forever.
Felicitas was in a state of mind not easy to describe.
Every afternoon, in her new home at the accustomed
hour she sat at the window with a beating heart-casting stolen glances into the street without-until a wellknown powerful figure appeared in the distance. Then
she exerted all her self-control not to run to meet him.
He came nearer and nearer-looking neither to the right
nor the left, his gaze riveted upon the window, behind
which the lovely head was bent over its work; at last




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.         299
the moment came when she could look up-their eyes
met-ah, what bliss life contained of which the young
heart hitherto had never even dreamed! The Professor
never alluded to his love again. Felicitas might have
thought that the experiences of the last few weeks had
crowded it from his mind had it not been for his eyes —
but those gray eyes followed her unweariedly as she
moved about the room, busy with her household cares;
they lighted up when she entered, or when she lifted her
head from her work and turned her face towards him.
She knew that she was still his Fay —whom he longed
to dream of as waiting for him at home, and always
thinking of him. And she whose heart had once been
so filled with hatred, and whose looks had been so cold,
did not dream what a charm there was about her now,
how all the stern unbending points in her character were
subdued by her soul-engrossing love.
But the time was to come to-morrow when she might
sit at the window and await him in vain. In the afternoon, when his hour for coming drew near, he would be
far, far away from her-a crowd of strange faces would
separate him from his love-and perhaps a whole long
dreary year pass before she should see him once more.
She looked wearily into such a future —into which she
was drifting.
The day before the Professor's departure, the Franz
family and Felicitas were sitting at dinner, when the servant handed a card to the young lawyer. A deep flush
of astonishment rose to his face-he threw the card upon
the table and left the room Upon the shining little piece
of pasteboard was written' Baron Lutz von Hirschsprung
-from Kiel.' A manly well-bred voice was heard speaking in most excellent German in the hall,-and then the
two gentlemen went into the lawyer's study.




300      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
While Councillor and Madame Franz were engaged in
a lively conversation about this man, who had appeared
as from the land of fable, Felicitas sat by them in the
greatest agitation of mind.  The poor player's child,
who, deprived of every family tie, had hitherto lived entirely among strangers, suddenly knew that she was beneath the same roof with a near relative, connected with
her by the ties of blood. Was it her grandfather or her
mother's brother? Had that voice, whose quiet tones
had thrilled through every fibre of her frame, once pronounced a curse upon the recreant daughter of the Hirschsprungs?
The stranger's name was precisely the one borne by his
ancestor who had left X    to seek his home in distant
countries. It was engraved upon his card with aristocratic ostentation. We love to search out names from
vanished ages. Involuntarily, at the sound of them some
mailed knightly figure rises upon our mental vision, and
they testify to aristocratic blood, although they suit oddly
enough the pigmy race in black dress-coats of to-day.
Evidently this branch of the Hirschsprungs valued its
ancient ancestry most highly,-it would certainly have
been difficult for the juggler's daughter to make good her
claim to relationship with Baron von Hirschsprung. At
the thought of a repulse, Felicitas' blood boiled,-she compressed her lips as if to keep down every quick word
that might escape them in her excitement. But yet shb
could not control her ardent desire to see the man, and
the opportunity was about to present itself.
Soon after the stranger's arrival, the lawyer sent for
the Professor. The conference between the three gentlemen lasted for more than two hours. During this
time of intense expectation, Felicitas continually heard
the step of the Professor pacing to and fro. In her imag



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          301
ination she saw the man of science as, stroking his beard
with his white hand, he offered to the aristocrat money
and estate that the stain might be erased from the honour
of his name.
At length young Franz sent to his mother to say that
when coffee was ready he would bring his guest with him
to her drawing-room. Felicitas was giving a few additional orders in the kitchen when she heard the gentlemen descending the stairs. Her courage almost failed
her as she saw the stranger in earnest conversation with
the Professor pass slowly through the hall. He was
tall-almost too tall, for his figure was rather slenderand every gesture betrayed the finished man of the world,
while his whole bearing was that of one born to command-of the self-conscious aristocrat. He could not
possibly be her grandfather,-the refined features with
the short brown hair were far too young for that. At
present he was bending towards the Professor with a
courteous smile,-but his classic profile, with its sallow
complexion and thin lips, was evidently more accustomed
to express command than gentleness or sensibility.
Felicitas stroked her hair back from her brow with
trembling hands and entered the room into which the
servants had already carried the coffee. They were all
standing in the recess of a window with their backs turned
to her as she softly entered. She noiselessly filled the
cups, and, taking up one, handed it with some courteous
words to the stranger,-he turned abruptly at the sound
of'her voice, staggered back as though he had received a
blow, while his face grew white, and his startled gaze
wandered over the beautiful figure before him.
"Meta!" he gasped hoarsely.
"Meta von Hirschsprung was my mother," she said in
a low melodious voice, with apparent composure, although
26




302      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
she put down the cup which began to tremble in her
hand.
"Your mother I I did not know that she had left a
child," he muttered, endeavouring to master his emotion.
Felicitas smiled contemptuously, in part at the thought
of her own weakness, which, spite of all her good resolutions, had betrayed her into acknowledging to this man
her parentage. There had been not the faintest sound of
love or sympathy in the tones of his voice, even when the
sudden shock of surprise had thrown him off his guard,
and she felt that she had exposed herself to great humiliation before all present, who were awaiting the denouement of the astounding scene in speechless amazement.
Gradually Baron von Hirschsprung's surprise passed
away, but only to be succeeded by most painful confusion.
He passed his hand over his eyes, and said stammering.
ly, —" Yes, yes, very true; it was in this same little town
of X - tIat the nemesis overtook that unfortunate
woman,-a fearful but a just nemesis."
He seemed to recover perfect self-possession as he uttered these last words. He stood erect, and addressing
himself with well-bred grace to those present, said: " Pardon me; overcome by a momentary surprise, I did not
remember that I was in the presence of others I I thought
a drama, in which my family had some share, entirely at
an end forever, when suddenly I am confronted with an
unexpected after-piece! You are then the daughter of
the juggler d'Orlowsky?" he continued, turning to Felicitas, and evidently attempting to express careless good
humour in his tone.
"Yes," she answered shortly, and confronted him without flinching, and a bearing as proud as his own. And
now the strong family resemblance between the two was
very striking. Pride was the distinguishing character



THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          303
istic of those nobly-formed features, although it was differently expressed in the two countenances.
"Your father then left you in X-   when his wife
died? You have grown up here?" he inquired further,
manifestly much impressed by the imposing figure before
him.
" Yes!"
"The man had not much opportunity to provide for
you-as well as I remember he died of nervous fever in
Hamburg about a dozen years ago!"
"I learn from yourself for the first time that he is no
longer living," replied Felicitas, as the corners of her
mouth quivered, and a tear glittered in her eyes. But
spite of the shock of this intelligence, she experienced a
kind of satisfaction in the knowledge that there had been
nortruth in Frau Hellwig's repeated declaration that her
father was vagabondizing about the world, without a
thought for his child's welfare, thankful enough to leave
her to the care of others.
"Ah, I am much pained to have been the means of
communicating such distressing news I" said Baron
Hirschsprung compassionately, shaking his head from
side to side. "In him you have indeed lost the only
relative that you possessed after the death of your mother. There was a time when I interested myself to discover this man's antecedents. He was left at a very
early age entirely alone in this world."
"And may I be permitted to inquire, sir, in what relation the mother of this child stood to your family?" asked
Madame Franz, irritated at the heartless manner in which
he coolly excluded Felicitas entirely from the circle of his
high-born race.
A slight colour suffused his face. Charming as is a
blush upon the cheek of innocence, it is revolting upon




304      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
the countenance of an arrogant man who is evidently
struggling to decide whether he shall disclose or conceal
some degrading circumstance.
"She was once my sister," he said carelessly, although
he emphasized the word once most decidedly. "I purposely avoided alluding to the fact," he continued, after
rather a prolonged pause, "because, as matters stand, I
am forced to make disclosures which may perhaps strike
you as discourteous. I must communicate to this young
lady several circumstances in connection with her mother
which were perhaps better suppressed. Madame d'Orlowska ceased forever to be a member of the family von
Hirschsprung the moment she became the wife of the
Pole d'Orlowsky. In our family record, beside her name
there is no mention, as is the custom, of the man whom
the daughter of the house married. When she crossed &ir
threshold for the last time, my father with his own hand
erased her name from the book,-a proceeding infinitely
more wounding to his aristocratic feeling than if he had
annexed to it the black cross which signifies'dead.'
From that time no such name as Meta von Hirschsprung
has existed for us, not one of our friends-not even a servant, has ever dared to utter it aloud,-my children do
not know that they ever had an aunt,-she was disinherited, cast off, and dead for us long before the horrible
accident that occurred here some years ago."
He ceased for a moment. During these disclosures,
made in a manner so hard and offensive, Madame Franz
put her arm around Felicitas and drew her toward her
with the tenderness of a mother. And there stood the
Professor-he did not speak-but his gaze rested uninterruptedly upon the pale face of the girl who was again
called upon to suffer so cruelly for the sake of her'idolized' mother. There was a moment of painful silence, a




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          305
silence which was eloquent with a stern condemnation.
The speaker evidently could not ignore this fact-he continued with some hesitation. "Let me assure you that
it is a hard task for me to give you so much pain. I appear even in my own eyes in such an-an unchivalrous
light,-but, good Heavens! I must call things by their
true namesI I should be glad to do something for you.
What position do you occupy in this very delightful
household?"
"That of a dear daughter," answered Madame Franz
in Felicitas' stead, as she looked searchingly at him.
"Then indeed yours is a most happy lot," he said to
Felicitas with a courteous bow to the old lady. "Unfortunately it is not in my power to vie with your noble protectress. I could not offer you the rights of a daughter
of my house as my parents are both alive,-in their eyes
the circumstance of your bearing the name of d'Orlowsky
would be an unconquerable obstacle to ever receiving you
into their presence."
"How, her own grandparents I" cried the old lady indignantly. "Is it possible that they can know of the existence of their granddaughter and be willing to die without seeing her! You can never persuade me of that."
"My dear Madame Franz," replied the stranger, smiling
coldly, "a deeply-rooted pride in the aristocracy of our
house, and a keen feeling for its unstained honour, are
the family characteristics of the lirschsprungs, in which I
share myself,-love with us always occupies a second.
place.  I perfectly understand my parents' views, and
should in their stead do just as they have done."
" Well, the men of your family may entertain such views
as you describe," said Madame Franz persistently, "but
your mother-why, sie must have a heart of stone to
hear of this child and not   "
26*




806      THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
"She is the most unforgiving of us all," he interrupted
the old lady, with assurance. " My mother counts among
her noble kin several of the oldest names in Germany,
and is more jealous of the honour of her house than any
woman whom I have ever known. However, you are
perfectly at liberty, my dear Madame," he added, not
without a shade of irony in his tone, "to make an attempt
for your protegee. I assure you that so far from opposing
any such attempt, I will do all in my power to further
your hopes."
"Oh, I pray you, do not say another word I" cried Felicitas in great distress, while she freed herself from the
old lady's arm and took her hand beseechingly. "Be
assured, sir," — she turned toward Baron von Hirschsprung, calm and collected, after an instant's pause,
although her lips quivered slightly, — "that it would
never occur to me to lay claim to any rights once my
mother's-she willingly gave up all such for the sake of
her love, and after everything that you have just said, I
can well understand how happy was the exchange which
she made. I have grown up in the belief that I stand
alone in the world,-nothing has occurred to change this
belief. I have no grandparents."
" That sounds harsh and stern," he said with some
embarrassment. "But," he continued, shrugging his
shoulders, "as matters stand, I am compelled to desist
from all attempts to alter your conviction. I will, however, do everything in my power for you. I have no
doubt that I can succeed in inducing my father to allow
you a considerable yearly stipend."
"You are very kind," she hastily interrupted him. "I
have just told you that I have no grandparents,-you can
scarcely expect me to accept charity from strangers."
He blushed once more, but this time it was the blush




THTE  OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.        307
of shame, which perhaps suffused those aristocratic features for the first time in his life. Evidently much embarrassed, he took up his hat. No one requested him to
remain. In a few almost whispered words addressed to
young Franz, he touched upon several matters of business, and then, as if actuated by a sudden impulse, he
offered his hand to Felicitas, but she courtesied to him
formally and profoundly, letting her hands drop slowly
by her sides.
It was a harsh retaliation for the juggler's daughter to
make upon a Baron von Hirschsprung; but it must be
forgiven to her Hirschsprung blood. He recoiled in confusion, bowed with another shrug to the rest, and, stripped
for the moment of all aristocratic dignity, left the room,
accompanied by the young lawyer.
As the door closed behind him, Felicitas suddenly
buried her face in her hands and burst into tears.
"Fay " cried the Professor, and held out his arms.
She looked up, and sought her refuge there. With her
arms around his neck, she leaned her head upon his
breast. The wild young bird was caged forever-it
made not the smallest attempt to escape. Ah, what rest
there was in those strong arms after its weary, lonely
flight through storms and winds which had so tossed and
beaten it 
At this moment the Councillor and his wife exchanged
a significant glance, and noiselessly left the room.
"John, I will," she whispered, looking up at him with
the tears trembling upon her eyelashes.
"At last," he said, clasping more closely her slender
form. Those words made her his own. What a mingling
of passion and tenderness glowed in the gray eyes that
sought the smiling face upon his breast 
"I have waited and longed for those three words from




308      THE OLD MAI'SELLE'S SECREr.
hour to hour," he continued. "Thank God, they come of
their own accord! I must else have besought for them
again this evening, and I doubt if they would have sounded
as deliciously in my ears as now. Ah, Fay, must such
hard trials befal me before you could consent to make me
happy!"
"No," she promptly replied, extricating herself from
his, clasping arms; "' it was not the thought of your trials
and suffering that conquered me,-but it was when you
so decidedly and consistently refused to give me back
the book, that entire confidence in you'first possessed
"And a few moments afterwards, when the secret was
disclosed to me," he interrupted, once more drawing her
towards him, "I was convinced that in spite of all your
pride, there was the deep, undying love of woman in your
heart for me. You would have sacrificed yourself sooner
than have had me suffer. Ah! we have both been taught
in a hard school  and do not shut your eyes, Fay, to the
task you have undertaken. I have lost my mother-my
faith in mankind has received a cruel blow, and-I must
tell you this too-I possess at this moment almost nothing except my profession I"
"Ah, what happiness to be with you I" she said, laying
her hand lightly upon his lips. "I cannot hope to replace for you all that you have lost,-but whatever a
devoted wife may do to brighten a man's life, that shall
be unreservedly yours."
"And when will these proud lips ever condescend to
make a request of me?" he asked, smiling down upon her.'
A blush overspread cheeks and brow.
"Ah, John, do not stay too long away from me I" she
whispered beseechingly.
"And did you really think that I could go without




THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          309
you?" he said with a gentle laugh. " If the intelligence
did not seem to fit in so well just at this moment, you
would have waited until this evening to learn that tomorrow morning at eight o'clock you will leave X-.
for Bonn, accompanied by Madame Franz. Our dear old
friend has joined the plot against you, my child,-upstairs in her guest chamber the trunks have been ready
packed since yesterday,-was not my valuable advice
asked and gravely given concerning the travelling hat
which should rest upon that lovely head? One month
you will spend as my betrothed with Madame von Berg,
and then-then a charming wife will share the study of
the grave Professor, who is, you recollect, to bring home
angry looks and a frowning brow every day."
Baron von Hirschsprung substantiated his father's and
his own claims, as the only existing heirs of the Hirschsprung race, to the old Mam'selle's property, which was
all handed over to him.
He declared all the Hirschsprung claims upon the
Jlouse of Hellwig finally settled, when the Professor
had added from his own inheritance thirty thousand
thalers to Aunt Cordula's thirty thousand, thus completing the stolen sum of sixty thousand thalers. He
exacted a thousand thalers from Madame Hellwig as indemnification for the burned operetta of Bach's, and she
paid the money with grim reluctance only because she
was assured that, in case of a lawsuit, her pecuniary
sacrifice would be much more considerable.
"Why should I deny it?" said the young lawyer, with
a blush and much agitation, to his friend the Professor,
as they stood together in the recess of a window on the




310      ZH-THE OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
morning of the departure of the latter, waiting for his
travelling companions. "I grudge you Felicitas. I knew
her for one of the rarest of God's creatures when I first
saw her, and it will be a long time before I can —forget.
But I have one consolation,-she has made another man
of you, John, added a convert to the good cause of the
inalienable rights of humanity. There could be no more
thorough illustration of my healthy views concerning
our social wrongs than the circumstance that,-forgive
the bitter truth, —the proud lHellwigs were heavy debtors
to the relatives of the despised player's child. Some of
us stand apart looking arrogantly down upon others,
and the blind world never dreams of how rotten at the
core are its arbitrary institutions, and that it needs the
fresh breeze of freedom to sweep away everything that
can foster arrogance, heartlessness, and crime."
"You' are right, and I accept all that you say," said
the Professor gravely, "for, indeed, I have greatly erred
-but the road along which I retraced my wandering steps
was hard and very stony-and so do not grudge me my
dearly-won prize."
The Professor introduced his young wife to the' exclusive circle' of Bonn, as his cousin called it-and in spite
of the last-named lady's malicious whispers, the beautiful
creature was received everywhere with admiration and
love. The picture which had so ravished his fancy became a reality. Felicitas soothes away every frown from
his brow, and when in the evening, after a day of harassing professional care, he entreats, " Give me a song, Fay "
the same delicious contralto fills the room, which once
drove him from his home to the Thuringian forest, because
it so irresistibly attracted him to its wondrous possessor.
Much of the furniture in.the house at Bonn reminds
us of the rooms under the roof. The piano and the busts,




TH7E OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.          311
with the luxuriant ivy, now adorn Felicitas' own room.
In the secret repository of the old cabinet, the young mis.
tress of the house still keeps her old-fashioned silver,but the gray box, with its contents, the Professor burned
on the day when the claims of the HIirschsprungs were
finally settled. Thus the account-book is destroyed, the.wrong made right, and Aunt Cordula's spirit can pursue
in peace its flight, which was begun while it was still in
the boxdy, to higher spheres.
Heinrich lives in Bonn with the young couple. He is
held in high honour, and leads a most contented life.
But whenever he passes on the street the velvet-clad
Councillor's widow,. who now dresses in silks and satins
after the latest fashion, without a thought wasted upon
white muslin, —while she turns away her head, as if she
had never seen his honest face before, he mutters to himself with a grin, "Those forget-me-nots were never of
the smallest use, most gracious lady!"
The beautiful woman can no longer adorn her white,
faultlessly-shaped arm with the costly bracelet.  Her
father'conscientiously' delivered it up to the Hirschsprung heirs, with the declaration that it had come into
his possession by'mistake or chance.' He lives at daggers drawn with his daughter, because she has had the'inconceivable stupidity' to betray his share in the robbery of the Hlirschsprung gold. She has been forced to
give up the part which she could once play so well of
childlike innocence and naivet6,-but indemnifies herself
by unceasing activity in all pious projects for the conversion of heathen souls,-while her little Anna, left to the
care of strangers, is doomed to an early grave. And he,
the strict orthodox relative on the Rhine? It is not to be
supposed that any nemesis will overtake him in this
world. He will in pious resignation consider everything




312      THE. OLD MAM'SELLE'S SECRET.
that may happen to him, only a proof of his sanctity.
We will leave him to public opinion,-the worst punishment that can befal a hypocrite is to have his mask torn
off in public.
Frau Hellwig still sits behind her asclepias plant.
Misfortune has at last crossed her consecrated threshold,
— she has lost two children. Her son John she cast off,
and one day she received news that Nathanael had been
killed in a duel. He left behind him many debts and a
sullied reputation. The iron expression of the rigid features is somewhat relaxed, and many maintain that the
head, which was once carried so high in its assumption
of infallibility, sometimes sinks wearily upon the breast.
The Professor, a short time ago, wrote to announce to
her the arrival of his first-born. Since that time, among
the coarse, gray, and white balls in her knitting-basket, a
small pink piece of knitting has lain concealed, upon
which Madame works often in secret. Frederika declares
that it is no missionary stocking, but a pretty little sock
for a child. Whether the delicate rose-coloured articles
will ever enclose the sturdy legs of the youngest member of the Hellwig family, we do not know,-but for the
honour of human nature be it said: There is no soul so
hard, that it does not contain some chord that will vibrate
to affection, some tender spot,-although it is often unconscious of the treasure if nothing happens to reveal it.
And perhaps the love of her grandchildren may prove
this unforeboded, tender spot, from which a mild warmth
may stream to dissolve Madame's icy nature.,We hope so, dear readerl
THE END.