"It will save time,"she said,"if you write the rough draft of the letter from my dictation.I am accustomed to dictate my letters,with Minna for secretary.Of course,you shall see the fair copy before I seal it."She began to walk up and down the little room,with her hands crossed behind her in the attitude made famous by the great Napoleon.After a minute of consideration,she dictated the draft as follows:
"Sir,--I am well aware that scandalous reports at Wurzburg have prejudiced you against me.Those reports,so far as I know,may be summed up under three heads.
"(First.)That my husband died in debt through my extravagance.
"(Second.)That my respectable neighbors refuse to associate with me.
"(Third.)That I entrapped your son Fritz into asking for my daughter's hand in marriage,because I knew his father to be a rich man.
"To the first calumny I reply,that the debts are due to expensive chemical experiments in which my late husband engaged,and that I have satisfied the creditors to the last farthing.Grant me an audience,and Iwill refer you to the creditors themselves.
"To the second calumny I reply,that I received invitations,on my arrival in Wurzburg after my marriage,from every lady of distinguished social position in the town.After experience of the society thus offered to me,I own to having courteously declined subsequent invitations,and having devoted myself in retirement to my husband,to my infant child,and to such studies in literature and art as I had time to pursue.Gossip and scandal,with an eternal accompaniment of knitting,are not to my taste;and,while I strictly attend to domestic duties,I do not consider them as constituting,in connection with tea-drinking,the one great interest of a woman's life.I plead guilty to having been foolish enough to openly acknowledge these sentiments,and to having made bitter enemies everywhere as the necessary consequence.If this plain defense of myself fails to satisfy you,grant me an audience,and I will answer your questions,whatever they may be.
"To the third calumny,I reply,that if you had been a Prince instead of a merchant,I would still have done everything in my power to keep your son away from my daughter--for this simple reason,that the idea of parting with her to any man fills me with grief and dismay.I only yielded to the marriage engagement,when the conviction was forced upon me that my poor child's happiness depended on her union with your son.It is this consideration alone which induces me to write to you,and to humiliate myself by pleading for a hearing.As for the question of money,if through some unexpected misfortune you became a bankrupt to-morrow,Iwould entreat you to consent to the marriage exactly as I entreat you now.Poverty has no terrors for me while I have health to work.But Icannot face the idea of my child's life being blighted,because you choose to believe the slanders that are spoken of her mother.For the third time I ask you to grant me an audience,and to hear me in my own defense."There she paused,and looked over my shoulder.
"I think that is enough,"she said."Do you see anything objectionable in my letter?"How could I object to the letter?From beginning to end,it was strongly,and yet moderately,expressed.I resigned my place at the desk,and the widow wrote the fair copy,with her own hand.She made no change whatever,except by adding these ominous lines as a post:
"I implore you not to drive me to despair.A mother who is pleading for her child's life--it is nothing less,in this case--is a woman who surely asserts a sacred claim.Let no wise man deny it.""Do you think it quite discreet,"I ventured to ask,"to add those words?"She looked at me with a moment's furtive scrutiny,and only answered after she had sealed the letter,and placed it in my hands.
"I have my reasons,"she replied."Let the words remain."Returning to the house at rather a late hour for Frankfort,I was surprised to find Mr.Keller waiting to see me.
"I have had a talk with my partner,"he said."It has left (for the time only,I hope),a painful impression on both sides--and I must ask you to do me a service,in the place of Mr.Engelman--who has an engagement to-morrow,which prevents him from leaving Frankfort."His tone indicated plainly enough that the "engagement"was with Madame Fontaine.Hard words must have passed between the two old friends on the subject of the widow.Even Mr.Engelman's placid temper had,no doubt,resented Mr.Keller's conduct at the meeting in the hall.
"The service I ask of you,"he resumed,"will be easily rendered.The proprietor of a commercial establishment at Hanau is desirous of entering into business-relations with us,and has sent references to respectable persons in the town and neighborhood,which it is necessary to verify.We are so busy in the office that it is impossible for me to leave Frankfort myself,or to employ our clerks on this errand.I have drawn out the necessary instructions--and Hanau,as you are aware,is within an easy distance of Frankfort.Have you any objection to be the representative of the house in this matter?"It is needless to say that I was gratified by the confidence that had been placed in me,and eager to show that I really deserved it.We arranged that I should leave Frankfort by the earliest conveyance the next morning.
On our way upstairs to our bed-chambers,Mr.Keller detained me for a moment more.
"I have no claim to control you in the choice of your friends,"he said;"but I am old enough to give you a word of advice.Don't associate yourself too readily,David,with the woman whom I found here to-night."He shook hands cordially,and left me.I thought of Madame Fontaine's letter in my pocket,and felt a strong conviction that he would persist in his refusal to read it.
The servants were the only persons stirring in the house,when I rose the next morning.Unobserved by anyone,I placed the letter on the desk in Mr.Keller's private room.That done,I started on my journey to Hanau.
