“We shall say a dollar an hour, if that sum suits you,” said Mr. Herman, and Arthur was quite satisfied. He was to begin in the course of an hour, and until the young lady was ready, he was requested to walk in the library.
A library! A private library! Arthur had seen several of them, and had been in the city, and in circulating libraries, but he never, even in works of history and fiction had read of any to equal the extent and magnificence of this one. This library occupied the whole ground floor of a wing of what might be called a castle, and no book was beyond the reach of the hand. The roof or ceiling was supported by forty columns, the base of each being ten feet square, five feet high, and filled with books. There was just space enough between each column for a person to pass with ease, and there were lounges and chairs scattered about in every direction. This curious library contained all that was valuable and rare, and not an author of note was omitted. One column was devoted to Shakspeare alone, with every commentator from the earlier to the present time, and here, as if by instinct, Arthur seated himself. He was soon buried in the charms of the author’s fancy, and when the servant announced that the ladies requested to see him, he had some difficulty to bring his thoughts down to a level with a dollar an hour.
After walking through an interminable suite of apartments—all to impress him with the wealth and consequence of the owners, he was ushered into a small room, such as ladies are fond of calling a boudoir, here sat two ladies, the younger of whom rose as he entered.
“Pray be seated,” said Madam Herman, waving her hand in the same gracious manner as her son,—“Sit here, and let me request you to listen to certain preliminaries before you begin your duties.—If you dislike them, we can part at once?”
“Oh, let the preliminaries suit yourself!” said Arthur, “and I shall make no objection, provided I may spend one hour a day, or even less, in that glorious library, why, madam, I shall never dream of remuneration, there is food and raiment, and every thing that can delight the soul, at the foot of one column alone—the one devoted to Shakspeare!”
Mrs. Herman stared at him with perfect amazement. He heard a clear ringing laugh as if in the next room, and on glancing his eye toward the window, there sat the young lady, brimful of smiles and blushes, with her head bending over a piece of embroidery.
The young man came down from his stilts at once. Shakspeare—the library—the glorious scenery—all vanished, and there he sat a humble teacher of the German language, for one dollar an hour.
“The preliminaries, young man,” said the old lady, stiffly, not regarding his rhapsody, or subsequent embarrassment—“are few, but must be complied with strictly.—Hear them out without interruption, and then decide for yourself.”
“At ten o’clock precisely you are to be in this room, there is your seat, and there is the lady who is to receive instruction.” Arthur rose, and bowed to this lady, who half rose and blushed exceedingly. “I shall remain in the room, and give notice when the hour expires. There is to be no conversation excepting what relates to the language you are teaching, and when the hour is expired you can go to the library, or ride out, or amuse yourself on the grounds, till the servant announces to you that it is time to dress for dinner. You are to dine with us.” Arthur did not like this part of the arrangement, and sat uneasily in his chair.—“Go to your room as soon as the dessert is removed, and be your own master till five o’clock, when another hour of your time will be required; I shall be in the room as before, and give you notice when the hour is up, and the family then sees you no more till ten the next day, excepting that this lady will preside at the breakfast and tea table. You are to remain with us until the lady is sufficiently grounded in the language to proceed in it by herself, and you are neither to leave the place, nor see any one till that time arrives.”
The same clear laugh was heard in the next room, and with a glance of his eye, he saw that the young lady held a handkerchief to her face.—Arthur rose;—