Chapter XIII: Front Matter (13)

“Kindness for you, if you choose, for I really like you; but it would be wrong to suppose that I feel any distaste for this performance. On the contrary, it seems to me that it will be immensely diverting. In the first place the piece is charming, comic to the highest degree, and at the same time pathetic, in certain parts. You showed your wisdom in avoiding all allusions in the present arrangement. Come, Christian, let us rehearse! We haven’t more than half an hour. Let’s be quick! Are we all safe here? Can no one either hear us or see us?”

Christian had some difficulty in preventing M. Goefle from fatiguing his voice and exhausting himself in the rehearsal. The successive scenes were briefly indicated upon the schedule, and two or three questions and replies devoted to each of them were quite sufficient to give full command of the principal situations, which were to be the basis of the public improvisation. What was most important was to lay the marionettes in the proper order on the platform behind the scenes arranged for the purpose, so as to find them without confusion, when they should be required on the stage; to bring them forward correctly in their turns; and to have a good understanding about their entries and exits, and the main tenor of the story. The dialogue itself they left to the inspiration of the moment. M. Goefle was the most delightful and intelligent associate Christian had ever had. He was quite electrified by the collision of their wits, and, when eight o’clock struck, he was in a brilliant flow of spirits, such as he had not experienced since playing with Massarelli, then so agreeable and attractive. That distant and now sadly faded remembrance caused him a moment’s melancholy, which, however, he quickly shook off as he remarked to M. Goefle:

“There, I hear them coming into the gallery. Be all ready, my dear comrade, and good luck to us!”

At this moment some one knocked at the further door, and the voice of Johan, the major-domo, asked for Christian Waldo.

“I beg pardon,” called out Christian, “but you can’t come in now. Speak through the door; I can hear.”

Johan answered that Christian was to be in readiness to open the performance; and that three raps on the door would notify him when to begin. At that signal the door would be opened to allow the theatre to be set forward.

This being agreed upon, still another quarter of an hour had to pass before the ladies could all be suited with seats, where their dresses and graces could be properly displayed, and where each should be near the cavalier most agreeable to herself, or to whom she most wished to be agreeable. Christian, who was used to such delays, busied himself with arranging the refreshments that he had found in the little saloon upon a table, where it would be conveniently at hand, in case he or his companion should want to clear their voices between the acts. When he had done this, both he and M. Goefle stepped into the theatre, which was covered in with curtains securely fastened in front and at the sides. The back, which was movable, was set far enough to the rear to allow room for several side-scenes.

The two operators now awaited the three raps, Christian calmly, M. Goefle with an almost feverish impatience, which he expressed openly.

“What, do you feel vexed?” said Christian. “Well, that shows that you are excited; it is a good sign. You will be brilliant.”

“I hope so,” replied the lawyer; “though, to tell you the truth, it seems to me just now as if I should not be able to say a single word, and should break down. That would be extremely agreeable; it makes me dizzy to think of it. No case that I ever argued before the most august assembly, no question involving the life and honor of a client, or my own success, ever agitated my mind and strained my nerves as this farce is doing. Will those chatterboxes of women that I hear cackling through the doors never be quiet? Do they want to smother us in this box? I’ll break out and abuse them if this continues.”

Finally the three blows were struck. Two footmen, stationed in the gallery, opened simultaneously the two sides of the door, and the little theatre was seen to move forward lightly, as if of its own accord, and to take its place before the door-way, which it entirely filled. Four musicians, whom Christian had stipulated for, played a brief quartette in the Italian style. The curtain rose, and the applause which was given to the scenery afforded the operators time to place their marionettes in position for appearing upon the stage.

Christian never began his performances without inspecting his audience through a little peep-hole, which he had contrived for the purpose. The first person he saw happened to be the very one he was looking for. Margaret was seated next Olga, in the front row. She was in a delicious toilet, and looked positively ravishing. Christian next noticed the baron, who was in the front row of the gentlemen’s seats, behind those of the ladies, and whose lofty stature made him at once conspicuous. He was even paler, if possible, than the evening before. Massarelli did not seem to be present, but Christian saw with pleasure Major Larrson, Lieutenant Erwin Osburn, and the other young officers who, on the previous evening, during the ball and after it, had shown him such cordial sympathy, and whose ruddy countenances, already lighted up with the expectation of pleasure, were full of kindly interest. At the same time, Christian could hear them praising the scene.

“Why, that is Stollborg!” said several voices.

“True,” said Baron Olaus, in his metallic voice, “I really believe that they have tried to represent old Stollborg.”

As for M. Goefle, he could neither hear nor see; he was for the moment horribly discomposed. To give him time to recover himself, Christian began with a scene between two actors, which he played alone. His voice adapted itself with singular ease to the different utterances of the beings he was representing; and not only did he vary his intonations, he made each character, at the same time, use just the language which was best suited to its part and position in the little comedy. From the very outset the audience were charmed with his natural and truthful style. M. Goefle, whose duty it was for the moment to represent an old man, very soon came in with his part. At first he did not succeed very well in disguising his voice, but the audience were so far from suspecting his presence, and were so thoroughly convinced that Christian did all the talking, that there was the greatest amazement at the infinite resources of the operator.

“Wouldn’t you be willing to swear,” said Larrson, “that there were a dozen persons in there?”

“There must be four, at least,” said the lieutenant.

“No,” replied the major, “there are only two, the master and his assistant. But the assistant is a mere brute, who very seldom speaks, and who has not opened his mouth, so far.”

“But hark! there are two persons speaking. I distinctly hear two different voices.”

“Pure delusion!” replied the enthusiastic Larrson; “it is Christian Waldo all alone. He can represent two or three or four persons all at the same time, and more too, perhaps; who knows? He is the very devil. But attend to the piece; it is wonderfully entertaining. One would like to commit his plays to memory, so as to write them out.”

In spite of all this praise, however, we shall not undertake to enter into the details of this play for the reader’s benefit. Such fugitive compositions are like all oral or musical improvisations; it is a mistake to suppose that they would appear so well if transcribed and preserved. Their unexpectedness is a chief part of their attractiveness, and it is just because we can only recall them indistinctly, and that the imagination, therefore, has full opportunity to embellish them, that we remember them as so charming. Whatever Christian produced in these extempore efforts had always spirit, character, and taste. And as for the imperfections inseparable from an impromptu recitation, the rapid movement of the piece, and the artist’s adroitness in introducing new characters as soon as he found himself growing weary of those already upon the stage, caused them to be entirely overlooked.

As for M. Goefle, his genuine natural eloquence, his ready wit, when excited, and extensive and varied information, made it very easy for him to do his part, when he had once recovered from his fright. His promptness in seizing any fancy of his interlocutor, and making the most of it, gave rise to the most entertaining digressions; and the usual amazement at the variety and knowledge displayed in Waldo’s dialogue, was greater than ever.

Although declining to enter into the particulars of Christian’s comedy, we must at least explain how it was he had changed the first act; with which, in its original form, M. Goefle, it will be remembered, had been so deeply impressed.

Restrained by the fear of really compromising the advocate by some unintentional allusion, he had made the villain of the piece a comic character, a sort of Cassandre, deceived by his ward, and constantly seeking the _corpus delicti_--the Child of Mystery--but without any criminal designs against him. Christian was very much surprised, therefore, as he began the last scene of the first act, to hear a movement in the audience, as if a sort of shudder had passed over it, and a general whispering, which, to his practised ear, skilled in detecting the sentiments of his spectators, even while he himself was speaking, seemed to express blame rather than praise.

“What can have happened?” he asked himself.

Glancing at M. Goefle, he saw that he looked troubled, and was tapping the floor with one foot, as if vexed, while he moved his marionette nervously about upon the stage.

Christian, imagining that he had forgotten some part of the plot, hastened to relieve him by bringing forward the boatman, and, hurrying up the conclusion of the act, he lowered the curtain. This was followed neither by applause nor hisses, but there was a general rush in the audience, as if they were hurrying out, to avoid hearing anything further. Peeping through his eye-hole, before withdrawing the theatre behind the door for the intermission, he saw, in fact, that his whole audience, although not yet dispersed, had risen; and, with their backs turned towards the theatre, were discussing some event in low voices. The only words he could distinguish were: “_Gone out! He has gone out!_” And glancing round the room to see who could be meant, he saw that the baron was no longer in the gallery.

“Come,” said M. Goefle, nudging him with his elbow, “let’s move back into the green-room. Why are you waiting? It’s the intermission.”

The theatre, therefore, rolled back within the saloon, the doors were closed; and as he rapidly shifted his scenes for the second act, Christian asked M. Goefle if he had noticed anything in particular.

“The deuce!” said the lawyer, with a good deal of excitement; “I have done it finely this time! What do you say?”

“Your performance? It was excellent, M. Goefle.”

“I was stupid, crazy! It is inconceivable that a man accustomed to speak in public on the most delicate subjects, and about the most involved and doubtful cases, should have been overtaken by such an accident! Can you understand it?”

“But what accident, for heaven’s sake, Monsieur Goefle?”

“What, are you deaf? Did you not hear me make three most frightful blunders?”

“Pshaw! I probably made a hundred; it happens every day. Nobody notices them.”

“You think so? Nobody notices them? I’ll wager something that the baron left the room before we were through.”

“He did, that’s the fact! Is he so very critical that a careless connective or an ill-chosen word--”

“What! A thousand devils! That is not the matter at all! I would rather have had my tongue cut out than to have said what I did. While you were stooping down to bring the boat under the rocks, and I was making the men on guard talk, only imagine that I said three times, ‘the baron,’ instead of ‘Don Sancho’! I did, three times! Once by mere oversight, again when I had noticed it, and meant to correct myself; and a third time--I never heard of such a thing, Christian--to say exactly the very word that one intends not to say! There was some fatality about it; I am almost ready to believe, as our peasants do, that evil spirits intermeddle with our doings!”

“It is very curious, really,” said Christian, “but it might have happened to any one. Why are you so much annoyed about it, M. Goefle? The baron can never suspect that it was done on purpose. And besides, is he the only baron in the world? Are there not a dozen of them, perhaps, in the very audience before us? Come, let us attend to the second act; time is passing, and they may call for us at any moment.”

“If they don’t send to countermand the performance. There, some one is knocking!”

“It is the major-domo again. Step in under the frame, M. Goefle; I will put on my mask and open the door; he must see what is going on.”

When M. Goefle was out of sight, and Christian masked, the door was opened to M. Johan.

“What is the matter?” asked Christian, going promptly to the point. “Shall we go on?”

“Why not, M. Waldo?” said the major-domo.

“I fancied that his lordship was indisposed.”

“Oh, he often suffers from nervousness, when he remains long in one place. It is nothing, however. He has just sent me to tell you that you are to go on whether he returns or not; he would regret to have the company disappointed of their entertainment. But what an odd idea that was of yours, M. Christian, to represent our old Stollborg in your theatre!”

“I hoped it might please his lordship the baron,” said Christian, with effrontery. “Was I mistaken?”

“His lordship is enchanted with the idea; he said over and over, ‘Capital! How good it is! You would think it was the old donjon itself.’”

“I’m very glad indeed,” returned Christian; “in that case we’ll continue. Your servant, M. Major-domo! Come, M. Goefle, take courage,” he said, when Johan had gone; “you see it’s all correct, and that we have been only dreaming all day. Now I wager that the baron is the best fellow in the world, you will see that he will be converted, and we shall have to canonize him.”

The baron concluded to return, after all, and the second act, which was short and lively, seemed to amuse him extremely. Don Sancho did not appear. M. Goefle made no more slips of the tongue, and succeeded so well in disguising his voice, that nobody suspected his presence. In the next intermission he drank sundry glasses of port to keep up his spirits, and during the third and last act, which was even more successful than the two preceding ones, he was, perhaps, a little elevated.

The comic scenes in which Stentarello entertained the public, Christian varied with a sentimental by-plot between other characters. In the last act, Alonzo, the child of the lake, discovered that Rosita, the daughter of the worthy couple who had adopted and brought him up, was not his sister, whereupon he avowed his love to her. This well-known dramatic situation is always a delicate one to manage. There is something unwelcome in seeing a brother pass suddenly from a sacred friendship to a passion which, in spite of the change of circumstances, persists, as it were, in seeming unholy. This young girl and Alonzo were the only two of his characters whom Christian had not burlesqued. He had represented the latter as a good-hearted young man, with views and pursuits like his own. The audience felt a sympathy for his generous and adventurous qualities, and the ladies, quite forgetting that it was only a marionette which they beheld, were charmed with the pleasant voice which discoursed to them of love with a certain chaste tenderness, and in a frank tone, far different from the mannerisms of the fashionable French pastorals of the day.

Christian was familiar with Marivaux, whose works present such a striking union of elaborate thought, with simplicity of feeling and passionate emotion. He had been deeply penetrated with all that is true and great in this charming genius, and he really excelled in representing the part of a lover. The scene was too short. It was encored vehemently, and Christian, yielding to the wish of the public, picked up Alonzo again--he had already pulled him off his fingers--and brought him back upon the stage in a manner at once ingenious and natural.

“Did you call me?” he said to the young girl, and this simple phrase was uttered with an expression so timid, so profoundly loving, and so heart-felt, that Margaret hid her face behind her hand, to conceal a deep blush.

The fact is, that the young girl was passing through a strange experience. Out of all the audience, she alone had recognized in the voice of Alonzo that of Christian Goefle; perhaps because she alone had conversed with him sufficiently to remember his voice distinctly. It is true that Christian Waldo made his young lover talk in a higher key than his own natural intonation, but still there were certain inflections and vibrations that startled Margaret every moment. When the love scene came, she was absolutely certain; and yet Christian Goefle had not said a single word of love to her. She kept her thoughts to herself, however; and when Olga, who was cold and sarcastic, nudged her with her elbow, and asked if she was crying, the innocent child replied with artless hypocrisy that she had caught a bad cold, and was trying to smother her cough.

As for Olga, she, too, was dissimulating, though in a very different way. When the play was over, she pretended to feel a great contempt for the little gentleman, who was such a “bashful lover,” and yet her heart had been beating violently. In fact, there are some Russian women who are habitually heartless and calculating, but who, nevertheless, have very ardent passions. Olga had resolutely committed herself to an interested marriage; and yet, in spite of herself, she could not help feeling a secret horror of the baron, ever since she had been engaged to him. When he spoke to her after the play, his harsh voice and icy look gave her a chill, and she remembered without, or even against her intention, the soft tones and vivid expressions of Christian Waldo.

Upon his side, the baron seemed to be in excellent humor. The unfortunate Don Sancho, who was to have made his appearance again towards the close of the piece, had prudently been suppressed by M. Goefle. Between the first and second acts, he and Christian had agreed together as to this modification. They arranged to make Rosita the daughter of Don Sancho, who was supposed to have died during the intermission. She turned out to be the heiress of his vast fortune, and marries Alonzo at the end of the play, so as to make up for the spoliation which he had suffered. Adventures, blunders, romantic incidents, and comic scenes, and most of all Stentarello, with his ingenuous selfishness and his cowardice, filled out the slender framework of the little comedy, which was received with general enthusiasm, notwithstanding the dissent of M. Stangstadius, who did not listen to a single word, and pooh-poohed everything from beginning to end. He was quite out of patience to think that anybody could be interested in a frivolous affair in which there was nothing scientific.

Meanwhile, M. Goefle had thrown himself into an arm-chair in the green-room, where he was shut up with Christian; and while the latter, always active and industrious, busied himself with taking down, arranging, and folding all the different parts and implements of his theatre--packing the dramatis personæ into their box, and folding the theatre itself into one bundle, which, although heavy, could easily be carried--the advocate wiped the perspiration from his forehead, sipped his Spanish wine, and, in short, gave himself up, heart and soul, to enjoyment and relaxation, as he was in the habit of doing at home when he took off his professional robe and cap, to retire, as he was accustomed to phrase it, into the bosom of private life.

This charming man had experienced few disappointments in public life, and few private troubles. What he had really felt the want of, since he had settled down to the sober, tranquil career of a middle-aged man, was novelty, the element of adventure. This he pretended to hate, and thought he did hate it; and yet he suffered from the monotony of his existence, because he possessed a vivid imagination, and great versatility of talent. Naturally, therefore, at the present moment, he was in unusually high spirits, without knowing why. Although fatigued, and bathed in perspiration, he was sorry that the play was over; for at least ten additional acts, ready for performance, were floating in his mind.

“I ought to be ashamed of myself,” he said; “here am I resting, while you are hard at work setting things to rights. Cannot I help you?”

“No, no, M. Goefle, you would not know how. Besides, I have done already. Are you still too warm to think of walking back to Stollborg?”

“To Stollborg! Must we return there, and go off stupidly to bed, excited as we are?”

“Why, as to that, M. Goefle, it rests with you to step out of the door at the foot of this side stairway, and then go round to the main entrance and take supper (they have just rung the bell), and enjoy the amusements which, I presume, have been prepared for the remainder of the evening. But my part is played. Since you have denied your own blood, since I can no longer appear by your side under the name of Christian Goefle, I must go and take something or other to eat, and study a little mineralogy until I grow sleepy.”

“Sure enough, my poor boy, you must be tired.”

“I was before we began; now I am excited, just as you are, M. Goefle. In improvising, one is always most wound up when it is time to stop. Exactly when the curtain falls is just the right time to begin; you are full of fire, of feeling, of wit.”

“Very true, and I’ll stay with you for that reason, for you would be uncomfortable enough by yourself. I understand all about that state of mind. It is just so when one has concluded an argument; but this is even more stimulating. I would like myself to do I don’t know what, this very minute: recite a tragedy, compose a poem, set the house on fire, get drunk--anything to satisfy this craving of the mind after something out of the ordinary line.”

“Take care, M. Goefle,” said Christian, laughing, “the last may happen to you.”

“To me? Never! never! I am sorry to say that I am sober to excess--stupidly so, in fact.”

“But see there--that bottle is half empty!”

“Half a bottle of port for two--there is nothing scandalous in that, I hope?”

“I beg your pardon, but I haven’t touched it. I drank nothing but lemonade.”

“If that is so,” said M. Goefle, pushing away the glass he was about to fill, “hence, perfidious beverage! To get tipsy alone is the most melancholy business in the world. Will you come over to Stollborg and drink with me? Or--stay, when I was here this morning I heard somebody saying that there was to be a race by torchlight on the lake to-night, unless there should be more snow; but, on the contrary, the weather was magnificent when I came over. Let us join the party. Every one is privileged, you know, to appear disguised during the Christmas entertainments, and faith! I remember this moment that Countess Elveda said something about a masquerade.”

“A good idea,” said Christian, “and exactly in my line--the man in the mask! But what shall we do for costumes? I have a hundred or more there in my box, but neither of us could very well bring himself down to the size of a marionette.”

“Oh, perhaps we can find something over at Stollborg.”

“Not in my wardrobe then, most assuredly.”

“Well, in mine, perhaps. If we can’t do anything else, we can put on our clothes wrong side out. But a little imagination--”

“Very well! Go on, then, M. Goefle, I will follow you. I have still to load up Jean and receive my money. Take this mask; I have another. Possibly there may be some inquisitive fellows on the stairs.”

“Or some inquisitive ladies--on your account. Be quick, Christian! I’ll go on in advance.”

And M. Goefle, as springy and active as if but twenty years old, darted down stairs, pushing his way past the servants, and even jostling certain ladies, very carefully wrapped up, who had quietly crept in to try and see the famous Christian Waldo as he should pass. Christian himself, consequently, attracted no attention at all, and met comparatively few persons, when a moment afterwards he followed, carrying his box and his great bundle.

“That must be the assistant,” they said, “since he’s carrying the things. He must needs wear a mask too, the booby!”

And they lamented their ill-success in failing to catch the least glimpse of the face or even of the figure of Waldo himself, who had shot off like lightning.

When Christian had finished loading his ass, he returned to the green-room, and had scarcely entered it when M. Johan made an effort to take him by surprise, so as to satisfy his curiosity about him. The major-domo tried the door stealthily, hoping to enter without knocking, on the pretext of paying the amount due for the exhibition. Christian, conjecturing who his visitor was, resolved to have a little amusement at the expense of this insinuating gentleman. Accordingly, he masked himself carefully, and, leaving but one candle burning, opened the door, which he had not forgotten to lock, with a great deal of politeness.

“Have I the pleasure of speaking with M. Christian Waldo himself?” asked the major-domo, as he handed him the sum agreed on.

“The same!” said Christian; “you must surely remember my voice and dress, since you saw me only a little while ago.”

“Certainly, my dear fellow, but your assistant masks himself too, it seems; he passed me a while ago on the stairs, looking as mysterious as yourself, and wrapped up in much better style, by George! than he was yesterday, when you arrived.”

“The fact is that the rascal, instead of carrying my cloak on his arm, takes the liberty of putting it on his back. I let him do it, for he is a chilly sort of fellow.”

“Ah, indeed! Well, there is one thing about this chilly fellow that surprises me greatly. That is, that yesterday he was a full head shorter than you.”

“Does that surprise you?” said Christian, drawing on his powers of improvisation; “then you cannot have noticed his feet to-day.”

“Why no, really. Was he on stilts?”

“Not exactly, but on pattens four or five inches high.”

“But what for?”

“Why, M. Major-domo! How can a man as intelligent as yourself ask such a question as that?”

“I confess I don’t understand it,” said Johan, biting his lips.

“Well, then, M. Major-domo, you will easily see that if the two operators in a theatre like mine are not pretty nearly of the same height, one of them would have to let his head appear, which would not produce a good effect among the _burattini_, but would rather look as if an inhabitant of Saturn had come amongst them; or else the other, the shorter of the two, would have to stretch his arms up so high, that he could not endure the fatigue through two scenes.”

“Then your assistant wears pattens to bring him up to your height! Upon my word that’s very ingenious!” And Johan added, with a sceptical air:

“It’s singular that I did not hear the noise of those pattens, when he was going down stairs a while ago.”

“There again, M. Major-domo, your natural shrewdness seems to be slumbering! If those pattens were not well shod with felt they would make an insupportable clattering in the theatre.”

“Oh, that’s the reason, is it? But you don’t explain to me how it is that this fellow, vulgar and stupid as he is, can support you so brilliantly?”

“It can’t be explained,” answered Christian; “but, nevertheless, it is almost always the way with an artist. He shines on the stage--or I should say, in this case, under the stage--but once outside the theatre, he turns dark again, particularly if he happens to have the bad habit of drinking with the servants in the families where he may happen to stop.”

“What! Do you imagine that he has been drinking here with--”

“With some of your footmen. They must have given you a report of his interesting conversation, M. Major-domo, since you are so well informed about the low grade of his intelligence.”

Johan bit his lips again; and Christian felt convinced either that Puffo, in his drunkenness, had betrayed his incognito in a measure, or that Massarelli, for a sum of money, had done so without any reserve.

The only name that Puffo knew him by was Dulac, but Massarelli had known him under all his successive names, except, perhaps, that of Christian Goefle, so recently improvised. Christian tried to conjecture how this might be, while observing closely the major-domo’s evident and keen desire to see his face. He soon came to the conclusion that he was not so curious to satisfy his doubts as to his death’s head, as to ascertain whether or not the performer was one and the same person with M. Goefle’s pretended nephew, whose face the major-domo had seen plainly the evening before.

“Come, confess,” the latter said at last, after many insidious questions, to all of which the adventurer had replied very guardedly; “if some agreeable lady--a charming young person--say the Countess Margaret, for instance, should ask to see your face, would you be equally obstinate in refusing?”

“Who is the Countess Margaret?” asked Christian, in the most innocent manner in the world, though he felt a great inclination to give M. Johan a box on the ear.

“_Mon Dieu!_” rejoined the major-domo, “I mentioned her because she is by all odds the most beautiful woman in the chateau at the present time. Did you not see her?”

“Pray where could I have seen her?”

“In the front row of ladies.”

“Why! do you suppose that when I am playing a piece with twenty actors in it, almost entirely alone, I have time to look at the women?--”

“I don’t say that, but really now, would you not like to please a beautiful young lady?”

“To please her? M. Johan,” exclaimed Christian, with well-affected emotion, “without meaning it, you are asking me a very painful question. You do not seem to know that nature has been pleased to make me frightfully ugly, and that my unfortunate appearance is my only reason for taking so much pains to conceal myself.”

“It is so reported,” replied Johan, “but the contrary is also asserted; and his lordship, as well as all the company, and the ladies particularly, are extremely anxious to know what they are to believe.”

“I certainly could not subject myself to the pain of gratifying such a misplaced desire as that. I prefer to supply you with evidence which will enable you to dissuade them.”

As he spoke, Christian, relying upon the dim light which he had provided, lifted his black silk mask, and, as it were precipitately, and with a kind of desperate effort, suffered the major-domo to behold, for a moment, a second mask of waxed cloth, so skilfully made that it bore every resemblance to an actual human face; without close examination by a strong light, no one would have suspected the cheat. And what a face was thus disclosed--flat-nosed, sallow, and horribly blemished by a great wine-colored birth-mark! Johan, in spite of his suspicious nature, was deceived, and could not refrain from an exclamation of disgust.

“I really beg your pardon, my dear friend,” he exclaimed, recovering himself, “you are much to be pitied; and yet, your talent and your wit are advantages which I envy you.”

The major-domo was himself so ugly that Christian could scarcely refrain from bursting into a laugh at the idea that he should consider himself so much handsomer than the mask.

“And now,” he said, after replacing the black mask, “tell me frankly why you were so anxious to know the extent of my ugliness.”

“_Mon Dieu!_” exclaimed Johan, after a moment’s hesitation, assuming a confiding air, “I’ll tell you. And, by the way, if you would help me to find out a certain secret--a foolish joke which more than one person here is interested in discovering, you would confer a great obligation--you know what I mean--an obligation that would be munificently rewarded by the master of the house. It’s a mere piece of pleasantry; there’s a bet about it.”

“I would like nothing better,” answered Christian, curious to hear the communication, whose nature, however, he anticipated; “what is it?”

“You are lodging at Stollborg, are you not?”

“Yes; you would not take me in here.”

“Where did you sleep--in the bear-room?”

“I did, and capitally too.”

“Capitally, did you? The ghost they talk about--”

“It is not about a ghost that you want to question me. You don’t believe in them any more than I do.”

“True; but there was a strange apparition here at the ball, whom nobody knew. This you might have met at Stollborg.”

“No, I have seen no apparition.”

“But when I say an apparition--Did you not see a lawyer there, one M. Goefle, a very able man?”

“Yes; I had the honor of conversing with him this morning. He occupies the room there with two beds in it.”

“With his nephew?”

“I saw nothing of any nephew.”

“Nephew or not, a young man of about your height, whose voice I did not notice particularly, but with a very agreeable face, dressed in a black suit throughout--a very good-looking young fellow--”

“Good-looking? I wish to heaven it could have been myself, M. Johan! But I was so very sleepy that I should hardly have known it even if he had been there. I only saw a drunken fellow whom they call Ulphilas.”

“And did M. Goefle see nothing of this stranger?”

“I don’t think he did.”

“Did he know nothing of him?”

“Ah! that reminds me--yes, I recollect. I heard M. Goefle complaining about some person who had made use of his name to attend the ball. Is that it?”

“Exactly.”

“But, M. Major-domo, if you were so puzzled about this unknown, why didn’t you have him followed?”

“We were not puzzled at the time. He had given himself out for a near relative of the advocate, and, as a matter of course, we expected to see him again. It was only this morning, when the lawyer had disavowed him, that the baron thought of inquiring who the unknown could be, who, under a feigned name, had ventured to introduce himself into the house. No doubt it was some impertinent fellow who had laid a wager about it; one of the students from the Falun Mining-school, perhaps--unless, indeed, he really should be a natural son of the advocate--as he himself, it seems, intimated--whom his father, however, does not permit to assume his name.”

“All that seems to me hardly worth the trouble of so much inquiry,” observed Christian, with an air of indifference. “Will you allow me now, M. Major-domo, to go and have some supper?”

“Yes, by all means. You shall come and take supper with me.”

“No, thank you. I am very much fatigued; I must beg you to excuse me.”

“So you insist on going back to Stollborg. You must be very poorly accommodated there.”

“Very well, on the contrary.”

“But have you a bed, even?”

“I am to have one to-night.”

“Does that drunken Ulphilas provide you a decent table?”

“It could not be better.”

“Will you repeat your performance for us to-morrow?”

“At what time?”

“The same as this evening.”

“With great pleasure. Your obedient servant!”

“Ah, a single word, M. Waldo. Would it be an indiscretion to inquire what is your real name?”

“By no means, M. Johan. My real name is Stentarello, very much at your service.”

“You are a wag. I suppose it is you who always play that part in a comedy?”

“Always, except when it is my assistant.”

“You are mysterious!”

“Certainly, in matters that relate to the secrets of my theatre. Otherwise, I should have neither reputation nor success.”

“Well, at any rate, will you allow me to inquire why you named one of your characters the baron?”

“Ah, as to that, you must ask the footman who made Puffo drunk. For my part, I am used to his blunders, and I should never have noticed it, if he had not told me about it himself, in a great fright.”

“Had he perhaps picked up some foolish gossip or other?”

“About what? Will you be so good as to explain?”

“No, no, it is not worth the trouble,” replied Johan, who saw--thanks to Christian’s adroitness, or perhaps his carelessness--that their relative positions had become inverted, and that he himself, instead of asking questions, was being compelled to answer them. But still he could not help returning to a subject to which he had already referred.

“So, then,” he said, “it seems you have a scene so much like Stollborg as to be mistaken for it.”

“I had one that happened to look a little like Stollborg, yes, it is true; but I completed the resemblance on purpose.”

“Why?”

“Why, as I told you, by way of a compliment to the baron. I always make a point of representing some locality in the neighborhood wherever I may happen to be performing, so as to add to the attractiveness of my exhibitions. At my next stopping-place Stollborg will be changed again, and a new scene displayed. Did the baron think it poorly painted? No wonder, I had so very little time.”

While talking, Christian had amused himself by studying the disagreeable countenance of Johan. He was a man of about fifty, rather stout, vulgar in manner, and with features whose expression seemed at first good-natured and apathetic. But even the night before, Christian, as he handed him the letter of invitation found in M. Goefle’s pocket, had detected a sort of inquisitorial watchfulness, veiled by an assumed indifference, in his oblique glance. He was still more struck at present by these indications of a false, hypocritical character--a sort of caricature, as it seemed, of his master’s, the baron. Still, as Johan was nothing after all but an upper servant, without education or real finesse, Christian had no difficulty in playing a better comedy than he, and in effectually persuading him of the perfect innocence of his intentions. And in the meanwhile, for his own part, he obtained from the interview a quasi-certitude in regard to the story of Baroness Hilda. It seemed to him perfectly evident that a drama of some kind had been enacted at Stollborg, and that the baron had either been terrified or enraged at witnessing his performance; since it had represented in dramatic form, no matter with what intention, this triple conjunction: a prison, a victim, and a jailer.

X.

AS for Johan, he was assuredly the baron’s confidant, and perhaps had been one of the actors in this drama. He had tried to discover how far Christian Waldo, as a wandering story-teller, had become acquainted with the mystery; but Christian had adroitly insinuated that the servants of the chateau had been guilty of an indiscretion, and, for the present at least, had freed both himself and M. Goefle from any supposed participation in the matter.

We will now leave Christian, who proceeded philosophically to drive the heavily-laden Jean from the new chateau, and revert to certain matters that had been occurring during his interview with the major-domo. Let us go back to the moment when M. Goefle set out for Stollborg: the moon was rising, and the aurora borealis beginning to shine with renewed splendor, and lighted on his way by their combined effulgence, he walked rapidly across the lake, humming a tune, and every now and then unconsciously gesticulating.

By this time supper had been served to the guests at the new chateau, and the size and beauty of the splendid Christmas-cake, which, according to the Norwegian usage, was to remain uncut upon the table until the sixth of January, was attracting the admiration of the ladies. It was a masterpiece of confectionery; and, with due respect to the gallantry of the period as well as to the observances of a religious festival, it had been made to resemble the temple of Paphos. It was ornamented with monuments, trees, fountains, people and animals. The pastry-work, and crystallized sugar of all colors, imitated the most precious materials, and were elaborately wrought into the most fantastic forms.

The baron, on the plea of having important letters to read and answer, had intrusted the duty of doing the honors of the supper-table to an elderly single lady of his family, a person thoroughly accomplished in the duties of the mistress of the house, and a complete cipher in all other respects. The truth was, that the baron, who never lacked excuses for excluding himself when he happened to feel preoccupied, was, at the present moment, shut up in his private cabinet with a man with a pale face, who called himself Tebaldo, and who was no other than Guido Massarelli. Guido had not obtained this tête-à-tête without effort. Johan, who was very jealous of his master’s confidence, had tried to extract his secret from him, so as to turn it to his own advantage; but Massarelli was not the man to be deceived in that way. He had insisted; and after waiting about the chateau for the whole day, he had at last succeeded in obtaining the interview, whose results he had anticipated, when he had boasted in advance to Christian that he was a friend of the family. The conversation, which was carried on in French, begun with a strange narrative, to which the baron listened with a sarcastic and contemptuous expression.

“You have made a very startling statement,” he observed, at last, to Massarelli; “and I should even say, if I could believe what I have heard, a very important revelation. But I have so often been deceived in matters of a delicate nature, that I must insist on other proofs than mere verbal ones, before trusting you. The story you have related is strange, romantic, improbable--”

“And yet M. Stenson acknowledged its accuracy; he did not even attempt to deny it,” replied the Italian.

“So you say,” coldly answered the baron; “unfortunately, I am unable to corroborate your assertions. If I should interrogate Stenson, he would certainly deny it, whether it be true or imaginary.”

“Very probably, your lordship. A man so capable of dissimulation as to have imposed upon you for twenty years, will not be at a loss for a falsehood now; but, if you will contrive to overhear a conversation between us, you can learn the truth. I will undertake to make him admit it again, and in your hearing, provided he has no suspicion of your presence.”

“It would not be difficult, so deaf as he is, to introduce one’s self into his premises; but since, according to him, the person is dead, why need I concern myself about the past life of old Stenson? He must necessarily have acted in good faith; and though he had done me a great wrong by keeping silence, and thus permitting odious suspicions to rest upon me, yet--since time has rectified former prejudices--”

“Not so entirely as your lordship seems to believe,” observed the Italian, who was scarcely inferior to the baron himself in cool audacity. “The story is current throughout the country, and Christian Waldo must certainly have heard it on his way here.”

“If that were the case,” said the baron, with a look betraying his secret rage, “that juggler would never have dared introduce it in public, and before my very face, into a scene of his comedy.”

“And yet one of his scenes did really represent the old donjon. I examined the locality to-day, and Christian Waldo, who is lodging at Stollborg, must certainly have done the same. The Italians--they are very bold fellows, your lordship, these Italians!”

“I see they are, M. Tebaldo. You say that this Waldo is lodging at Stollborg, and therefore must have painted this scene on purpose, and from nature. It is hardly probable that he could have done it so quickly. The resemblance between his decoration and the old tower must have been accidental.”

“I think not, your lordship; Waldo has great facility, and paints as rapidly as he improvises.”

“You know him, then?”

“Yes, your lordship.”

“What is his real name?”

“That is what I proposed to communicate to your lordship, if the sum I have mentioned does not seem to you exorbitant.”

“But what interest can I have in learning his real name?”

“An interest that is immense; _all important_.”

The emphasis with which the pretended Tebaldo pronounced these last words, seemed to make some impression on the baron.

“You say,” he resumed, after a pause, “that the person referred to is dead?”

“Stenson affirms that it is so.”

“And you?”

“I doubt it.”

“Perhaps Christian Waldo knows?”

“He knows nothing at all about it.”

“You are certain of that?”

“I am certain.”

“But you are trying to give me to understand that this person is the same with--”

“I did not say that, your lordship.”

“Then you are trying to say it and not to say it. You wish to be paid in advance for information probably chimerical.”

“No, I have only demanded your lordship’s signature, to be used in case you shall afterwards be satisfied with what you receive from me.”

“I never give my signature. If any one doubts me, so much the worse for him.”

“In that case, your lordship, I will carry my secret away with me again. He whom it concerns, at least as much as it does yourself, shall have it for nothing.”

Tebaldo was going resolutely out of the cabinet, when the baron recalled him. These two men were both secretly agitated, and for a similar cause: they were afraid of each other. Before Guido had had time to lay his hand upon the knob of the door, he said to himself: “I am crazy; the baron will have me assassinated to secure my silence.” Upon his side, the baron reflected: “Perhaps he has already spoken; he alone can tell me what I really have to fear.”

“M. Tebaldo,” said the baron, “suppose I should tell you that I have known him longer than you imagine?”

“I should be delighted on your account, your lordship,” answered the Italian, with audacity.

“This person is not dead. He is here--or at least he was here yesterday. I saw him, and recognized him.”

“Recognized him?” said Massarelli, with surprise.

“Yes, recognized. I know what I am saying. He called himself by the name of Goefle, either with or without the permission of a respectable gentleman of that name. You can therefore speak freely. You see that I am on the right track, and that it is simply puerile to endeavor to direct my suspicions upon this mountebank, Waldo.”

The Italian, astonished, was silent. He had arrived only that morning, and knew nothing of what had passed the evening before. He had met M. Goefle, but without knowing who he was. He could not speak Swedish, and still less Dalecarlian; and had found no one to talk to except the major-domo, who could speak a little French, but was very distrustful. Accordingly he was perfectly ignorant of the appearance of Christian Goefle at the ball, and really did not know what the baron was speaking about. The latter, on seeing his surprise and discomfiture, imagined that he was confounded, by finding him already in possession of the truth.

“Come,” he said, “speak out, and make an end of it. Tell me the whole. You may rely upon a recompense corresponding to the service which you may render me.”

But the Italian had already recovered his assurance. Persuaded that the baron was on a false scent, and resolved not to surrender his secret for an inadequate recompense, his only thought at present was to gain time, and to escape from the clutches of this man who was reputed so terrible, and who might play him an ill turn in case of a peremptory refusal to explain himself.

“Is your lordship willing,” he said, “to give me twenty-four thousand crowns, and allow me twenty-four hours to place in your presence, and within your power, the person whom it is so much for your interest to know?”

“Twenty-four thousand crowns is little,” replied the baron, ironically; “twenty-four hours is a great deal.”

“It is but little, for a man who is alone.”

“Are you in want of assistance? I have very adroit and trustworthy people in my employment.”

“If I am to share the twenty-four thousand crowns with them, I would rather act alone, at my own risk and peril.”

“But which is it that you propose to do?”

“Whatever your lordship shall direct.”

“Indeed! You seem to be suggesting--”

At this moment, the baron was interrupted by a sort of scratching upon the outside of one of the doors of the cabinet.

“Wait here for me,” he said to Massarelli, and went out into another room.

Guido now rapidly reviewed the situation. He was terrified by the baron’s calmness, and began to think that correspondence would be a more prudent mode of transacting the business. Hoping to escape, he crossed the room, and tried the door by which he had entered. It was shut and latched by some secret device, which he could not detect, notwithstanding a certain degree of mechanical skill. He looked out of the window; it was eighty feet from the ground.

He noiselessly tried the door by which the baron had gone out; it was as close shut as the other. The desk stood open, and within it was visible a delectable assemblage of rouleaux of gold.

“Ah!” said Massarelli to himself, with a sigh; “the doors must needs be strong, and the locks good, if they trust me here alone with all those bright pieces.”

His position began to seem to him serious, and even alarming. He listened, hoping to catch what was said in the next room, but could not distinguish a single word. However, we shall take the liberty of reporting the conversation that was held there:

“Well, Johan,” said the baron, “did you succeed? Did you see this Waldo’s face?”

“Yes, your lordship. He is not yesterday’s man; he is a monster.”

“Worse looking than you?”

“I am a beauty compared with him.”

“Did you have a good look at him?”

“As distinct as I have of you, at the present moment.”

“Did you take him by surprise?”

“Not at all. I said I was curious to see him, and he was so obliging as to unmask.”

“And how about the other, the false Goefle?”

“No news.”

“Very singular. Has nobody seen anything of him anywhere?”

“This Waldo did not meet him at Stollborg, and M. Goefle knows nothing at all about him.”

“Perhaps Ulphilas may have seen him?”

“Ulphilas declares that nobody has been at Stollborg but M. Goefle, his domestic, and this frightful looking fellow, whom I just now saw myself.”

“M. Goefle has a domestic, has he? That is our unknown in disguise.”

“It’s a child of ten years old.”

“Then I am quite at a loss.”

“Has your lordship received any information from this Italian?”

“No; he is either a liar or a lunatic. But in any event, I must discover the incognito fellow who insulted me. You say he smoked and talked with Major Larrson and his friends?”

“Yes, in the lower saloon.”

“Then those young men are hiding him; he is at the major’s bostoelle!”

“I will have it watched. The major is not the man to keep a secret, with that careless way of his. He came here this morning, and has not been home to-day. His lieutenant--”

“Is an ass! But these young people hate me.”

“What have you to fear from this unknown?”

“Everything, and nothing. What do you think of this Tebaldo?”

“A blackguard.”

“Then we must not let go of him. You understand?”

“Perfectly.”

“How far are they with supper?”

“The dessert will be served shortly.”