Frau Leonhardt was a little troubled by the turn the conversation had taken; for, as a faithful servant will listen to no slighting remarks concerning those whom he serves, she, as a true servant of her Lord and Saviour, disapproved of Fräulein von Hartwich's mode of speaking of Him, and thought it scarcely becoming in a good Christian to listen to such talk. But her husband, with modest tact, put an end to her anxiety. "I have myself," said he, "thought of what you say, but it seems to me to be an entirely different matter. The people honour in these statues not ideas, but persons,--and the holiest and highest persons that they can conceive of,--the persons of their God and his saints. As we take delight in the pictures of distant relatives, whom we may never have seen, perhaps, but whom we honour and cherish for the sake of what we know of them, so, a thousand times more so, do the people honour what speaks to them of the eternally invisible Father of all! This sentiment, Fräulein von Hartwich, seems to me widely different from the admiration that a comprehension of the great ideas of to-day might awaken in the minds of the people. We are not yet far enough advanced to say how it may be,--and who knows whether we ever shall advance so far as to be able to elevate those classes who labour for us that we may think for them, and who desire nothing at present for their happiness but their plough and their God? What they really need now, in my opinion, is that their God should not be represented to them as an angry, avenging Jehovah, but as the loving, redeeming God of Christianity! To return to my simile,--with regard to yourself, Fräulein von Hartwich, let me repeat that you can only be in your true place where your efforts and ideas are understood and you can grace a pedestal that becomes you. Then you will be truly happy, and far more easily brought into communion with your Creator than while you are embittered by the religious error and intolerance prevailing around you here. The people are hostile to you, because they believe you hostile to what they hold most sacred,--their religion. Whoever, in their eyes, stands aloof from Christian fellowship, stands aloof from mankind,--ceases to be a creature of flesh and blood. And if they do not see condign punishment quickly overtake such a one, whom they regard as the chief of sinners, they believe that she must be under the protection not of God, but of the other power in their theology,--the devil! Forgive my frankness. I say nothing of their childish misconception of God's tender long-suffering. I only feel it my duty to show you the impassable gulf that lies between you and your surroundings. You are such a thorn in the side not only of the Catholic priest, but also of the evangelical pastor of our diocese, that he attempted to procure from the Protestant consistory a decree of banishment against you on account of your writings, and, failing in this, he has determined to drive you from this place, at all costs, by unceasing persecution. His Catholic associate seconds him, as you yourself know, most zealously, and I wish to save you, by timely warning, from all that, unfortunately, still threatens you here."
He paused, and endeavoured to observe with his dim eyes the effect of his words upon Ernestine's impassive features. Her look was still riveted on the ground, and she said nothing, so he respectfully took her hand, saying, "Dear Fräulein von Hartwich, forgive me if I am too bold and have wounded you. I am a plain man, ignorant of the forms of polite society, grown old among peasants, and accustomed to speak out my thoughts openly. I hold truth to be my first duty, but it would pain me to think that, in fulfilling this duty, I had unintentionally wounded you!"
"Dear, dear!--yes!--oh, yes!" ejaculated his kindly old wife, really distressed by the inscrutable expression upon Ernestine's face.
Suddenly the latter started up, shook the old people by the hand, and said gravely but cordially,--
"Thank you, thank you, Herr Leonhardt. You are a good man!"
"Oh, my dear, good Fräulein von Hartwich!" cried Frau Brigitta with emotion.
"I must go home now," said Ernestine, covering her black braids with her hat, "but I will see you soon again. Farewell!"
When the old couple had accompanied her to the door, and followed her with their eyes as she walked away apparently lost in thought, they both remembered for the first time that she had not alluded in any way to Johannes.
"How strange!" said the schoolmaster, as he went for his garden-shears to trim the luxuriant hedge before his house.