Under a Charm: A Novel. Vol. I

by E. Werner

"Your only one?" the young Prince reminded her a little reproachfully. "You forget my brother?"

"Waldemar?" The Princess drew herself up. At mention of this name all softness vanished from her features, all tenderness from her voice. Her countenance was grave and severe as before, and her tone icy cold as she went on, "Yes, truly, I had forgotten Waldemar. Fate has decreed that he should be master of Wilicza. We shall have to endure him."

CHAPTER II.

At no great distance from the Castle stood the dwelling of Herr Frank, the land-steward. The administration of the Wilicza estates had ever been carried on distinct from the Castle, which, whether it were inhabited or not, stood apart in stately seclusion, while the management of the property was left exclusively in the hands of the agent. The latter's handsome house, with its surrounding buildings and offices, almost all newly erected, excited much admiration; and the order reigning throughout the farm, so different from what was to be seen on the neighbouring estates, was marvelled at, though not imitated, by the whole country-side. The position of the Wilicza steward was, indeed, one which many a landed proprietor might have envied, both as regarded income and his manner of life.

It was growing dusk. Over at the Castle the long rows of windows on the first story were being gradually illuminated; there was a grand reception at the Princess's. In the agent's parlour no light had as yet been kindled, and the two gentlemen sitting there were so absorbed by their conversation that they did not appear to notice the ever-increasing darkness.

The elder of these was a fine man of noble presence, still in the prime of life, and with a frank and exceedingly sunburnt face. The younger, on the other hand, bore in his whole appearance evident marks of town breeding. In spite of his rather diminutive stature, he might be considered a good-looking man. His carefully curled hair, and the fashionable cut of his clothes, gave him somewhat of the air of a dandy; but there was no affectation of this in his manner. On the contrary, his speech and bearing were weighted with an excess of dignity and importance which occasionally came into rather comic contrast with his small person. "The thing is settled, I shall go!" the elder man was saying. "I made known to the Princess the day before yesterday that I intended doing her the pleasure of turning my back on Wilicza, since to that her manœuvres have long been tending. I got no further in my disclosures, for she interrupted me in her majestic way, 'My good Frank, I sincerely regret that you are wishing to leave us; but I will place no obstacles in your path. Be persuaded that your long and active service at Wilicza will be forgotten neither by my son nor myself.' She said that to me--to me, whom she has systematically hunted out! Do you think I could make head against that look and tone? I had intended to relieve my mind at length by telling her the whole truth, as a parting compliment; but at this--I made my bow and went."

The younger man shook his head. "A remarkable woman, but a most dangerous one! We Government men have proofs of it. I tell you, Herr Frank, that Princess Baratowska is a source of danger to the whole province."

"Stuff and nonsense!" said the agent, irritably; "but she is a source of danger to Wilicza. She has contrived now to get the whole property under her dominion. I was the last stumbling-block in her way; and, at last, she is ridding herself of me. You may believe me, Herr Assessor, when I say I have held out as long as I possibly could; not for the sake of the post--thank God, I am sufficiently before the world to stand on my own feet any day--but I don't like to think of all I have worked for and accomplished these last twenty years going to the dogs now because the old Polish management is to the fore again. When I came to the place, Herr Nordeck had been dead a few years, his son was living with his guardian at Altenhof, and farmers, foresters, and agents were working the concern merrily as best suited themselves. Here at Wilicza things were worst of all. My predecessor had robbed so openly and audaciously that it grew too strong even for Herr Witold, who, one fine day, dismissed him summarily. The Castle, the magnificence of which was talked of far and wide, stood shut up and deserted. Of the state of things in the village and on the farms about, I can give you no idea. Miserable wood and clay huts tumbling down over one's head, dirt and disorder whichever way one turned; the lower orders cringing, false, and full of pious national hatred to the 'German'; the fields in a condition to make a good farmer's heart sick within him. There was need, truly, of a pair of strong fists to the rescue. It was a good six months before I could send for my wife and children, because, outside the Castle, there was not what to our notions would seem a single habitable house to be found anywhere about. How could it be otherwise? The deceased Nordeck had never done anything but hunt and shoot, and quarrel with his wife, and Herr Witold did nothing at all. There were a few rows regularly each time he came; but, in general, he let himself be led by the nose, and that was pretty well known throughout the place. If the accounts were down on paper in black and white, and the figures added up right, then all was as it should be; whether the expenditure were real or fictitious, he never troubled himself to inquire. What sums I had to ask for at first to bring the concern into anything like order! They were granted me without delay or difficulty; and the fact that I really employed them on the estate, instead of putting them into my own pockets like my worthy colleagues, was a mere hazard. Mine was an exceptional case. But the old gentleman had some glimmering of the fact that I was the only honest man of the whole set, for at the end of the first year he raised my salary and commission, so that I, with my honesty, fared just as well as the others with their thieving; and if he had lived, I should never have left Wilicza, in spite of the Princess's intrigues. She was too wise to attack me in those days. She knew I had only to write to Altenhof and put Heir Witold up to what was going on, and there would have been an explosion. He had still influence enough over his adopted son to procure me liberty of action. During his lifetime I was left in peace; but when he died, all that was over. What good does it do me that my contract guarantees me a free and independent position? When these continual encroachments proceed from the Castle itself and are authorised by the owner's mother, there is nothing for me but either to bear them, or to go. I have borne them long enough, and now I shall go."

"But it is a real misfortune for Wilicza!" struck in the Assessor. "You were the only one who ventured in some degree to resist the Princess, whose sharp eyes inspired a wholesome fear. If you go, they will have full scope for all their secret machinations. We Government men"--he each time laid great stress on these words--"best know what will be the consequences if the Nordeck estates, with all their vast extent and confounded proximity to the frontier, come under the rule of a Baratowska."

"Yes, she has made good progress in the space of four years," said the steward, bitterly. "She set to work on the very first day, and has continued slowly, but surely, advancing always towards her aim with an energy one cannot but admire. When some time ago the farm leases expired, she contrived that they should all be taken up by men of her own nationality. They applied for and acquired them. Herr Nordeck probably never knew that there were any other applicants. From the administration of the woods and forests every German element has been gradually expelled. The whole staff is now composed of obedient partisans of the Princess. How often I have had to interfere in the most energetic manner, in my endeavour to keep my German inspectors and overseers in their situations! It grew to be of no use at last. They went of their own free will, tired out by the refractoriness of the people; and we are pretty well aware who urged and incited the underlings on to resist. I think I know my successor in office. He is a drunken lout who understands as good as nothing of agricultural economy, and who will altogether ruin Wilicza, just as the tenants and foresters are busy ruining the other estates and the woodlands; but he is a National of the purest water, and that is enough for the Princess. He is sure of the post."