“No, no; it was nothing.” And she released herself. “Adieu.”
After Helmer had again shaken hands with the two ladies and departed, Franka remained standing for some little time on the spot, lost in dreams.
“Well, what is it? What are you thinking about?” asked Frau Rockhaus.
Franka shook her head and made no answer. She was thinking of the bar of the blind.
CHAPTER XXIV
SUNDRY CONVERSATIONS
The next afternoon many scattered groups were sitting again in the hall of the Grand Hotel, and in the majority of them the conversation turned on Chlodwig Helmer’s address. Translations of it into French, English, and Italian were lying about on the tables. Some of the hotel guests held in their hands Helmer’s book “Schwingen.” The works of all the authors present in the Toker palace were not only to be found in the Lucerne bookshops, but were for sale also in the various hotels. Many visitors who had heard the poet’s address, the day before, had now got the work that had made his name famous and were eagerly turning its pages.
In one corner sat Bruning, Malhof, and Regenburg chatting over their wine and cigars. They were discussing their fellow-countryman, Helmer.
“He was a schoolmate of mine,” Bruning was saying. “Not at all a remarkable scholar: weak in mathematics; hardly up in the ancient languages. His teachers, however, were easy on him—he was the son of a cabinet minister.”
The well-known sportsman exclaimed in astonishment: “Oh, you don’t say so? I had supposed he used to be a secretary or the like with a count....”
“Quite right, he was ... at one time. His parents died early; his property was gone; he did not stick to his career as government clerk; poetizing had got into his blood; he was always in the clouds, even on the school form ... and then he accepted a position which afforded him leisure for writing. After he left the count’s house, he devoted himself entirely to the art of poetry. I should have expected a more brilliant career for him.”