CHAPTER XII.
A LOOK INTO THE HOUSE AND INTO THE HEART.
Men-servants and maid-servants in the under-ground rooms were amazed tosee Sonnenkamp and Eric make their entrance. Sonnenkamp, withoutnoticing them, said to Eric in English:--
"The two things to be first considered by a man consulting for repose,as I am, are the kitchen and the stable."
He showed him the kitchen. There were dozens of different fire-placesfor the different dishes, and each kind of meat and vegetables; eachviand had its special dish and pan, fire on the side and behind. Thewhole science of the preparation of extracts was here transported intothe art of cookery. Eric was delighted with it as with a work of art.
Sonnenkamp pointed out to his guest for special notice the fact thatevery fire-place and every stove in the house had its own chimney; heconsidered that as of great importance, as he had by that means madehimself independent of the direction in which the wind might blow. Thearchitect had resisted him on that point, and he had undergone greattrouble and expense to have the requisite flues constructed, but bythis means new beauties had been developed.
Sonnenkamp now showed him the greater part of the house, through whichelectromagnetic bell-wires ran in every direction. The stairs wererichly carpeted, everywhere were costly candelabra, and in the chambersbroad double-beds.
Everything was arranged with elegance and taste, a truly chasteelegance and refined taste, where gold, marble, and silk contributed tothe artistic decoration, with no overloading of ornament, and with apreservation of the appearance of home-like comfort. The furniture wasnot standing about like things looking for some fitting place, butevery piece was adapted to the building itself, and seemed fixed, andat home; and yet the arrangement had this peculiar feature, that allthe furniture appeared waiting for the inmates to come and occupy it,and not placed there to be gazed at by them in passing to and fro.
The heavy silk curtains, hanging in thick folds, were matched with thecarpets; the large clocks in all the saloons were ticking, and thedelicate works of art on the mantles and brackets were tastefullyarranged. But it was plainly to be seen that this arrangement gave nophysiognomical indication of the character of the owner, but was onlythe tasteful skill which every good upholsterer supplies to order; and,above all, one felt the absence of anything like an heir-loom. Ericcould not rid himself of the impression that the persons here lived intheir own house as if it were a hired one, and it seemed to him thatRoland was following him, and that he must enter into the soul of theboy, who was already aware that some day he would call all this hisown.
Sonnenkamp declared that he thought it contemptible for people toembellish their houses with mediaeval furniture, or the imitation ofthat, while it answered the purpose neither of ornament nor of comfort.When Eric replied to him, that Goethe had expressed the same thing,Sonnenkamp answered: "That is very pleasant to me. I think that Goetheunderstood life."
He uttered this in a very condescending tone, as much as to say, thatany one must esteem himself fortunate to have Herr Sonnenkamp recognisehis worth.
On the north side of the house in the large saloon, covered with a redPersian carpet, was a half-octagon recess, in the middle of which stooda handsome malachite table surrounded by fixed chairs.
Four large windows, or rather four single panes of glass six feet inheight, gave a free outlook; and in the spaces between the windowstablets of marble were inserted, half way up, on which were sculpturedthe four parts of the "Day" of Rietschel. The ceiling was ornamentedwith fine stucco-work, from which a silver lamp seemed to fly forth,rather than to hang down, for it took the form of a flying Cupid ofbronze, holding a torch in his hand, and this torch, as Sonnenkampimmediately illustrated, could be lighted as a gas-burner.
"Only here," he said smiling, "do I have works of art, insomuch as Iwould neither deceive myself nor others--I have no taste for creativeart. You, as the son of a Professor of AEsthetics, perhaps consider thisvery barbarous?"
"Not at all, only honest; and I think you are so far entitled to do asyou think best."
"It is a duty for every one to be honest, and there is no choice in thematter."
"Pardon me if I have expressed myself badly. I mean, that even therealm of art is not free from rival claims; and he who has such amanifest gift for landscape-gardening, ought to be content with that,and can refrain from expressing himself in any other art."
Sonnenkamp smiled. This man, he thought, knows always how to come downon his feet.
He led his guest into the music-saloon. It had no gilding nor satin,only a centre-piece on the ceiling, and sea-green hangings on thewalls. In the niches made by two small chimneys were brown, stuffeddamask seats and sofas. This saloon seemed to be continually waitingfor a social company, either moving about, or quietly seated.
Sonnenkamp smiled when Eric said that he was pleased to see themusic-saloon so unadorned. The plain white had a sunshiny appearance,as if the sun lingered on the walls, and the eye was not attracted toany particular object, so that one could listen all the moreattentively, only one sense being called into activity.
Sonnenkamp was yet more and more delighted; and when Eric inquired,"Which one of your family is musical?" he answered,--
"This saloon is intended for my daughter."
"Wonderful," said Eric; "yonder in the garden the upturned seat, andhere the music-saloon, is expecting her."
Sonnenkamp, as he often did, took his under-lip between his fore-fingerand thumb; he appeared to be either intending to say something, orwishing to keep something back.
"As we are talking about my daughter, I will just show you her room,"he said suddenly, opening a side-door.
They entered a little apartment, in which the Venetian blinds weredown. Sonnenkamp at once drew them entirely up. The prospect extendedover the long vine-arbor and beyond the Rhine. The room was plain, butall was extremely pretty. A number of photographs, wreathed with blueribbon into a circle, in the centre of which was a large picture of thepope, hung upon the wall. The white curtains of the white bed, nowdrawn back, allowed a beautifully carved ivory crucifix on the wall tobe seen, while below it hung a neatly framed colored engraving, a sortof diploma, admitting Hermanna, styled Manna Sonnenkamp, into the bandof good children.
A writing-table, a small book-shelf, tasteful chairs, everything showedthat here was the abode of a maiden who quietly lived within herself,occupied chiefly with religious meditations. In the chamber itselfthere seemed to be the hovering spirit of prayer, and one involuntarilylooked round to see the maiden herself come in, with those largechildlike eyes immediately cast down at beholding her sanctuaryintruded upon.
Eric's glance became fixed upon a handsome chimney-piece of greenmarble, whose semi-circular edge was bordered with living ivy, whilethe entire chimney-place was filled with flowers and growing plants. Noflower-pots were to be seen, for they were skilfully concealed; it wasall a mysterious growth of leaves and flowers.
"Does that please you?" Sonnenkamp asked. "Yes, my daughter always hasthe chimney-place filled with flowers in summer, and I think thatFraeulein Perini has continued the practice in memory of her."
Eric continued to stare at the plants; and he fancied that he couldread something of the character of the maiden who in summer kept thefire-place covered with flowers. Here Sonnenkamp laid a heavy hand onhis shoulder, and said:--
"Are you entirely honest? You have not come here on my son's account,but on my daughter's."
"I do not comprehend," Eric replied.
"Were you not at the convent? Have you not seen my daughter?"
"Yes, both; but I had not the most remote knowledge of you, or yourdaughter, or your son."
"I believe it. But have you not conceived the idle fancy, that bytaking up your abode in my house, you may perhaps win the affections ofmy daughter?"
"I thank you for this directness," Eric responded, "and I will useequal directness in my reply. I should consider it the mis
fortune of mylife, if I should have the feeling of love towards your daughter."
"Towards my daughter? Why so?"
"Because I should esteem it a misfortune to love a maiden of such greatwealth, without taking into view her Catholic opinions. I would nevermarry so rich a girl, and I would let my heart break before I would doit. I now beseech you--it is not entirely impossible that mistrust, byand by, may be awakened from this source--I beseech you, openly anddirectly, not to give me this situation in your family. It is better; Ihave been this short time your guest, and I thank you for your greatkindness."
"Young man, you remain. I believe you, and I trust you. I thank you forteaching me to have confidence again in a human being, and to believein a human being. You remain! Give me your hand--you remain! We willsettle all quietly. Moreover, my daughter is--and I give you here thebest testimony of my confidence--my daughter is as good as betrothed tothe Baron von Pranken. Now come into my own work-room."
They entered it. Everything here was arranged with a special attentionto convenience. For every frame of mind, and every season of the year,for solitude and for society, chairs, tables, and sofas were disposedeverywhere for comfort, as much as one room could contain. There was avast space, and yet a homelike seclusion; and this south side wasadmirably situated for a view of the landscape. Here could be seen,outside, the smooth beeches and plane-trees, which hid from view thebare-looking vineyards, and suffered the eye to rest upon the summitsof the wooded heights; and directly in front of the balcony windowthere was a full view of the ruins of the castle, which, as Eric hadalready heard, was being rebuilt by the order of Herr Sonnenkamp, andunder the special supervision of the major.
A single, beautiful painting hung here; it was a life-sized portrait ofRoland, in his seventh year. The boy sat upon an overturned antiquecolumn, his hand upon the head of a splendid Newfoundland dog, andgazing into the distance.
A large arm-chest stood here with weapons of all sorts.
While Eric was looking about, Sonnenkamp shoved back two doors whichwere let into the walls, and he led the way into what he called hislibrary. No books were to be seen, nothing but great boxes, vessels ofporcelain and clay, as in a well-arranged apothecary's shop; andSonnenkamp explained that these contained seeds from all the differentparts of the earth.
From the seed-room a special stair-case led into the garden, and thisstair-case was entirely grown over with the Chinese honeysuckle, whichwas now in full bloom with its clusters of blue papilionaceous flowers.Sonnenkamp conducted his guest back into the large work-room, and theresaid that it had, formerly, been his desire that Roland should have aninclination to enter upon the active life which he himself had nowretired from. He spoke of trade. Eric was amazed at the vast,comprehensive glance which Sonnenkamp took of the business of theworld: for him there was no isolated activity, no isolated product; onepart of the world subsisted only through another; and the whole earthwas for him one great market-place, where iron, wool, tobacco, andgrain received his attention at the same time, and whether in Sweden,Scotland, the East Indies, or Havana, were brought to one commonwarehouse.
Sonnenkamp seemed to be desirous, today, to compensate Eric for hisunreserved communication, and Eric was astonished at the broad andstrong grasp of the man's view, so that all his schemes were wellcalculated and sure of success; this vast power of insight was visiblein all his talk. He had seen the wide world with that keen-sightednesscharacteristic of the English and Americans, who, of all nations,consume the smallest number of spectacles. He seized hold of the mainfeatures, without burdening himself with the incidental, and withoutbeing hindered by any afterthought; he described with great objectivitywhat he had seen in foreign lands, as well as what he had done in hisown.
Sonnenkamp was well aware of the impression he had made upon Eric, andnodded, smiling, when the latter expressed his opinion how grand itmust be not only to possess, but also to acquire and to be.
"Reflect seriously upon this," Sonnenkamp said,--"what would you make,and what am I to make, of Roland? You have seen so much," he added witha look of elation, "that you would not seek to change me and my family,if you should undertake the education of my son."
This last remark dissipated, to a certain extent, the deep impressionwhich Sonnenkamp had made upon Eric. The whole appeared a premeditatedaffair.
A servant came to inform Herr Sonnenkamp that Herr von Pranken wishedto take leave of him.