"If he feels like it; he can do as he pleases. Good-by, Herr---- Pigglewitch, I believe?" and a faint smile hovered about the doctor's lips.
"No, my name is Von Ernau," Egon rejoined, simply.
"What the deuce! Herr von Ernau, the long-expected proprietor of Plagnitz?" the doctor exclaimed, evidently much pleased. "Ah, this will delight my old friend Sieveking; and Herr Storting, too, has been very anxious for your arrival. I am doubly glad that you have escaped so well from the Dombrowker Pass. I'll come to-morrow to see how you are getting along, but I cannot stay another minute now,--I have two patients desperately ill at Ostrowko. Good-morning to you, Herr von Ernau, and to you too, Wangen. Don't trouble yourself, I know my way perfectly."
And the vivacious little man had bowed himself out of the room before Wangen had recovered from his surprise. The name Ernau solved a riddle that had often puzzled him. Egon von Ernau, the wealthy young fellow who had been selected for Bertha's husband, had then passed some weeks at Castle Osternau under the name of Herr Candidate Pigglewitch. At last he comprehended why young Ernau had, as he had been told by Werner von Massenburg, laid claim to Bertha's hand immediately upon his return to Berlin, although, as Werner had further declared, his pretensions met with a decided rebuff from himself, since Bertha's heart was no longer her own. Ah, yes! Herr von Ernau had known Bertha at Castle Osternau, and--how could it be otherwise?--had fallen desperately in love with her. When he returned to Berlin and heard that Bertha belonged to another, when his suit was so resolutely rejected by Werner von Massenburg, as Werner himself had represented, he had left Berlin again in utter despair, and had wandered to and fro on the earth seeking a cure for his wretchedness. Wangen's kindly heart was filled with compassion for the unfortunate man whose hopes in life he himself had thus dashed; but at the same time he could not do away with a certain disagreeable sensation. He remembered having been frequently tormented by jealousy at Castle Osternau, when Bertha bestowed too large a share of her attention upon the Candidate, or had listened in rapt admiration to his singing.
All these thoughts passed like lightning through Wangen's mind while recovering from his astonishment. "Are you then Herr Egon von Ernau?" he said, at last.
"Yes, Herr von Wangen, you find an old acquaintance under this name. I will explain the metamorphosis to you; but first gratify my burning curiosity, and be kind enough to tell me how I came here and what has happened to me. The past night is a blank in my memory."
Egon's questions restored Wangen's equanimity; he seated himself by the bed, and told his guest the whole story of his inspector's arrival with the wounded stranger, and of the accident that had occurred, finally depicting his wife's and his own anxiety, now happily dispelled by Egon's return to life.
He found an eager listener; when he alluded to his wife Egon remembered the vision of the past night. Now he knew whose was the gentle hand that had lain so cool and soft upon his forehead. How strange that he should, in his vague semi-consciousness, have taken Bertha for Lieschen! But it had sometimes happened during the past years that the two had been confounded in his dreams, although Bertha's image had gradually faded from his memory, while Lieschen's lovely face still frequently haunted him. He felt something akin to disappointment on learning that Bertha had been his kind attendant, but he banished the feeling as rank ingratitude; he thanked Wangen warmly for his kindness and hospitality, adding a short explanation of the manner in which he had come to play the part of Candidate Pigglewitch at Castle Osternau.
"I was a spoiled child of luxury," he said. "I had exhausted all the sources of fashionable amusement, and was weary of the existence which I was leading in Berlin, wherefore I left the capital suddenly, and meeting accidentally with the Candidate Pigglewitch, who told me the pitiful story of his life, I conceived the wild idea of finding out by personal experience what the existence of such a man really was. I carried out my insane scheme by buying of the fellow his name, his papers, and his dress, and going as the Candidate to Castle Osternau. You know, Herr von Wangen, all the embarrassments into which this foolish freak led me, and you know that I disappeared, as the Candidate, about the time that Egon von Ernau reappeared in Berlin. I had made up my mind to abandon the idle, aimless life which I had hitherto led, and which had always disgusted me. At Castle Osternau I learned the true value of life, the need of action in the line of some duty for all worthy the name of men, and I became much interested in agriculture. There is no necessity to weary you with an account of the means which I took to perfect myself in a knowledge of the management of a landed estate. I travelled much, and availed myself of every opportunity for improvement in this respect. Finally I have returned to Plagnitz, where I intend establishing myself for the future. This is, in brief, my story, Herr von Wangen. I pray you to tell it to madame your wife, who may, I hope, be induced to pardon the deception practised by the pretended Candidate. And now, with your permission, I will rise and dress,--I see my portmanteau has been brought to my room,--and I shall then have the honour to present myself to Frau von Wangen to thank her for her kindness and hospitality."