LITERATURE.

Globe, Volume XXII, Issue 1843, 19 January 1880, Page 3

LITERATURE.

CKOSS PURPOSES. L" London Society."] {Continued.') Whatever might be his social position, it soon became evident that Herr Heinrioh Rosenberg was unanimously voted a decided acquisition to the little Grriesbaeh colony. In the first place, he was remarkably good-look-ing—ce qui ne gate rien —and had (at least the ladies said so, and if they didn't know, who should ?) a peculiarly aristocratic air, and a bewitchingly fascinating smile ; besides, he talked French almost without accent, and was always prepared with a choice fund of anecdotes adapted to every variety of hearers, upon which he drew largely for the entertainment of his neighbours at the supper table. With Herr Jockerst he seemed as entirely at hiß ease as with the rival autocrat at Petersthai, and displayed so intimate an acquaintance with rare vintages, that on his casually alluding to a certain Liebfrauenmilch carefully stowed away in the cellars of the pension, which he affirmed to be unrivalled, more than one old gentleman felt unable to resist the temptation, and, deferring to the judgment of so enlightened a connoisseur, ordered up a bottle forthwith. Meanwhile the Kanzleirath was in the seventh heaven, having discovered among the guests an associate of his youthful days, once the wildest Bursch in the University of Heidelberg, and now a physician with a fair amount of practice at Stuttgart. Dr. Schlosser and his charming daughter Wilhelmina, familiarly called Mina, a sparkling brunette of eighteen, had been for some years in the habit of passing their summers at Qriesbach, and were consequently treated by its proprietor with a degree of respect Beldom accorded to mere chance visitors ; the place of honour at the publie table being invariably reserved for the doctor, while the most desirable bachelors present were monopolised as a matter of course by his pretty companion. Thus it happened that Herr Rosenberg naturally found himself between Franlein Mina and the no less attractive Bertha, who was already on the best of terms with the Stuttgart beauty. Nor was Fran Kunigunde in any way disposed to disturb the universal harmony, being wholly engrossed by the conversation of a congenial spirit in the shape of a hook nosed and spectacled maiden of eight - and - forty, one of her especial intimates at Carlsrhue. Frauleia Ulrica Bitterzung, irreverently termed by the incorrigible Mina eine alte Schacktel — in plain English, an old hag—was not only the main prop and pillar of that fearful institution, the afternoon Kaffee Gesellchaft of which our 'live-o'clock tea' is a feeble and comparatively harmless imitation, but as Inveterate a scandal-monger and repnti-tion-deßtroyer as could be met with from one German frontier to another. 'From early morn to dewy eve' —or as long as daylight lasted —she woald sit at her groundfloor window, on. the outside of which a mirror was so cunningly fixed as to reflect for the good lady's recreation, and in a kind of panoramic procession, whoever chanced to pass up or down the street, and afford her, moreover, an inquisitorial peep into the doings of her opposite neighbours. It may be imagined, therefore, with what undisguised rapture the worthy spinster, who had been located at Griesbach for upwards of a fortnight, and who felt her tongue growing rusty from sheer want of exercise, was inclined to welcome the advent of so accomplished a retailer of tittle-tattle as the Kanzleirathin : and were we to describe their first interview as 'a character dead at every word,' it is possible that we should not be far wrong. On the removal of the supper-table the younger members of the company assembled together by common consent at the end o£

the hall occasionally appropriated to dancing; the musicians struck np a lively measure, and if Herr Rosenberg had previously created a favourable impresnion by his good looks and captivating manner, It was increased a hundredfold by the grace and lightness of his waltzing, which was pronounced to be perfectly Viennese. Devoting himself alternately to the piquante Mina and the sentimental Bertha, as the only votaries of Terpsichore present worthy of his notice, he profited by each pause in the giddy whirl to whisper soft nothings in his partner's ear, and then plunged anew into the intricacies of the denx temps, until the very fiddlers, being fairly exhausted, struck work, and the party broke up.

It must be acknowledged that the ordinary mode of life adopted by the frequenters of G iesbach is strictly primitive and hygienic, and holds forth little inducement to the lovers of gaiety and dissipation. The early breakfast, the baths and the prescribna regimen of the waters, the one o'clock dinner, and the evening meal succeed each other day after day with uniform regularity; while the out door amusements are chiefly confined to a stroll in the garden or an occasional ramble on the adjoining hil'.s. It necessarily follows, therefore, that the guests, being thrown more or less on their own resources, are disposed to be mutually sociable, and that the customary ceremnies of introduction are to a certain extent, if not altogether, dispensed with; it being, ot coarse, understood that acquaintance thus commenced n'engage a rien., and may be dropped ad libitum on any future meeting by either party concerned. This facility of intercourse, combined with hla own personal qualities, may in some measure account for the exceptional popularity enjoyed by Herr Rosenberg almost from the very instant of his arrival; but it is only fair to add that he did his best to deserve it, and strove by every means in his power to render himself generally agreeable. He was always the first to propose some new excursion or to ftart some topic of conversation likely to interest his hearers. He could talk politics with the old, and descant on the last literary or theatrical novelty with the young; nay, he pushed his complaisance so far as to win Fraalein Bitterzung's heart by confiding to her private ear divers slightly unorthodox anecdotes (invented on the spur of the moment) which that estimable dame carefully stored np in her memory for the edification of her intimates in the Resident. In a word he became so universal a favourite that whenever, as frequently happened, he paid a flying visit, on the plea of urgent business, to Peterstbal or Rippoldsan (though what business he could pcsdbly have at either place puzzled the society extremely), his return was looked forward to with as much anxiety as if the welfai a of the entire community depended on it. ' I can't imagine what takes him away so. often,' said the Kanzleirat'o, during one of these absences to his friend Schlosser ; «the Grand Duchess isn't at Rippoldsan just now, and there can't be a soul worth speaking to at the other place.' 'Bah' remarked the doctor; • I'll wager a sweetheart in the case. Young men will be young men, you know. Herr Jocker&t, who was standing by, smiled significantly, but said nothing. We strongly suspect, however, that neither Fraulein Piepenhagen nor her merry companion, had they been present at the time, would have refrained from indignantly protesting against so monstrous a supposition, as an unwarrantable insult to the fair ladies of Griebbach in general, and their own pretty selves in particular. -Each of them being thoroughly convinced that she alone was the magnet capable of inducing the handsome stranger to prolong his stay in so uncongenial a desert—for he was notoriously sceptical as to the medicinal virtues of the baths, and steadfastly declined even to taste the waters—they would have ridiculed, as it doubtless merited, the idea of an equally potent counter - attraction existing elsewhere. Not that either had in reality any proof positive that she was the exclusive object of his preference, his attentions having been hitherto confined to those vague and indefinite gallantries which may mean a great deal or nothing ; but the language of the eye has a peculiar eloquence, and they both fancied, rightly or wrongly, that he only awaited a favorable opportunity to express the feelings which his admiring glances had already (in their opinion) sufficiently manifested.

As far as Fraulein Schlosser was concerned this state of things might have lasted ad infinitum the damsel being as yet completely heart-whole, and a dead hand at flirtation in the bargain; looking upon matrimony as an eventuality to be postponed as long as practicable, but not the less determined to hold her own s.gainst all comers and at all hazards, whenever circumstances should render the sacrifice necessary. (To be continued.)