Sanin and she were in love for the first time; all the miracles offirst love were working in them. First love is like a revolution theuniformly regular routine of ordered life is broken down and shatteredin one instant; youth mounts the barricade, waves high its brightflag, and whatever awaits it in the future--death or a new life--allalike it goes to meet with ecstatic welcome.
'What's this? Isn't that our old friend?' said Sanin, pointing to amuffled-up figure, which hurriedly slipped a little aside as thoughtrying to remain unobserved. In the midst of his abundant happiness hefelt a need to talk to Gemma, not of love--that was a settled thingand holy--but of something else.
'Yes, it's Pantaleone,' Gemma answered gaily and happily. 'Most likelyhe has been following me ever since I left home; all day yesterday hekept watching every movement I made ... He guesses!'
'He guesses!' Sanin repeated in ecstasy. What could Gemma have said atwhich he would not have been in ecstasy?
Then he asked her to tell him in detail all that had passed the daybefore.
And she began at once telling him, with haste, and confusion, andsmiles, and brief sighs, and brief bright looks exchanged with Sanin.She said that after their conversation the day before yesterday,mamma had kept trying to get out of her something positive; but thatshe had put off Frau Lenore with a promise to tell her her decisionwithin twenty-four hours; how she had demanded this limit of timefor herself, and how difficult it had been to get it; how utterlyunexpectedly Herr Klueber had made his appearance more starched andaffected than ever; how he had given vent to his indignation at thechildish, unpardonable action of the Russian stranger--'he meantyour duel, Dimitri,'--which he described as deeply insulting to him,Klueber, and how he had demanded that 'you should be at once refusedadmittance to the house, Dimitri.' 'For,' he had added--and hereGemma slightly mimicked his voice and manner--'"it casts a slur onmy honour; as though I were not able to defend my betrothed, hadI thought it necessary or advisable! All Frankfort will know byto-morrow that an outsider has fought a duel with an officer onaccount of my betrothed--did any one ever hear of such a thing! Ittarnishes my honour!" Mamma agreed with him--fancy!--but then Isuddenly told him that he was troubling himself unnecessarily abouthis honour and his character, and was unnecessarily annoyed at thegossip about his betrothed, for I was no longer betrothed to him andwould never be his wife! I must own, I had meant to talk to you first... before breaking with him finally; but he came ... and I could notrestrain myself. Mamma positively screamed with horror, but I wentinto the next room and got his ring--you didn't notice, I took it offtwo days ago--and gave it to him. He was fearfully offended, but as heis fearfully self-conscious and conceited, he did not say much, andwent away. Of course I had to go through a great deal with mamma, andit made me very wretched to see how distressed she was, and I thoughtI had been a little hasty; but you see I had your note, and even apartfrom it I knew ...'
'That I love you,' put in Sanin.
'Yes ... that you were in love with me.'
So Gemma talked, hesitating and smiling and dropping her voice orstopping altogether every time any one met them or passed by. AndSanin listened ecstatically, enjoying the very sound of her voice, asthe day before he had gloated over her handwriting.
'Mamma is very much distressed,' Gemma began again, and her wordsflew very rapidly one after another; 'she refuses to take intoconsideration that I dislike Herr Klueber, that I never was betrothedto him from love, but only because of her urgent entreaties....She suspects--you, Dimitri; that's to say, to speak plainly, she'sconvinced I'm in love with you, and she is more unhappy about itbecause only the day before yesterday nothing of the sort had occurredto her, and she even begged you to advise me.... It was a strangerequest, wasn't it? Now she calls you ... Dimitri, a hypocrite anda cunning fellow, says that you have betrayed her confidence, andpredicts that you will deceive me....'
'But, Gemma,' cried Sanin, 'do you mean to say you didn't tellher?...'
'I told her nothing! What right had I without consulting you?'
Sanin threw up his arms. 'Gemma, I hope that now, at least, you willtell all to her and take me to her.... I want to convince your motherthat I am not a base deceiver!'
Sanin's bosom fairly heaved with the flood of generous and ardentemotions.
Gemma looked him full in the face. 'You really want to go with menow to mamma? to mamma, who maintains that ... all this between usis impossible--and can never come to pass?' There was one word Gemmacould not bring herself to utter.... It burnt her lips; but all themore eagerly Sanin pronounced it.
'Marry you, Gemma, be your husband--I can imagine no bliss greater!'
To his love, his magnanimity, his determination--he was aware of nolimits now.
When she heard those words, Gemma, who had stopped still for aninstant, went on faster than ever.... She seemed trying to run awayfrom this too great and unexpected happiness! But suddenly hersteps faltered. Round the corner of a turning, a few paces fromher, in a new hat and coat, straight as an arrow and curled like apoodle--emerged Herr Klueber. He caught sight of Gemma, caught sightof Sanin, and with a sort of inward snort and a backward bend of hissupple figure, he advanced with a dashing swing to meet them. Saninfelt a pang; but glancing at Klueber's face, to which its ownerendeavoured, as far as in him lay, to give an expression of scornfulamazement, and even commiseration, glancing at that red-cheeked,vulgar face, he felt a sudden rush of anger, and took a step forward.
Gemma seized his arm, and with quiet decision, giving him hers, shelooked her former betrothed full in the face.... The latter screwed uphis face, shrugged his shoulders, shuffled to one side, and mutteringbetween his teeth, 'The usual end to the song!' (Das alte Ende vomLiede!)--walked away with the same dashing, slightly skipping gait.
'What did he say, the wretched creature?' asked Sanin, and would haverushed after Klueber; but Gemma held him back and walked on with him,not taking away the arm she had slipped into his.
The Rosellis' shop came into sight. Gemma stopped once more.
'Dimitri, Monsieur Dimitri,' she said, 'we are not there yet, we havenot seen mamma yet.... If you would rather think a little, if ... youare still free, Dimitri!'
In reply Sanin pressed her hand tightly to his bosom, and drew her on.
'Mamma,' said Gemma, going with Sanin to the room where Frau Lenorewas sitting, 'I have brought the real one!'
XXIX
If Gemma had announced that she had brought with her cholera or deathitself, one can hardly imagine that Frau Lenore could have receivedthe news with greater despair. She immediately sat down in a corner,with her face to the wall, and burst into floods of tears, positivelywailed, for all the world like a Russian peasant woman on the grave ofher husband or her son. For the first minute Gemma was so taken abackthat she did not even go up to her mother, but stood still like astatue in the middle of the room; while Sanin was utterly stupefied,to the point of almost bursting into tears himself! For a whole hourthat inconsolable wail went on--a whole hour! Pantaleone thought itbetter to shut the outer door of the shop, so that no stranger shouldcome; luckily, it was still early. The old man himself did not knowwhat to think, and in any case, did not approve of the haste withwhich Gemma and Sanin had acted; he could not bring himself to blamethem, and was prepared to give them his support in case of need:he greatly disliked Klueber! Emil regarded himself as the medium ofcommunication between his friend and his sister, and almost pridedhimself on its all having turned out so splendidly! He was positivelyunable to conceive why Frau Lenore was so upset, and in his heart hedecided on the spot that women, even the best of them, suffer from alack of reasoning power! Sanin fared worst of all. Frau Lenore rose toa howl and waved him off with her hands, directly he approached her;and it was in vain that he attempted once or twice to shout aloud,standing at a distance, 'I ask you for your daughter's hand!' FrauLenore was particularly angry with herself. 'How could she have beenso blind--have seen nothing? Had my Giovann' Battista been alive,'she persisted through her t
ears, 'nothing of this sort would havehappened!' 'Heavens, what's it all about?' thought Sanin; 'why, it'spositively senseless!' He did not dare to look at Gemma, nor could shepluck up courage to lift her eyes to him. She restricted herself towaiting patiently on her mother, who at first repelled even her....
At last, by degrees, the storm abated. Frau Lenore gave over weeping,permitted Gemma to bring her out of the corner, where she sat huddledup, to put her into an arm-chair near the window, and to give her someorange-flower water to drink. She permitted Sanin--not to approach... oh, no!--but, at any rate, to remain in the room--she had keptclamouring for him to go away--and did not interrupt him when hespoke. Sanin immediately availed himself of the calm as it set in, anddisplayed an astounding eloquence. He could hardly have explained hisintentions and emotions with more fire and persuasive force even toGemma herself. Those emotions were of the sincerest, those intentionswere of the purest, like Almaviva's in the _Barber of Seville_. Hedid not conceal from Frau Lenore nor from himself the disadvantageousside of those intentions; but the disadvantages were only apparent!It is true he was a foreigner; they had not known him long, they knewnothing positive about himself or his means; but he was prepared tobring forward all the necessary evidence that he was a respectableperson and not poor; he would refer them to the most unimpeachabletestimony of his fellow-countrymen! He hoped Gemma would be happy withhim, and that he would be able to make up to her for the separationfrom her own people!... The allusion to 'separation'--the mere word'separation'--almost spoiled the whole business.... Frau Lenore beganto tremble all over and move about uneasily.... Sanin hastened toobserve that the separation would only be temporary, and that, infact, possibly it would not take place at all!
Sanin's eloquence was not thrown away. Frau Lenore began to glance athim, though still with bitterness and reproach, no longer with thesame aversion and fury; then she suffered him to come near her, andeven to sit down beside her (Gemma was sitting on the other side);then she fell to reproaching him,--not in looks only, but in words,which already indicated a certain softening of heart; she fell tocomplaining, and her complaints became quieter and gentler; they wereinterspersed with questions addressed at one time to her daughter, andat another to Sanin; then she suffered him to take her hand and didnot at once pull it away ... then she wept again, but her tears werenow quite of another kind.... Then she smiled mournfully, and lamentedthe absence of Giovanni Battista, but quite on different grounds frombefore.... An instant more and the two criminals, Sanin and Gemma,were on their knees at her feet, and she was laying her hands on theirheads in turn; another instant and they were embracing and kissingher, and Emil, his face beaming rapturously, ran into the room andadded himself to the group so warmly united.
Pantaleone peeped into the room, smiled and frowned at the same time,and going into the shop, opened the front door.
XXX
The transition from despair to sadness, and from that to 'gentleresignation,' was accomplished fairly quickly in Frau Lenore; butthat gentle resignation, too, was not slow in changing into asecret satisfaction, which was, however, concealed in every way andsuppressed for the sake of appearances. Sanin had won Frau Lenore'sheart from the first day of their acquaintance; as she got used tothe idea of his being her son-in-law, she found nothing particularlydistasteful in it, though she thought it her duty to preservea somewhat hurt, or rather careworn, expression on her face.Besides, everything that had happened the last few days had been soextraordinary.... One thing upon the top of another. As a practicalwoman and a mother, Frau Lenore considered it her duty also to putSanin through various questions; and Sanin, who, on setting out thatmorning to meet Gemma, had not a notion that he should marry her--itis true he did not think of anything at all at that time, but simplygave himself up to the current of his passion--Sanin entered, withperfect readiness, one might even say with zeal, into his part--thepart of the betrothed lover, and answered all her inquiriescircumstantially, exactly, with alacrity. When she had satisfiedherself that he was a real nobleman by birth, and had even expressedsome surprise that he was not a prince, Frau Lenore assumed a seriousair and 'warned him betimes' that she should be quite unceremoniouslyfrank with him, as she was forced to be so by her sacred duty as amother! To which Sanin replied that he expected nothing else from her,and that he earnestly begged her not to spare him!
Then Frau Lenore observed that Herr Klueber--as she uttered the name,she sighed faintly, tightened her lips, and hesitated--Herr Klueber,Gemma's former betrothed, already possessed an income of eightthousand guldens, and that with every year this sum would rapidly beincreased; and what was his, Herr Sanin's income? 'Eight thousandguldens,' Sanin repeated deliberately.... 'That's in our money ...about fifteen thousand roubles.... My income is much smaller. I havea small estate in the province of Tula.... With good management, itmight yield--and, in fact, it could not fail to yield--five or sixthousand ... and if I go into the government service, I can easily geta salary of two thousand a year.'
'Into the service in Russia?' cried Frau Lenore, 'Then I must partwith Gemma!'
'One might be able to enter in the diplomatic service,' Sanin putin; 'I have some connections.... There one's duties lie abroad. Orelse, this is what one might do, and that's much the best of all:sell my estate and employ the sum received for it in some profitableundertaking; for instance, the improvement of your shop.' Sanin wasaware that he was saying something absurd, but he was possessed by anincomprehensible recklessness! He looked at Gemma, who, ever sincethe 'practical' conversation began, kept getting up, walking aboutthe room, and sitting down again--he looked at her--and no obstacleexisted for him, and he was ready to arrange everything at once in thebest way, if only she were not troubled!
'Herr Klueber, too, had intended to give me a small sum for theimprovement of the shop,' Lenore observed after a slight hesitation.
'Mother! for mercy's sake, mother!' cried Gemma in Italian.
'These things must be discussed in good time, my daughter,' FrauLenore replied in the same language. She addressed herself again toSanin, and began questioning him as to the laws existing in Russiaas to marriage, and whether there were no obstacles to contractingmarriages with Catholics as in Prussia. (At that time, in 1840,all Germany still remembered the controversy between the PrussianGovernment and the Archbishop of Cologne upon mixed marriages.)When Frau Lenore heard that by marrying a Russian nobleman, herdaughter would herself become of noble rank, she evinced a certainsatisfaction. 'But, of course, you will first have to go to Russia?'
'Why?'
'Why? Why, to obtain the permission of your Tsar.'
Sanin explained to her that that was not at all necessary ... but thathe might certainly have to go to Russia for a very short time beforehis marriage--(he said these words, and his heart ached painfully,Gemma watching him, knew it was aching, and blushed and grewdreamy)--and that he would try to take advantage of being in his owncountry to sell his estate ... in any case he would bring back themoney needed.
'I would ask you to bring me back some good Astrakhan lambskin fora cape,' said Frau Lenore. 'They're wonderfully good, I hear, andwonderfully cheap!'
'Certainly, with the greatest pleasure, I will bring some for you andfor Gemma!' cried Sanin.
'And for me a morocco cap worked in silver,' Emil interposed, puttinghis head in from the next room.
'Very well, I will bring it you ... and some slippers for Pantaleone.'
'Come, that's nonsense, nonsense,' observed Frau Lenore. 'We aretalking now of serious matters. But there's another point,' added thepractical lady. 'You talk of selling your estate. But how will you dothat? Will you sell your peasants then, too?'
Sanin felt something like a stab at his heart. He remembered that ina conversation with Signora Roselli and her daughter about serfdom,which, in his own words, aroused his deepest indignation, he hadrepeatedly assured them that never on any account would he sell hispeasants, as he regarded such a sale as an immoral act.
'I will try and sel
l my estate to some man I know something of,'he articulated, not without faltering, 'or perhaps the peasantsthemselves will want to buy their freedom.'
'That would be best of all,' Frau Lenore agreed. 'Though indeedselling live people ...'
'_Barbari_!' grumbled Pantaleone, who showed himself behind Emil inthe doorway, shook his topknot, and vanished.
'It's a bad business!' Sanin thought to himself, and stole a lookat Gemma. She seemed not to have heard his last words. 'Well, nevermind!' he thought again. In this way the practical talk continuedalmost uninterruptedly till dinner-time. Frau Lenore was completelysoftened at last, and already called Sanin 'Dimitri,' shook her fingeraffectionately at him, and promised she would punish him for histreachery. She asked many and minute questions about his relations,because 'that too is very important'; asked him to describe theceremony of marriage as performed by the ritual of the Russian Church,and was in raptures already at Gemma in a white dress, with a goldcrown on her head.