In spite of the noise and laughter, in spite of the row of empty bottles which grew longer and longer under the side-board, it was a dreary, uncomfortable meal, and to no one more so than to the master of the house. Brandow knew from long experience that he could require his nerves to bear a great deal, but it now seemed as if he should not be able to accomplish what he had undertaken to-day. While laughing heartily over a story he had just related, his fingers fairly trembled with the longing he felt to snatch the champagne bottle from the cooler and shatter it upon Redebas' huge black head. He was aware that his strength was almost exhausted; he should break down if Hinrich Scheel did not return soon and release him from this horrible torture of uncertainty. And then it seemed as if this torment was nothing to the other, the torment of the certainty that his wife loved that man, and despised him too much even to hate him, and that he fully deserved her scorn. Again and again--with the speed of lightning--in the few seconds it required to raise a glass of wine to his lips and swallow the contents--he lived over the scene of the night before in her sleeping-room, when he stood before her with clenched fists, and not a muscle in her pale face quivered until he struck her to the heart with the fatal blow which he had cruelly withheld so long. To her heart! Her heart! It had been a master-stroke! A thrust which crushed the proud haughty woman like a stag overtaken by a bullet, rendered her his weak, obedient tool, and made him master of the situation. An enviable situation, to sit here and endure Redebas' coarse taunts, laugh at his own silly wit, look at the stupid faces of the two Plüggens, be cordial to the canting Parson, be forced to see that no one's glass was empty, and amid all the noisy tumult listen continually for the rolling of the carriage which would bring Hinrich, and with Hinrich the money for which he had done what he had done, suffered what he had suffered, and without which he was a ruined man. At last, at last! There was the clatter of horses' hoofs, and the rattle of a carriage, which stopped before the house. No one had heard it except himself! So much the better, he could speak to Hinrich undisturbed!
He left his guests under the pretext that he wanted to get another brand of champagne, and hurried across the hall to the open door, before which the carriage was still standing, and he perceived the Assessor engaged in conversation with Hinrich Scheel, when he suddenly heard his own name called from his room, the door of which also stood open, and turning at the sound, saw the man he hated standing before him. A thrill of mingled rage and alarm shot through his frame like a two-edged sword. What brought this man back? How could he dare to return? To say that he had no money, would not pay.
"We have a few moments to ourselves," said Gotthold, bolting the door behind Brandow; "the Assessor is still outside; he knows nothing; no one knows anything except, of course, Wollnow, without whom I could not procure the money you wanted. Even now I have been unable to get it as you wished, and therefore was obliged to come here again. You wanted fifteen thousand thalers in cash. Wollnow, who is obliged to make very large payments for the purchase of grain this morning, could give me only ten thousand; the remainder I bring you in these drafts of five thousand thalers each, accepted by Wollnow, and payable at sight to-morrow, in Sundin, by Philip Nathanson, the wealthiest banker there. These drafts, in consequence of Wollnow's credit with your friends in the neighborhood, are as good as ready money. I think you will be able to settle your affairs with them yourself; but in any case I am here to come to your assistance with my personal credit, though I confidently believe that it will not be needed."
Gotthold laid a large sealed packet on the table, and drew from his pocket-book the three drafts, which he handed Brandow, and the latter glanced over with a practised eye to convince himself that these papers were really as good as ready money.
A sensation of wonderful relief overpowered the half-intoxicated man. Freedom from the agony of expectation, the certainty of deliverance from his desperate situation, and, moreover, the prospect of soon coming out as winner of the Sundin races, and gainer of an immense sum of money by the aid of his now restored Brownlock--all this overwhelmed him like a delirium of joy, and he felt a sort of longing to clasp in his arms the man who had aided in procuring all this, as his preserver and only true friend; and at the same moment he said to himself that it was impossible that this man, dreamer and enthusiast though he was, would entrust to him a sum, which in itself was a little fortune, unless the worst that his jealous fancy had imagined had already happened--and the expression of the staring eyes he now fixed upon Gotthold seemed to say: "I could crush you like a serpent which has crossed my path!"
"I do not think you will ever be in a situation to return this money," said Gotthold; "perhaps it will not be disagreeable to you to hear that from this time I renounce all expectation of repayment, and therefore a receipt, which would really remain only a bit of paper."
He left the room; Brandow burst into a hoarse laugh.
"That, too," he muttered, "as if another proof were needed! But you shall pay for it, both of you, so dearly, that this in comparison will be only a drop of water on a hot stone."
The Assessor looked in through the door, which Gotthold had left half open. He had heard from the latter that Brandow was here, and hastened to take advantage of the favorable opportunity to greet his friend alone, and express his regret that Gotthold's business had detained them so long in Prora, that he was unable to bring his wife, who was suffering from a severe headache, to Dollan. Brandow declared it to be a proof of the sympathy between two beautiful natures that his wife was also attacked by the same sickness to-day; and the sarcastic, even sneering tone in which he said it, caused the Assessor to secretly congratulate himself upon his caution in coming to this falling house alone. His astonishment was all the greater when Brandow continued with the most perfect composure:--
"And as we are now alone, my dear Sellien, we will take advantage of the opportunity to settle our little business matter. Here are the ten thousand thalers due. I have them from Wollnow. The package is just as I received it, stamped with his seal. If you wish to take the, I presume superfluous, but perhaps necessary trouble, of counting them, don't have the least hesitation about it. When you have finished, follow me. I'll make out a receipt, which you will please sign and put in this drawer."