Part 42 (1/2)
In the shadiest part of the park there is a pond, bordered with rushes and surrounded by a scanty growth of underbrush, in the midst of which stand the black, skeleton trunks of several dead trees. During the winters preceding the coming to Dobrotschau of the Baroness Harfink, and shortly after the purchase of the estate, some of the most ancient of the trees--trees as old as the family whose downfall necessitated the sale of Dobrotschau--had died. Their lifeless trunks still pointed to the skies, tall and grim, as if in mute protest against the new owners.h.i.+p of the soil.
The pond, once a s.h.i.+ning expanse of clear water, is almost dried up, and a net-work of water-plants covers its surface. Now, when the rosebuds are falling from their stems without opening, this marshy spot is gay with many-coloured blossoms.
At the edge of the pond lies an old boat, and in it Olga is sitting, dressed in white, with a red rose in her belt, one of the few roses which the drought has spared. She is gazing dreamily, with half-shut eyes, upon the shallow water which here and there mirrors the skies. An open book lies in her lap, Turgenieff's ”A First Love,” but she has read only a few pages of it. Her att.i.tude expresses languor, and from time to time she s.h.i.+vers slightly.
”Why is Lato so changed to me? why does he avoid me? what have I done to displease him?” These are the thoughts that occupy her mind as she sits there, with her hands clasped in her lap, gazing down into the brown swamp, not observing that Fainacky, attracted by the light colour of her dress among the trees, has followed her to the pond and has been watching her for some time from a short distance.
”She loves,” he says to himself, as he notices the dreamy expression of the girl's face; and his vanity adds, ”She loves me!”
He tries, by gazing fixedly at her, to force her to look up at him, but he is unsuccessful, and then has recourse to another expedient. In his thin, reedy tenor voice he begins to warble ”Salve dimora casta e pura”
from Gounod's ”Faust.”
Then she looks round at him, but her face certainly does not express pleasure. She arises, leaves the skiff, and, pa.s.sing her obtrusive admirer without a word, tries to turn into the shortest path leading to the castle. He walks beside her, however, and begins in a low voice: ”Frulein Olga, I have something to say to you.”
”Tome?”
”Yes, I want to explain myself, to correct some false impressions of yours, to lay bare my heart before you.”
He pauses after uttering this sentence, and she also stands still, her annoyance causing a choking sensation in her throat. She would fain let him know that she is not in the least interested in having his heart laid bare before her, but how can she do this without seeming cross or angry?
”You have hitherto entirely misunderstood me,” he a.s.sures her. ”Oh, Olga, why can you not lay aside your distrust of me?”
”Distrust?” she repeats, almost mechanically; ”I am not aware of any distrust.”
”Do not deny it,” he persists, clasping his hands affectedly; ”do not deny it. Your distrust of me is profound. It wounds me, it pains me, and--it pains you also!”
Olga can hardly believe her ears. She stares at him without speaking, in utter dismay, almost fearing that he has suddenly lost his wits.
”You must hear me,” he continues, with theatric effect. ”Your distrust must cease, the distrust which has. .h.i.therto prevented you from perceiving how genuine is the admiration I feel for you. Oh, you must see how I admire you!”
Here Olga loses patience, and, with extreme _hauteur_, replies, ”I have perceived your very disagreeable habit of staring at me, and of persecuting me with what I suppose you mean for compliments when you think no one is observing you.”
”It was out of regard for you.”
”Excuse my inability to understand you,” she rejoins, still more haughtily. ”I cannot appreciate regard of that description.” And with head proudly erect she pa.s.ses him and walks towards the castle.
For a moment he gazes after her, as if spellbound. How beautiful she is, framed in by the dark trees that arch above the pathway! ”She loves! she suffers!” he murmurs. His fancy suddenly takes fire; this is no fleeting inclination, no!--he adores her!
With a bound he overtakes her. ”Olga! you must not leave me thus, adorable girl that you are! I love you, Olga, love you devotedly!”
He falls at her feet. ”Take all that I have, my name, my life, my station,--a crown should be yours, were it mine!”
She is now thoroughly startled and dismayed. ”Impossible! I cannot!”
she murmurs, and tries to leave him.
But with all the obstinacy of a vain fool he detains her. ”Oh, do not force those beauteous lips to utter cruel words that belie your true self. I have watched you,--you love! Olga, my star, my queen, tell me you love me!”
He seizes the girl's hands, and covers them with kisses; but with disgust in every feature she s.n.a.t.c.hes them from him, just as Lato appears in the pathway.