CHAPTER III.—MRS. DOTE.
There,—all at once, the road again expanding, the castle stood before their astonished gaze, in its ancient splendour! Two gigantic bears, carved in stone, which gave name to the castle, stood like sentinels before it; whilst bounding deer on the pillars, and a pair of monstrous stag's horns on the pediment, showed it to be, as of old, a hunting castle. Lofty gates opening upon broad flights of steps led to a green turfed front court, where, in the midst of flowering shrubs, a splendid fountain threw aloft its silvery jet of water. The last golden beams of the setting sun lit up the beautiful old building, and the children stood enraptured, seeming almost to have entered into Fairyland.
"Now, where are you going?" inquired in a somewhat surprised, but not unfriendly voice, an old gentleman handsomely dressed in blue uniform with white facings, who was pacing slowly up and down with a thick cane, to which was attached a thick tassel. Fritz supposing that at least he must be a general, and hardly knowing what title sufficiently elevated to give him, replied, "Your pardon, dear prince!" this being a style of address to dignified persons, which he had met with in an old almanac,—"Your pardon, but we are only going to Mrs. Dote, the housekeeper. You know Mrs. Dote, perhaps," he added, with a certain degree of consequence.
"Oh, yes, to Mrs. Housekeeper Walter," returned he graciously, and smiling to himself at the grand title which had been given, for he was no greater a personage than the porter. "You must simply ring at the little side-door yonder. Mrs. Housekeeper told me that she was expecting some visitors;" and he pointed out with his stick the direction in which they must go.
Encouraged by this gracious reception, and yet anxious, nevertheless, the children advanced to the wing of the castle which had been indicated, and which opened into the inner court, where again they had another view of the castle, which on this side, lying in deep shadow, looked still more imposing and mysterious than in the front. Here, seated on a bench in a little garden, sat a stately lady, with her hands lying gracefully one upon the other in her lap, and who had turned her head towards the shyly-advancing children.
"So, so, there comes at last my little schoolmaster!" exclaimed she in a pleasant voice as they approached. "Well, it is nice that you are come! Yes, yes, mountain and valley cannot meet, but people can! How little I thought that the baby Fritz that I carried in my arms to be baptized, and dandled so nicely to keep him from crying, would one day come to see me such a fine young fellow! But now, come in with me, you must be hungry."
Anything more charming than Mrs. Dote's little parlour could not be imagined; the children thought that the princess herself could not live in one more beautiful. It was full of all such old, carved furniture as was superfluous in the castle; a little sofa and high-backed chairs of faded blue silk damask; a cabinet and table of marqueterie and ormolu; a splendid fire-screen, on which figured, in faded embroidery, a shepherdess with her flock of sheep feeding around her. By the stove stood a basket lined with wool, in which lay a fat lap-dog, so soundly asleep as only to make a little grumbling as the children entered; a beautiful cage hung in the window, in which was a canary bird, now too aged to sing; vases of artificial flowers; portraits of princely personages; every kind of splendour, in short, which was not wanted elsewhere, gave to this apartment a princely appearance; and the children, who had never in their lives seen anything more beautiful than the bright sofa which stood in the parsonage parlour, were dumb with reverential wonder.
But it was not possible to remain very long silent with Mrs. Walter, as she was called at the castle; she was lively and talkative, and knew how to win the children's confidence. She led them to talk to her about their life at home, about their parents and their little brothers, and she in her turn told them of the time when she and their parents lived such near neighbours.
"I had not such a very easy life in those days," she said. "I had been left an orphan when very young, and for many years was knocked about amongst strangers. The lady I then lived with was very queer-tempered and proud; for it often happens, that those who have only riches to boast of, are not nearly so affable and considerate as the truly nobly born. I had no parents, no brothers nor sisters, and felt myself quite alone in the world. Then came your parents, and as I myself was the daughter of a schoolmaster, I had naturally a liking for schoolmasters. Your mother is of a timid, gentle nature. I was much older, and had, as a matter of course, much more experience than she; I therefore was able to help her in many ways, and, in short, I found quite a home with your parents. We had very nice times together, and sympathized with each other in joy and in sorrow. I could not have stayed in my place when they left if I had not become acquainted with my blessed late husband, the castle house-steward, who, when we married, brought me here, where it was quite another thing to living in the house merely of a wealthy baron."
"Was your gentleman-husband, the castle house-steward, as elegant as the gentleman out there in the blue coat?" asked Fritz.
"As he?" asked Mrs. Walter, with offended pride. "Get along with you! He is a simple porter, and was my husband's underling! You should have seen my husband in his grand official uniform, with his beautiful white hair and his bunch of keys, going through the castle before the grandees, and relating everything from the days of the late prince up to the time of the ever-blessed Emperor Charlemagne! I learnt it all off from him, and it is to me just as if I had been born and brought up in the castle. But now, children, you must have your suppers. Barbett has made us some currant-marmalade; to-night you must go to bed early; to-morrow you shall see everything."
The children would gladly have seen something of the castle that night. Through the window they could see only in the moonlight mysterious-looking marble statues, and hear the splash of the fountain; but they expressed their acquiescence, and after they had eaten the currant marmalade, which did great credit to Barbett, they were conducted to their beds, where a new delight awaited them.
For Mina a bed had been prepared in the lady housekeeper's own pretty chamber, whilst that for Fritz was in a small room adjoining, where all kinds of curiosities were stowed together. But they did not forget, according to the promise they had made their mother, before going to sleep, to thank their Father in heaven, who had brought them safely to the end of their journey. Mina, in going to sleep, looked upon a large portrait of some princely child in a rose-coloured laced coat, and with high-dressed hair. Fritz, on the other hand, was faced by an ancient folding-screen, upon which an Indian princess was riding on an elephant. They both, however, soon dropped asleep, to pass into a world of wonderful dreams.