Herr von Osternau had been calm and decided so long as Albrecht was present; but now that he was alone he grew restless and anxious. Had he perhaps been too hard? No, he could neither speak nor act otherwise. For years he had been far too much influenced by the reflection that Albrecht had been deprived of an inheritance which he had long considered as his own. The sums which had been sacrificed for this dissipated, reckless relative were enormous; the sacrifice had been made in vain, Albrecht was utterly ungrateful. He seized every opportunity for a visit either to Breslau or to Berlin to resume his dissolute career, to contract fresh debts. There was no helping him, least of all by compliance with his demands. Only by being thrown upon his own resources, with no hope of assistance from his cousin, might he perhaps be induced to resist the temptation to play.
Herr von Osternau was sure that he had acted for the best, but nevertheless he felt very anxious. The thought that his cousin might fulfil his threat of self-destruction, filled him with dread. His kindly nature gave him no repose. He sat down at his writing-table and scratched off a note to Herr von Sastrow begging him to write to Albrecht and offer to lend him the money he needed upon his promise to repay him from his salary. The money, Herr von Osternau assured his uncle, should be repaid him,--for that he would go surety,--but of this the Lieutenant must be kept in ignorance. He must believe that the offer of help came unsuggested from Herr von Sastrow alone.
When the note had been handed to Wenzel, with orders to take it directly to the post at Station Mirbach, Herr von Osternau felt relieved, but so occupied had he been with the Lieutenant's case for the last half-hour that it was only when the Candidate presented himself punctually at the appointed time that he was reminded of Pastor Widman's miserable letter, according to which the Candidate, like the Lieutenant, had squandered his patrimony; like Albrecht, he was an inveterate gambler, who had lost at play money not his own. Involuntarily Herr von Osternau compared the two men in his mind. There was no trace in the Candidate's face of the theatric despair which Albrecht had laboured to display. Herr Pigglewitch was so calm and collected that Herr von Osternau was half convinced of his innocence before he had spoken a word, and not until the young man avoided his searching glance did he again doubt him.
Did Egon suspect this? He looked up again frankly, and in a clear, calm voice, without embarrassment, without waiting to be questioned, he opened the interview which was to decide his future relations with the lord of the castle.
"You made use of harsh language to me last evening, Herr von Osternau. You told me that you had lost confidence in me----"
"No, I only said that my confidence in you was shaken. It was best to be frank, and you could not but see that I was justified by the Pastor's letter. The importance to be attached to that letter depends entirely upon the explanation which I expect from you."
"I am ready to give you an explanation. I assure you that every word which I am about to utter shall be perfectly true, but I do not deny that the circumstances in which I find myself forbid my telling the whole truth. I am forced to be silent with regard to these circumstances, whilst I could by a single word prove the falsehood of the ridiculous charges--ridiculous so far as I am concerned--contained in the letter. This word, however, I shall not speak. If the explanations which I am able to give you do not satisfy you, then, Herr von Osternau, I must remind you of our agreement when I first came to your house. We reserved for each of us perfect liberty to dissolve at any given moment a connection which cannot continue to exist if you withdraw your confidence from your son's tutor or believe him capable of appropriating to himself money confided to him by others."
"This is a strange preface to your explanation, Herr Pigglewitch; it can be answered only when I have heard you further."
"I do not ask a reply until then. I understand perfectly that this letter, which I beg now to return to you, has shaken your confidence in me. Your knowledge of me is of too recent a date to convince you that in spite of grievous defects of character I am incapable of a dishonourable act, and Pastor Widman's letter, containing as it does a mixture of truth and falsehood, may well give you cause for reflection. Let me refer to the letter in detail. It is untrue that Pastor Widman befriended his sister's orphan boy. He treated him with great severity, only sending him to school when he was forced to do so, the expenses of his education being defrayed from the orphan boy's patrimony. On the other hand, it is true that the weak, thoughtless young man squandered the rest of his inheritance, and sacrificed his first situation to his passion for gaming. Later, in another situation, he so won the esteem of his employer that Doctor Kramser felt himself justified in recommending him to you for your son's tutor. I candidly confess to you, Herr von Osternau, that I have led a life far from blameless, that I have foolishly squandered both time and money, but I swear to you that I have never been involved in any dishonourable transaction. It is true that the Schulze Brandes gave the sum in question to the nephew of Pastor Widman for transmission to his uncle, and that this money has not yet been paid him, but I have neither appropriated this money nor have I lost it at play. The reason why this money has not been paid I cannot now disclose to you, all I can say is that I have a perfect right to refuse to give this sum to the Herr Pastor. Nevertheless, he shall have his money without abatement of a penny; here it is, and I beg of you, Herr von Osternau, to transmit it to him."
As he spoke, Egon took out his pocket-book and counted out the notes upon the table.