Part 16 (2/2)
”And you allowed yourself to be dismissed?”
”Yes, sir, I did; but I took one of his splendid gilt-edged volumes along, in order to stamp on it and maltreat it, as I would like to maltreat him. Thus! and thus! To crush it under my heels. It does me good. It relieves me. At this moment this is the only revenge I can take against the miserable fellow.” [Footnote: Gentz's own words. Vide ”Rahel's Umgang,” vol ii., p. 168.]
Herr von Gualtieri laughed uproariously. ”Ah! that is an entirely novel jus gentium,” he exclaimed; ”an exceedingly funny jus gentium. My friend, let me embrace you; you are a glorious fellow!”
With open arms he approached Gentz and pressed him tenderly, laughing all the while, to his heart.
Gentz was unable to withstand this kindness and this laughter, and suddenly forgetting his anger, he boisterously joined his friend's mirth.
”You like my revenge?” he asked.
”Ah! it is admirable; it is the revenge of a genuine Corsican!” said Gualtieri, gravely.
”Of a Corsican?” asked Gentz, shrinking back. ”That is an ugly comparison, sir. I do not want to have any thing in common with that Corsican, General Bonaparte. I tell you I am afraid that man will some day prove a terrible scourge for us.”
”And I adore him!” exclaimed Gualtieri. ”He is the resuscitated Alexander of Macedon, the conqueror of the world, the master of the world. He alone has stemmed the tide of revolution in France. To him alone the French are indebted for the restoration of order and tranquillity in their country. The thirteenth of Vendemiaire is as heroic a deed, as great a victory, as the battles of Lodi and Arcole.”
”That may be,” said Gentz, morosely. ”I am no soldier, and do not like battles and warfare. And what do we Germans care for the Corsican?
Have we not got enough to do at home? Germany, however, is so happy and contented that, like the Pharisee, she may look upon republican France and exclaim: 'I thank thee, my G.o.d, that I am not like this man.'”
”You are right,” replied Gualtieri. ”We also stand in need of a revolution. In Germany, too, a guillotine must be erected--heads must fall, and death must hold its b.l.o.o.d.y harvest.”
”Hush, my friend, hus.h.!.+” said Gentz, drawing back in dismay. ”Did you merely come to me for the purpose of speaking of such dreadful matters, while you are well aware that I don't like to hear anybody allude to bloodshed, murders, and similar horrors?”
”I merely wanted to try you a little in order to see whether you are still the same dear old childish coward,” exclaimed Gualtieri, laughing.
”The same great child with the strong, manly soul, and the gentle, weak, and easily moved child's heart. Now, let me know quickly what you wanted of the minister of finance, and I shall reward you then by telling you some good news. Well, then, what did you want of Schulenburg?”
”I had asked him to lend me five hundred dollars, and to appoint an hour when I might call for the money. He named ten o'clock, and I went to his house, merely to leave it an hour after in a towering pa.s.sion and with empty hands. Oh, it is infamous, it is dreadful! It is--”
At that moment the door opened, and the footman entered.
”From his excellency. General von Schulenburg-Kehnert,” he said, delivering to Gentz a small sealed package and a letter. ”The servant who brought it has left, as he said no reply was required.”
Gentz beckoned his servant to withdraw, and he then hastily opened the package.
”Twelve fifty-dollar bills!” he exclaimed, triumphantly. ”One hundred dollars more than I had asked for! That is very kind, indeed.”
”May be he does not give it to you, but merely lends it to you,” said Gualtieri, smiling.
”Lend it to me!” exclaimed Gentz, scornfully. ”People don't lend any money to me, because they know that I am unable to pay it back; people reward me, sir; they show their grat.i.tude toward me in a substantial manner, but they are not so mean as to lend me what I ask for.”
”Does the minister tell you so in his letter?” asked Gualtieri, dryly.
”Ah! that is true. I have not yet read the letter,” said Gentz, breaking the seal. While he was reading it, a slight blush suffused his cheeks, and an expression of shame overspread his features. ”Here, read it,” he murmured, handing the letter to his friend.
Gualtieri took it and read as follows:
”My Dear Counsellor,--You wished to see me, and I begged you to call at ten o'clock, although I was overwhelmed with business and hardly had any time to spare. Precisely at ten o'clock I was ready to receive you, for in all matters of business I am a very punctual man. However, after vainly waiting for you for half an hour, I resumed my work. I had to examine some very complicated accounts, and could not allow myself to be interrupted after once taking them up. Hence I had to ask you to wait, and when, after waiting for half an hour, like myself, you grew impatient and would not stay any longer, I sent you word to call again to-morrow. Now, that I have concluded my pressing business, however, I hasten to comply with your request. You asked me for five hundred dollars; here they are. Knowing, however, how precious your time is, and that you had to wait for half an hour through my fault, I take the liberty of adding one hundred dollars for the time you have lost to-day.
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