"Oh, 'tis a very ugly kind of story. I had better read you Sastrow's letter: 'My dear Fritz----'"
Egon rose as Herr von Osternau began reading the letter aloud. However great his curiosity might be, he could not but remind Herr von Osternau that there was a stranger present who had no right to a knowledge of private family affairs. He was about to withdraw, but Herr von Osternau kindly signed to him to sit down again.
"I appreciate your delicacy, Herr Pigglewitch, but I pray you to remain. This letter does, to be sure, contain a very unpleasant bit of family scandal, but it is unfortunately no secret. At the present time, when distance is annihilated, Berlin gossip spreads far and wide in an incredibly short space of time. If Bertha von Massenburg comes to us, the scandal of which she is the innocent subject will follow her very shortly; all our neighbours will know everything about Bertha and her unfortunate betrothal, and it will be hard to separate truth from falsehood. So it is better that you should know the truth from a trustworthy source, especially as she stands in a certain relationship to our family. You can then aid to the best of your ability in putting a stop to idle gossip; therefore I would rather you should hear the letter.
"My Dear Fritz,--There must, of course, be some important reason for my sitting here in the middle of the night writing you a lengthy epistle which must be sent to the post at dawn, that you may receive it tomorrow evening. This reason consists in my great desire to avert as far as is possible the consequences of a most unpleasant family affair. I will be as brief as possible; of course our cousin Werner von Massenburg is at the bottom of it; who other of the family could provoke a scandal?
"You have lost money enough by the man to know him well, although perhaps not so thoroughly as I know him. Of course he is always in pecuniary difficulties, but even I, poor as is my opinion of him, should not have suspected him of attempting to relieve himself of his debts by selling his daughter,--the expression is not too strong,--and this is just what he has done.
"About two weeks ago Werner came to me and informed me that he was about to betroth Bertha to a distinguished young fellow, Egon von Ernau, the son of the Privy Councillor von Ernau. The affair had been concluded with the young man's father, who declared that his son was nothing loath. All that remained to be done was to bring the young people together that the betrothal might take place in the usual way, since it could not very well be announced before they had even seen each other. He therefore begged me to invite Bertha to pay us a visit; he would introduce young Ernau to us, and everything could be speedily arranged.
"When I expressed my great disapproval of a marriage thus contracted, he went on to explain that it was a matter of life and death to him. His old friend the Privy Councillor Ernau had promised to liquidate all his debts in case the recent patent of nobility of the Ernaus should receive the aristocratic veneer which would be given it by a union with the old knightly line of the Massenburgs. He was so persistent in his entreaties that at last I consented, although sorely against my better judgment, and wrote to Königsberg, inviting Bertha to exchange for a while her aunt Massenburg's home in Königsberg for our house in Berlin. By return of post I received a charming letter from Bertha accepting my invitation, and she arrived here yesterday.
"After writing to Bertha, I thought it my duty to inform myself with regard to our future connections the Ernaus. What I learned of them was by no means reassuring. Privy Councillor von Ernau is, it is true, immensely wealthy, the head of an extensive banking business, his reputation for honesty and business capacity has never been even breathed upon, but he is the most insufferably self-important, conceited fellow, who never loses an opportunity of seeing his name in the papers, so great is his love of notoriety. He keeps open house, and poses as a patron of art and science without having a conception of either. He keeps a racing stud, although he is no horseman; and he contributes vast sums for political purposes, without the faintest real interest in politics. Only let his name appear in the papers and he is content, no sacrifice is too great to make to his vanity.
"What I could gather concerning the son is scarcely any better. It is generally conceded that Herr Egon von Ernau is a very talented young fellow, but that he abuses most frivolously the brilliant gifts bestowed upon him by nature. He studied and passed brilliant examinations, without turning his knowledge to any account. He has inherited from his father--with whom, moreover, he is on terms of no intimacy, father and son sometimes not meeting for weeks--an enormous stock of vanity, which, however, he shows after an entirely different fashion. It is his pleasure to pay no heed whatever to the opinion of the world, to appear alike indifferent to praise and to blame, to attach no importance to worldly honours. He has drained to the dregs every pleasure, every delight that wealth can give, and he is to the last degree blasé. In the assurance of his own superiority he despises all other men and treats them accordingly. He is a man of talent but of no character, and he utterly lacks balance and self-control.
"It is easy to see that such a man is not calculated to make a wife happy; therefore I thought it my duty, before the affair was finally decided, to talk seriously to Massenburg, but it was too late; he could not withdraw, even had he desired to do so. He had made binding promises to Councillor Ernau; the betrothal, if not actually announced, was known everywhere. The Councillor had informed his friends on 'Change that the betrothal of his son Egon to the noble Fräulein Bertha von Massenburg was shortly to be celebrated by a grand entertainment, and Werner himself had been so imprudent as to admit this when questioned upon the subject. The betrothal was already an open secret, much discussed among the aristocracy of money as well as of blood. There was pity expressed for the poor girl who was to be sacrificed to a vain, heartless roué. There were various remarks made at the club in Werner's hearing with regard to the burnishing of an aristocratic scutcheon with money gained in trade, but he was firm in his resolve. The effect of all this gossip was to induce him to hurry as much as possible the public announcement of the betrothal. It was arranged by the two fathers that Herr Egon von Ernau should pay his first visit here yesterday and should be invited by me to an evening party. So soon as the young people had fairly met, there was to be a large garden-party at the Councillor's villa, and the betrothal was to be formally announced.