Delphi Collected Works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe \(Illustrated\) pdfdrive com

CHAPTER XVII

Ottilie heard some one ride away, and went to the window in time just to catch

a sight of Edward’s back. It was strange, she thought, that he should have left the

house  without  seeing  her,  without  having  even  wished  her  good  morning.  She

grew  uncomfortable,  and  her  anxiety  did  not  diminish  when  Charlotte  took  her

out  for  a  long  walk,  and  talked  of  various  other  things;  but  not  once,  and

apparently on purpose, mentioning her husband. When they returned she found

the table laid with only two covers. It is unpleasant to miss even the most trifling

thing to which we have been accustomed. In serious things such a loss becomes

miserably painful. Edward and the Captain were not there. The first time, for a

long  while,  Charlotte  sat  at  the  head  of  the  table  herself  —  and  it  seemed  to

Ottilie as if she was deposed. The two ladies sat opposite each other; Charlotte

talked, without the least embarrassment, of the Captain and his appointment, and

of the little hope there was of seeing him again for a long time. The only comfort

Ottilie  could  find  for  herself  was  in  the  idea  that  Edward  had  ridden  after  his

friend, to accompany him a part of his journey.

On rising from table, however, they saw Edward’s traveling carriage under the

window. Charlotte, a little as if she was put out, asked who had had it brought

round there. She was told it was the valet, who had some things there to pack up.

It required all Ottilie Is self-command to conceal her wonder and her distress.

The  valet  came  in,  and  asked  if  they  would  be  so  good  as  to  let  him  have  a

drinking  cup  of  his  master’s,  a  pair  of  silver  spoons,  and  a  number  of  other

things,  which  seemed  to  Ottilie  to  imply  that  he  was  gone  some  distance,  and

would be away for a long time.

Charlotte gave him a very cold, dry answer. She did not know what he meant

— he had everything belonging to his master under his own care. What the man

wanted was to speak a word to Ottilie, and on some pretence or other to get her

out of the room; he made some clever excuse, and persisted in his request so far

that Ottilie asked if she should go to look for the things for him? But Charlotte

quietly  said  that  she  had  better  not.  The  valet  had  to  depart,  and  the  carriage

rolled away.

It  was  a  dreadful  moment  for  Ottilie.  She  understood  nothing  —

comprehended  nothing.  She  could  only  feel  that  Edward  had  been  parted  from

her for a long time. Charlotte felt for her situation, and left her to herself.

We will not attempt to describe what she went through, or how she wept. She

suffered infinitely. She prayed that God would help her only over this one day.

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The  day  passed,  and  the  night,  and  when  she  came  to  herself  again  she  felt

herself a changed being.

She  had  not  grown  composed.  She  was  not  resigned,  but  after  having  lost

what  she  had  lost,  she  was  still  alive,  and  there  was  still  something  for  her  to

fear. Her anxiety, after returning to consciousness, was at once lest, now that the

gentlemen  were  gone,  she  might  be  sent  away  too.  She  never  guessed  at

Edward’s  threats,  which  had  secured  her  remaining  with  her  aunt.  Yet

Charlotte’s manner served partially to reassure her. The latter exerted herself to

find employment for the poor girl, and hardly ever, — never, if she could help it,

— left her out of her sight; and although she knew well how little words can do

against the power of passion, yet she knew, too, the sure though slow influence

of  thought  and  reflection,  and  therefore  missed  no  opportunity  of  inducing

Ottilie to talk with her on every variety of subject.

It was no little comfort to Ottilie when one day Charlotte took an opportunity

of  making  (she  did  it  on  purpose)  the  wise  observation,  “How  keenly  grateful

people were to us when we were able by stilling and calming them to help them

out of the entanglements of passion! Let us set cheerfully to work,” she said, “at

what  the  men  have  left  incomplete:  we  shall  be  preparing  the  most  charming

surprise  for  them  when  they  return  to  us,  and  our  temperate  proceedings  will

have  carried  through  and  executed  what  their  impatient  natures  would  have

spoilt.”

“Speaking of temperance, my dear aunt, I cannot help saying how I am struck

with the intemperance of men, particularly in respect of wine. It has often pained

and  distressed  me,  when  I  have  observed  how,  for  hours  together,  clearness  of

understanding,  judgment,  considerateness,  and  whatever  is  most  amiable  about

them, will be utterly gone, and instead of the good which they might have done

if they had been themselves, most disagreeable things sometimes threaten. How

often  may  not  wrong,  rash  determinations  have  arisen  entirely  from  that  one

cause!”

Charlotte  assented,  but  she  did  not  go  on  with  the  subject.  She  saw  only  too

clearly  that  it  was  Edward  of  whom  Ottilie  was  thinking.  It  was  not  exactly

habitual with him, but he allowed himself much more frequently than was at all

desirable to stimulate his enjoyment and his power of talking and acting by such

indulgence.  If  what  Charlotte  had  just  said  had  set  Ottilie  thinking  again  about

men,  and  particularly  about  Edward,  she  was  all  the  more  struck  and  startled

when her aunt began to speak of the impending marriage of the Captain as of a

thing  quite  settled  and  acknowledged.  This  gave  a  totally  different  aspect  to

affairs from what Edward had previously led her to entertain. It made her watch

every expression of Charlotte’s, every hint, every action, every step. Ottilie had

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become jealous, sharp-eyed, and suspicious, without knowing it.

Meanwhile,  Charlotte  with  her  clear  glance  looked  through  the  whole

circumstances  of  their  situation,  and  made  arrangements  which  would  provide,

among  other  advantages,  full  employment  for  Ottilie.  She  contracted  her

household,  not  parsimoniously,  but  into  narrower  dimensions;  and,  indeed,  in

one point of view, these moral aberrations might be taken for a not unfortunate

accident.  For  in  the  style  in  which  they  had  been  going  on,  they  had  fallen

imperceptibly into extravagance; and from a want of seasonable reflection, from

the  rate  at  which  they  had  been  living,  and  from  the  variety  of  schemes  into

which  they  had  been  launching  out,  their  fine  fortune,  which  had  been  in

excellent condition, had been shaken, if not seriously injured.

The improvements which were going on in the park she did not interfere with;

she rather sought to advance whatever might form a basis for future operations.

But here, too, she assigned herself a limit. Her husband on his return should still

find abundance to amuse himself with.

In  all  this  work  she  could  not  sufficiently  value  the  assistance  of  the  young

architect. In a short time the lake lay stretched out under her eyes, its new shores

turfed  and  planted  with  the  most  discriminating  and  excellent  judgment.  The

rough work at the new house was all finished. Everything which was necessary

to  protect  it  from  the  weather  she  took  care  to  see  provided,  and  there  for  the

present she allowed it to rest in a condition in which what remained to be done

could  hereafter  be  readily  commenced  again.  Thus  hour  by  hour  she  recovered

her  spirits  and  her  cheerfulness.  Ottilie  only  seemed  to  have  done  so.  She  was

only for ever watching, in all that was said and done, for symptoms which might

show her whether Edward would be soon returning: and this one thought was the

only one in which she felt any interest.

It was, therefore, a very welcome proposal to her when it was suggested that

they should get  together the  boys of  the peasants,  and employ  them in keeping

the  park  clean  and  neat.  Edward  had  long  entertained  the  idea.  A  pleasant  —

looking  sort  of  uniform  was  made  for  them,  which  they  were  to  put  on  in  the

evenings  after  they  had  been  properly  cleaned  and  washed.  The  wardrobe  was

kept  in  the  castle;  the  more  sensible  and  ready  of  the  boys  themselves  were

intrusted with the management of it — the Architect acting as chief director. In a

very short time, the children acquired a kind of character. It was found easy to

mold them into what was desired; and they went through their work not without

a sort of manoeuvre. As they marched along, with their garden shears, their long-

handled  pruning-knives,  their  rakes,  their  little  spades  and  hoes,  and  sweeping-

brooms;  others  following  after  these  with  baskets  to  carry  off  the  stones  and

rubbish;  and  others,  last  of  all,  trailing  along  the  heavy  iron  roller  —  it  was  a

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thoroughly pretty, delightful procession. The Architect observed in it a beautiful

series  of  situations  and  occupations  to  ornament  the  frieze  of  a  garden-house.

Ottilie, on the other hand, could see nothing in it but a kind of parade, to salute

the master of the house on his near return.

And  this  stimulated  her  and  made  her  wish  to  begin  something  of  the  sort

herself.  They  had  before  endeavored  to  encourage  the  girls  of  the  village  in

knitting,  and  sewing,  and  spinning,  and  whatever  else  women  could  do;  and

since  what  had  been  done  for  the  improvement  of  the  village  itself,  there  had

been  a  perceptible  advance  in  these  descriptions  of  industry.  Ottilie  had  given

what assistance was in her power, but she had given it at random, as opportunity

or  inclination  prompted  her;  now  she  thought  she  —  would  go  to  work  more

satisfactorily  and  methodically.  But  a  company  is  not  to  be  formed  out  of  a

number  of  girls,  as  easily  as  out  of  a  number  of  boys.  She  followed  her  own

good sense, and, — without being exactly conscious of it, her efforts were solely

directed  toward  connecting  every  girl  as  closely  as  possible  each  with  her  own

home,  her  own  parents,  brothers  and  sisters:  and  she  succeeded  with  many  of

them.  One  lively  little  creature  only  was  incessantly  complained  of  as  showing

no capacity for work, and as never likely to do anything if she were left at home.

Ottilie  could  not  be  angry  with  the  girl,  for  to  herself  the  little  thing  was

especially attached — she  clung to her,  went after her, and  ran about with her,

whenever she was permitted — and then she would be active and cheerful and

never  tire.  It  appeared  to  be  a  necessity  of  the  child’s  nature  to  hang  about  a

beautiful  mistress.  At  first,  Ottilie  allowed  her  to  be  her  companion;  then  she

herself began to feel a sort of affection for her; and, at last, they never parted at

all, and Nanny attended her mistress wherever she went.

The  latter’s  footsteps  were  often  bent  toward  the  garden,  where  she  liked  to

watch the beautiful show of fruit. It was just the end of the raspberry and cherry

season, the few remains of which were no little delight to Nanny. On the other

trees  there  was  a  promise  of  a  magnificent  bearing  for  the  autumn,  and  the

gardener talked of nothing but his master and how he wished that he might be at

home to enjoy it. Ottilie could listen to the good old man forever! He thoroughly

understood his business; and Edward — Edward — Edward — was for ever the

theme of his praise!

Ottilie observed how well all the grafts which had been budded in the spring

had taken. “I only wish,” the gardener answered, “my good master may come to

enjoy them. If he were here this autumn, he would see what beautiful sorts there

are in the old castle garden, which the late lord, his honored father, put there. I

think the fruit-gardeners there are now don’t succeed as well as the Carthusians

used  to  do.  We  find  many  fine  names  in  the  catalogue,  and  then  we  bud  from

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them,  and  bring  up  the  shoots,  and,  at  last,  when  they  come  to  bear,  it  is  not

worth while to have such trees standing in our garden.”

Over and over again, whenever the faithful old servant saw Ottilie, he asked

when  his  master  might  be  expected  home;  and  when  Ottilie  had  nothing  to  tell

him, he would look vexed, and let her see in his manner that he thought she did

not  care  to  tell  him:  the  sense  of  uncertainty  which  was  thus  forced  upon  her

became  painful  beyond  measure,  and  yet  she  could  never  be  absent  from  these

beds  and  borders.  What  she  and  Edward  had  sown  and  planted  together  were

now in full flower, requiring no further care from her, except that Nanny should

be  at  hand  with  the  watering-pot;  and  who  shall  say  with  what  sensations  she

watched the later flowers, which were just beginning to show, and which were to

be in the bloom of their beauty on Edward’s birthday, the holiday to which she

had  looked  forward  with  such  eagerness,  when  these  flowers  were  to  have

expressed  her  affection  and  her  gratitude  to  him!  But  the  hopes  which  she  had

formed  of  that  festival  were  dead  now,  and  doubt  and  anxiety  never  ceased  to

haunt the soul of the poor girl.

Into  real  open,  hearty  understanding  with  Charlotte,  there  was  no  more  a

chance  of  her  being  able  to  return;  for  indeed,  the  position  of  these  two  ladies

was very different. If things could remain in their old state — if it were possible

that  they  could  return  again  into  the  smooth,  even  way  of  calm,  ordered  life,

Charlotte  gained  everything;  she  gained  happiness  for  the  present,  and  a  happy

future opened before her. On the other hand, for Ottilie all was lost — one may

say, all; for she had first found in Edward what life and happiness meant; and, in

her  present  position,  she  felt  an  infinite  and  dreary  chasm  of  which  before  she

could have formed no conception. A heart which seeks, feels well that it wants

something;  a  heart  which  has  lost,  feels  that  something  is  gone  —  its  yearning

and its longing change into uneasy impatience — and a woman’s spirit, which is

accustomed  to  waiting  and  to  enduring,  must  now  pass  out  from  its  proper

sphere,  must  become  active  and  attempt  and  do  something  to  make  its  own

happiness.  Ottilie  had  not  given  up  Edward  —  how  could  she?  Although

Charlotte, wisely enough, in spite of her conviction to the contrary, assumed it as

a  thing  of  course,  and  resolutely  took  it  as  decided  that  a  quiet  rational  regard

was  possible  between  her  husband  and  Ottilie.  How  often,  however,  did  not

Ottilie remain at nights, after bolting herself into her room, on her knees before

the  open  box,  gazing  at  the  birthday  presents,  of  which  as  yet  she  had  not

touched a single thing — not cut out or made up a single dress! How often with

the sunrise did the poor girl hurry out of the house, in which she once had found

all her happiness, away into the free air, into the country which then had had no

charms  for  her.  Even  on  the  solid  earth  she  could  not  bear  to  stay;  she  would

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spring into the boat, row out into the middle of the lake, and there, drawing out

some  book  of  travels,  lie  rocked  by  the  motion  of  the  waves,  reading  and

dreaming that she was far away, where she would never fail to find her friend —

she remaining ever nearest to his heart, and he to hers.

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