Part 28 (2/2)

As he spoke, he went out into the hall; the rest followed him, with the old woman hobbling behind. ”Of course you can buy Tannhagen,” she went on, eagerly. ”My son says that the last lord of Tannhagen is dead, and there must be some one to own it. But why do you not leave it as it has been? To turn out my son, who has always paid his rent punctually in bad years as well as in good ones, is a sin and a shame; yes, it is a sin and a shame!”

The Freiherr looked angrily round, and, without speaking, offered his sister his arm to mount the narrow wooden staircase that creaked at every step.

Otto and Johanna tried to appease the old woman, who, however, did not, or would not, understand what they said.

”Oh, let the strangers come!” she croaked. ”They'll have no joy of it.

We Brinkmeyers belong to Tannhagen. My husband's father and grandfather, and heaven knows how many before them, have held this farm, and they were all known for sober, industrious folks, who knew what they were about. And my son is just the same, and whoever turns him out from here,”--she raised her clinched fist and shook it at the lovers,--”whoever turns him out from here will be punished for it, and will have as little peace, living and dying, as they have left to me, poor old woman that I am.”

Involuntarily Johanna recoiled. At the last words she grasped Otto's arm, and while the old woman struck her crutch upon the hall floor and sent shrill menaces after them, she hurried him up the stairs and into the first room that opened upon the corridor, closing the door after them. They heard their grandfather and Aunt Thekla talking in the next apartment; but instead of following them Johanna stood still. ”What a terrible reception!” she said, and she repeated in an undertone the old woman's words, ”Let the strangers come. They'll have no joy of it!”

”Johanna, surely you are not superst.i.tious?” Otto exclaimed.

She had gone to the window, and was looking gloomily out into the dripping rain.

”No, it is not superst.i.tion,” she replied; ”but it impresses me painfully to hear that old woman give utterance to what I have been thinking all through our drive. I know, Otto, that you will have no joy here. Why this haste? Why not discuss other plans?”

”Because there is nothing else to be discussed, dear heart,” he replied.

”You really must not take my pa.s.sing moods so seriously.”

”But when you spoke of being forced to relinquish your calling you were not in a pa.s.sing mood,” Johanna persisted; ”you were really unhappy.”

”You are mistaken,” he made reply; ”remember, I spoke only of my career.

I cannot aver that I have a particular fancy, or calling, as you phrase it, for parade and drill, and you cannot think that I have. I am really rather of grandpapa's opinion, that there is nothing better for a n.o.bleman to do in times of peace than to live upon his own soil and cultivate cabbages.”

Johanna's eyes grew brighter. ”Are you sure? Did I misunderstand you yesterday?” she asked, when Otto had finished. ”And you have no distaste for farming, but can be content to live in the country year out, year in----”

”If I always have you with me. But you I must have; I cannot live any longer without you!” he cried, clasping her in his arms and kissing her.

At this moment a faint ray of suns.h.i.+ne broke through the clouds which a sudden east wind was driving away from the mountains. ”Oh, look; the skies bid us welcome!” exclaimed Johanna; and, looking across the large fruit-garden extending below the gable-window to the mountains, she went on: ”And it is very pretty on this side, with the forest so near; and how fragrant those meadows must be in summer! And that old building down there among the willows and alders seems to be a mill. See the shady attractive nook whence the mill-stream rushes. Dear Otto, if you like it, I should not object to build our cottage here.”

”Johanna!” he exclaimed, rapturously, taking her hands and pressing them to his lips. But the next moment he dropped them, and said, looking round him reflectively, ”If the house were only not so miserable. How can I condemn you to such discomfort?”

Johanna cast a rapid glance around the low-ceiled room, with its whitewashed walls, small windows, gaudy carpet, and spindle-legged furniture standing stiffly in the corners. ”It is certainly not all that could be desired,” she said, ”but it need not always look like this.

Picture to yourself the outer walls wreathed with wild grape, clematis, and climbing roses, the interior of the house clean and airy, this balcony the natural colour of the wood, hangings on the walls, the windows turned into cas.e.m.e.nts with round leaded panes, a tall green porcelain stove in that corner, a clock against the wall, and high-backed chairs, old carved cabinets and tables, and corner-cupboards----”

”Stop, stop, child, or you'll have it a perfect museum!” laughingly broke in the Freiherr, who had been listening for a few moments. ”But I really think you have shown that you could choose the best furniture for this owl's-nest. If we buy Tannhagen, we will do our best to have it arranged according to your fancy. Now let us go seriously to work to find what the house is and what it lacks.”

They did so. Her conversation with Otto had made Johanna so happy that she saw everything from garret to cellar in the rosiest light. She found a remedy for every defect which Aunt Thekla discovered; and even Otto, carried away by her cheerful gayety, was well pleased with everything.

At last they had explored every nook and corner, had bidden adieu to the old woman, who now contented herself with eying them malevolently, and were walking through the wide, dark hall to the closed front door.

”It really is uncanny here,” Aunt Thekla whispered. ”It seems to be raining in all these dark corners. And listen how the wind howls!”

”Nonsense!” exclaimed the Freiherr. ”Do you think it sings a special song to this old barracks? As for the corners, they will be light and commonplace enough as soon as Otto succeeds in opening the door for us.”

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