“Well, and what have you to say?”
“I have nothing at all to say to-day. As you just remarked, it is too soon. I must first collect my thoughts.”
“Well, you need not think and worry. Experienced people are here to relieve you. So we will talk no more about these things now—‘To-morrow is another day.’ Adieu for now, and do not be too late in coming down to dinner.”
“I should like to be excused for to-night, aunt. I am going to bed very shortly.”
“That is a good idea; then I will have your dinner sent up to you. Have a good night’s sleep and wake up to-morrow fresh and rested. You look so scared—not at all like the lucky creature that you are; and do not forget to fall on your knees and thank the good God for pouring out such a blessing on you.”
“Horrible!” exclaimed Franka aloud, as soon as she was alone. And then she began to laugh. The humor of the thing had not escaped her. That very morning the countess had said to her that, of course, her further stay at the Sielenburg was not to be thought of, and now the old lady was willing to let her stay “with her,” and would undertake the management of her whole future—a future which lay before her so great, so enigmatical, so full of power and magnificence—a future opening out before such duties and possibilities. Again her mind turned to the as yet unformulated germ of plans half-conceived—such as Aunt Adele, in her narrow horizon, had never even dreamed. No, no, this proposed tyranny must be shaken off as speedily and as decisively as possible. Franka felt that she had the courage and the power to do so, although she was alone.
Alone in this milieu, yes; but she felt as if she had comradeship and support in the world outside, in the hovering spirit of her father, in the souls of those new men who were striving for lofty aims, in—how had Chlodwig Helmer expressed it?—in community with all that is holy in the eternal and the infinite.... All she needed was freedom, and this was now brought to her by her wealth; also by the fact that no sort of tradition or duty bound her to the environment in which it was planned to asphyxiate and strangle her, if she could not tear herself away from it. But she could and she would.... She was mistress of the Sielenburg, and what was most precious to her—she was mistress of herself.
The following morning she sent for Dr. Fixstern to come to her. She asked him to explain to her once more her rights and her title in the property. Then she told him of the Countess Schollendorf’s proposals and of her own firm resolve not to accept them. She was greatly relieved to find that Dr. Fixstern was not at all on the side of the countess, as she had feared, but wholly on hers. He was righteously indignant at the old lady’s presumption; and when Franka told him of her proposal to dole out to the unrestricted possessor of millions a limited sum of pocket-money he laughed heartily.
The conference lasted some time. Franka had many questions to ask and Dr. Fixstern had also many things to tell her, many explanations, much good advice to give her. Only after the estate had been fully settled would the exact amount of her fortune be known, but in the mean time she would be able to get some idea of what she would have by glancing over the inventory that he had with him; and he read to her the figures representing the income and the payments which would have to be deducted from it. Franka listened with increasing delight as she began to comprehend what enormous wealth had fallen into her lap. The joyous sensation of the discoverer of a treasure filled her heart. For the very reason that she had gone through the school of poverty and deprivation, she was now able to appreciate the value of riches, and she had already got an inkling of the independence, the esteem, and the enjoyment which her property was to vouchsafe her.
At the same time, as a sort of absolution from the sin of pride in possession, she cherished the consciousness that she should make use of the power that had come to her for something noble and grand and daring.