“Hildegarde,” continued Madame Berger, “was always desperately proud, and her greatest ambition is to marry some one of rank. A man must be a count or baron at least before she thinks him worthy of her notice. Now, such a man as Count Zedwitz was just what she wished, and she persuaded him to write a letter making her a formal offer of his hand; this she exhibited in triumph to her father, who, however, had received about the same time from the old Count a most furious epistle, telling him that his son’s fortune and rank entitled him to look for a wife among the first families in Germany—that a marriage with Mademoiselle Rosenberg now, or at any future period, was totally out of the question. He supposed that Mr. Rosenberg would not desire any other sort of connection for his daughter, and therefore had better join him in putting an end to any further intimacy. This, with a few other impertinences of the same description, made even good, quiet Mr. Rosenberg outrageous, and he insisted on Hildegarde’s refusing Count Max—if that be called a refusal where marriage was a chimera!”
“Not so much a chimera as you imagine,” said Hamilton, “for Zedwitz had procured the necessary security—as I happen to know, for he himself told me so at Edelhof—and his father cannot disinherit him.”
“So! Well, if that be the case, Mr. Rosenberg might as well have pocketed the affront—namely, the letter, and let his daughter marry him. Perhaps, after his anger has cooled, he may wish he had acted differently, or at least wish that he had left an opening for a renewal of the affair.”
“Hildegarde has made a great sacrifice to please her father,” observed Hamilton.
“Not so great as you suppose; for Crescenz told me that she was quite as angry as her father about the letter.”
“Of that I have no doubt; but, nevertheless, the sacrifice was great.”
“You mean on account of his rank, or the fortune which his miserly old father is always increasing? Hildegarde has such an exalted idea of her beauty that she imagines she can find a Count Zedwitz whenever she pleases. Crescenz says she took the whole business very coolly after the first burst of anger was over. When Count Zedwitz had left, her father, as usual, praised her conduct extravagantly, and, with tears in his eyes, thanked her for her compliance with his wishes. What do you think she did? Told him in her customary ungracious manner that she did not deserve either his praises or thanks, for that it had caused her no great effort to dismiss Count Zedwitz!”
“Extraordinary—inexplicable girl,” murmured Hamilton.
“Not at all,” cried Madame Berger, colouring, “not at all; for, added to her pride, she is naturally violent and has strong passions. I am convinced she will never marry anyone who is not of rank, but it is both possible and probable that she may take it into her head to fall desperately in love with some one whom she considers beneath her. I have strong suspicion that she has done so, and that Theodor Biedermann is the favoured individual.”
“Biedermann!” repeated Hamilton, amazed.