The councillor hurried towards her and kissed her hand respectfully, reminding her that he had been desirous of paying his respects to her half an hour before, but had been informed that she had not yet left her sleeping-apartment, where she was receiving a visit from Fräulein von Berneck, one of the court ladies.
"Yes, the good creature came to express her sympathy for Henriette's illness and the shameful attack made upon Flora," she said. "We shall have a most trying day to-day: the whole town is ringing with what has occurred, and our friends are indignant; they will all be here to inquire for us."
She sank wearily into an arm-chair; her voice trembled, and all the elasticity which usually triumphed so victoriously over her years seemed gone. "Fräulein von Berneck had another reason, and a principal one, be sure, for coming," she began again. "I know her well: she is one of those who long to be the first to tell a piece of good news, and is quite careless as to whether it may still be a court-secret or not. She came to tell me privately of the good fortune that has befallen our family." She rose and clasped her hands. "And yet what a terrible dilemma for me! I cannot tell absolutely whether to mourn or to rejoice. It certainly is most distressing that at court, where the best example ought to be set, the old proverbial ingratitude should be shown. What sacrifices Bär has made for the royal family! And suddenly he is set aside as if the faithful old man were not in existence. And so full of vigour as he is, in body and mind,—they are going to pension him!"
"And this is old Von Berneck's good news?" Flora asked, indignantly.
"Of course not!" the Frau President replied, emphasizing her words strongly. "Flora, the strangest things are happening every day. Could you have thought it possible an hour ago that Bruck should be Hofrath and physician to the royal household?"
"Nonsensical court gossip! What will not idle brains contrive!" laughed Flora. "Hofrath and court-physician! And you listened to such ridiculous stuff, grandmamma, and were congratulated upon it?" And she broke again into a ringing laugh.
"Do you really live so far here from the civilized world that you read no newspapers?" exclaimed the councillor. "Do you actually know nothing—positively nothing—of all that has occurred, and that concerns us so nearly? Why, I have returned a day earlier on this very account. I could not rest for joy. All the papers are full of the wonderful skill Bruck has shown in L——g: it is the topic of the day in Berlin society. The Crown-Prince of R——, who is studying in L——g, had a fall from his horse, and his head was so seriously and dangerously injured that no surgeon could be found willing to undertake the only operation that could save his life: even the famous Professor H—— refused to operate. But he remembered that Bruck had treated successfully a similar case in his last campaign, to every one's astonishment. So he instantly summoned him by telegraph——"
"And you imagine this to have been your Bruck, your protégé?" Flora interrupted him. She tried to smile, but her ashy lips, as well as her whole pale, mocking face, seemed paralyzed to marble.
"It certainly was my Bruck, as I am proud to call him," the councillor replied, with evident satisfaction. He was rejoiced indeed at this fortunate turn of affairs. True, he had long ceased to have any scruples with regard to his silence in a certain matter; the manner of the miller's death no longer troubled his repose,—for he was a genuine child of the times, an egotist, who, when the choice was to be made between "another" and "self," was never for a moment in doubt that "self" was to be preferred. "And, besides this, a pamphlet he has just published has made an immense sensation in medical circles," he continued. "They say he has made a surgical discovery of great importance to the profession. Oh, there is no denying it,—a brilliant career awaits Bruck."
"Impossible!" Flora said, in a strangely altered tone. She looked like a player who stakes his last guinea upon one card. "I am not to be imposed upon! Either there is some mistake here as to the name, or—the whole story is a fabrication."