"And supposing this to be the case?"
"That can easily be arranged. We will both ask for leave of absence for to-morrow forenoon. Mirbach Station is only a quarter of a mile from the castle. We can take the first train thence to-morrow, and be in Breslau by eight o'clock. I will take you to my tailor there, who will give you credit upon my recommendation, if you will promise to make quarterly payments on account when you receive your salary. He has a large establishment of ready-made clothing, and is not too dear. For fifty thalers you can easily procure a summer outfit, and I shall be happy to be of service to you in your selection, since you are probably not familiar with the prevailing fashions. We will take with us to Breslau the suit which you have on and that other lying on the chair, and dispose of them to the best advantage, for really they are not suitable to be worn at Castle Osternau. Do you agree?"
"Assuredly, and with a thousand thanks for your courtesy," Egon replied. He might, he thought, accept this proposal, and he quite enjoyed the idea of needing a sponsor to procure him a credit of fifty thalers, and of selling the wardrobe of the worthy Pigglewitch to an old-clothes dealer. Certainly there was variety here for Egon von Ernau.
He immediately followed Herr Storting to his room, where the wardrobes were found almost too well stocked, as the young inspector remarked, for their owner's means. "But better too many clothes than too few," he added. "It is specially needful to be always well dressed in the country, where there is so much temptation to be negligent, and where one's authority among the peasants and labourers depends more than would be believed upon a certain distinction of dress. Wherefore I am grateful to Herr von Osternau for strictly requiring that we should dress for dinner. It confirms us in good habits, as you, Herr Candidate, will admit when you have been a few weeks here."
Egon made no reply to this exordium. He merely expressed his thanks again, as Herr Storting selected from a wardrobe and placed at his disposal a plain but well-made summer suit, and it was with a positive sense of relief that he stripped off Pigglewitch's habiliments. As he did so Storting observed with surprise in his tone, "You are a riddle to me, Herr Candidate. Your linen is of the finest, and of the latest and most expensive fashion, while the remainder of your attire is so inconceivably forlorn. I cannot understand it. But my coat, you see, fits you as if it were made for you. You look a different man without that swallow-tailed abomination."
The pleasure with which Egon now contemplated himself in the looking-glass was an entirely new sensation. Involuntarily he wondered whether Fräulein Lieschen would again liken him to a scarecrow.
CHAPTER V.
[DINNER AND DESSERT].
Herr Von Osternau had no fancy for aristocratic conventionalities. He lived the life of a plain country gentleman, was on the best of terms with his servants and peasants, and treated his inspectors quite as if they belonged to his family, gave them a place at his table, and frequently invited them to join the family circle in the evenings. Nevertheless he observed certain forms. When his inspectors appeared at dinner or at tea in the drawing-room they were expected to do so in simple evening dress. No orders were given to this effect, but they knew what Herr and Frau von Osternau desired, and conformed to their wishes.
As the clock struck three, dinner was announced: the most exact punctuality was observed. The lord of the castle always betook himself half an hour before the time to the large dining-hall, at one end of which the table was set. Here he paced the long room to and fro, and it pleased him to have the members of his family bear him company here. During this half-hour before dinner he liked to talk with his children. He would often pace to and fro with Lieschen hanging on his right arm and Fritz holding his left hand. Frau von Osternau would sit by with her constant knitting, and at times Cousin Albrecht, the Lieutenant, would join the small party.