The Baron looked at his daughter in some surprise, as she now raised her head and pa.s.sed her handkerchief over her brow.

"Excuse me, papa, if I seem rather strange to-day. I am not quite well, not well enough, that is, to discuss this subject. You must let me go to my room, I"----

"You have had too much to bear of late," said her father tenderly. "I see it, my dear, even though you will not confess it. Go, and leave all to my care. I will spare you as much as possible."

"It is odd though, is it not, sir?" said the young Baron, as the door closed behind his sister. "Do you understand this Berkow? I don't."

Windeg paced up and down the room with a frown on his brow. He was not merely surprised, but wounded in his pride by this disclosure. To the aristocrat it had seemed quite explicable that a parvenu owning millions of money should employ all the means at his disposal, hesitating neither at intrigue nor sacrifice, to obtain a connection with himself, even though such endeavours were met with unbounded hatred and contempt. But that his plebeian son-in-law should have received the hand of a Baroness Windeg with perfect equanimity, as if there had been nothing extraordinary in such a marriage; that, as time went on, he should have shown himself as insensible to the honour done him as his father was the reverse;--these were things he never could forgive. And now this man, this Arthur Berkow, retired from the connection of his own free will, before any inducement to do so had been held out to him. This was too much for the haughty Windeg. He had been eager to struggle for, to re-conquer, his daughter's freedom, but that he should owe it to her husband's generosity or indifference was intolerable to him.

"I will speak to Berkow," he said presently, "and if he really does agree, which I doubt, in spite of what Eugenie has told us, we must set to work without delay."

"Without delay?" asked Conrad. "They have hardly been married three months, and I think they are right in wishing to avoid too early a rupture."

"No doubt they are, and I should give my complete approval, if I had not other reasons of my own for hurrying on the affair. Things are not as they should be here on the works. I have received a hint from a friendly source that these disturbances, which have broken out among the hands employed, may inflict a deadly injury upon the Berkow property, enormous as it is supposed to be. If a crash should come, his wife could hardly leave him at such a moment; for the sake of public opinion she must stay on. Though we have deeper and far more serious reasons for desiring a separation, his ruin would be looked upon as the real cause, and that must not be. Better we should be thought to stir in the matter prematurely than suffer our hands to be tied, as they would be, should a catastrophe occur. A vast undertaking like this does not fall to pieces in a few weeks. It would take a year at least, and in half that time a divorce may be obtained, if he puts no difficulties in the way. Eugenie must return to our house, must be free again, before the state of things here gets known in the city."

"I should have thought my sister would have taken up the idea more cheerfully and with greater zest," said Conrad meditatively. "To be sure, if they had settled the matter before between themselves, there was nothing in it new to her, but she seems as quiet and silent about it, as if it were no concern of hers, as if her liberty did not depend upon it."

The Baron shrugged his shoulders.

"She does not like the thought of the unavoidable talk it will excite, of all the unpleasant details of the law-suit which cannot be spared her. It is always a painful step for a woman to take, and yet it must be taken. In this case we shall, at any rate, have the whole city on our side. It was unfortunately no secret why this marriage was arranged, and but little surprise can be felt that we should hasten to dissolve it."

"Here comes Berkow," whispered Conrad, as the door of the adjoining room was opened. "You wish to speak to him. Shall I leave you together?"

Windeg shook his head.

"You are the eldest son of our house, and at such discussions the presence of a third person often acts as a wholesome restraint. Stay here, Conrad."

While these words were being quickly exchanged in a low voice, Arthur had crossed the ante-room. He came in now, and the greetings on either side were polite and frigid as usual. The conversation began with the customary flowers of rhetoric. The guests regretted they should enjoy so little of their host's company, the latter put forth as an excuse the acc.u.mulation of business which deprived him of the pleasure, etc., mutual formalities believed in by neither party, but behind which each sheltered himself as affording, at least, some subject matter for talk.

"I hope Eugenie's constant company will make up to you for my enforced absence," continued Arthur, glancing through the salon as though in quest of his wife.

"Eugenie is slightly indisposed; she has just left us," returned the Baron, "and I should be glad to make use of this opportunity to express to you a wish of mine, the fulfilment of which depends mainly on yourself."

"If its fulfilment depends on me, you have but to command."

The young man took up a position opposite his father-in-law, while Conrad, who knew what was coming, withdrew, as though accidentally, into a window recess, and appeared to be steadfastly gazing out on the terrace below.

Windeg's bearing was full of stately calm and aristocratic dignity. He desired to be as impressive as possible, and so do away at once with any possible resistance on the part of his daughter's plebeian husband; for he looked upon Arthur's offer of a separation, at the most, as a hasty speech made in a moment of pa.s.sion. He could not believe it to be serious.

"People seem to attach a greater degree of importance to this revolutionary movement on your estates than it probably has in reality," he began. "As I came by the town yesterday and paid a visit to the commandant of the garrison there, a very old friend of mine, the feeling among the hands over here was described to me as most dangerous, and an outbreak of disturbances was said to be extremely probable."

"They appear to take more interest in my works and in my people than I had supposed," said Arthur, coldly. "I have, at all events, not besought the Colonel for help in case of need."

The Baron understood the hint.

"As for me, of course, I can form no opinion on the subject," he replied quickly. "I only wished to draw your attention to the fact that there would be impropriety in exposing Eugenie to any such possible scenes of disorder. It is my desire to take my daughter with me to the city, just for a time, until the situation here has cleared a little."

A shade fell on the young man's face. Again he cast a quick glance over to the door which led to his wife's apartments, as though trying to divine whether the wish came from her. His reply was quite calm, however.

"Eugenie is mistress of her own actions. If she considers it necessary to leave she is perfectly at liberty to do so."

Windeg, highly pleased, bent his head affirmatively.

"She will accompany us then to-morrow morning. As to the length of her absence, there we approach a subject which is equally painful to us both, but I prefer to touch upon it by word of mouth, particularly as I know our wishes to be identical with regard to the main point at issue."

Arthur seemed about to start from his chair, but he controlled himself and kept his seat.

"Oh! so Eugenie has already been making communications to you?"

"Yes, does that surprise you? Her father would, of course, be the first person in whom she would confide."

Arthur's lips twitched nervously.

"I supposed that the matter would remain between ourselves until the time for action had arrived. I see I was wrong."

"Why postpone things when once a decision has been come to?" asked the Baron quietly. "The present time is most favourable for carrying it into execution. The existing state of affairs here affords the best, the most unexceptional pretext for my daughter's leaving. It need not be known at first that she is leaving definitively. In these summer months, when every one is away from the city, the preliminary steps can be taken with least notice. When an eclat cannot be avoided, it is preferable to give people at once an actual event to talk about. In that way gossip is soonest exhausted."

A long pause followed. Arthur looked again, this time with rather an enigmatical expression, at the door of his wife's apartments; then he turned slowly to her father.

"Did the wish that this affair should be hurried on come from Eugenie herself?"

The Baron thought proper to withhold the truth on this occasion. By so doing, he would attain his end more quickly, and Eugenie would certainly be grateful to him for it.

"I speak in my daughter's name," he declared gravely.

Arthur rose suddenly, and so hastily that his chair was thrown to the ground.

"I consent to everything, Baron, to everything! I thought I had explained to your daughter my reasons in favour of a delay. They were entirely dictated by consideration for herself, and did not concern me in any way. If, notwithstanding these, she still desires to hasten on the matter--be it so!"

The tone in which these words were spoken was so peculiar, that Conrad, who had all along been apparently intent on the terrace below, although, in reality, he had not lost a word of the discussion, turned round suddenly and looked at his brother-in-law in astonishment.

Windeg himself felt surprised. What reason was there for any show of temper? He simply wished that a tie, burdensome to both parties, should be loosed a little earlier than had been intended.

"You fully agree to a separation then?" he asked, a little uncertain.

"Fully."

The Baron breathed freely. So Eugenie had been right in declaring that her husband would consent at once. What remained to be settled would, he thought, hardly present a difficulty.

"I am very much indebted to you for meeting me thus," said he politely.

"It will facilitate matters for both sides. There is one other thing which I must mention, though it has no bearing upon the subject in hand. Your father"--the present Lord of Rabenau flushed crimson at the remembrance--"your father was good enough to take up certain obligations of mine which I was not then in a position to discharge. I am able to do so now, and I should wish as speedily as possible"----

He paused, for Arthur had turned his eyes full upon him with a look which forbade him to go on.

"Had we not better let this subject rest? I really must beg that it may not be touched upon."

"It might be allowed to rest so long as our mutual relations subsisted," returned Windeg gravely, "but not when they cease to exist.

You will not oblige me to remain your debtor?"