THE STORYTELLER

New Zealand Tablet, Volume LII, Issue 14, 22 April 1925, Page 3

THE STORYTELLER

-sisS- . NORA || Translated from the German by Princess Liechtenstein (Published by arrangement with Burns, Oates, Washbourne, Ltd.) -a/ a, . ... , ' CHAPTER XXIII. .

Whilst all this was taking place, a pale and • sorrowing girl was sitting by her father’s bedside —her father, who lay there senseless, having been,struck, down by a. fit of apoplexy. •Now and then she rose from her seat and , went -into the 'adjoining room,- where a little boy knelt all alone on a chair and pressed his-chubby face against the window-panes.. .). ‘‘Will,mamma never come back ?” he asked ■ : of- Nora, who* then took the child on her ; knees,-.and,. looking into the handsome face, which resembled-lier father’s land her own, and. stroking,,the curly head, tried to, comfort him as best she could. As ; soon as papa , v would he' better, she -would he able",to ’ play j with him.N Now, he. must try to he- quiet and rgood'; as for : iimduna;' she.'; had gone on a :journey. As she said this, poor Nora’s cheekr,au,d bijow Wei% suffused-with a deep b'ustti of !shame* ... 7... “• >'• - The ''fearful-..catastrophe-.' : had ‘ not fallen ,^uite^n^^ectedl-yt ; upon her, for she had >se ( en hpwt'these two unworthy creatures lad Womb ! iu t ini at e v .of. late. '‘Op her st< pmother's side.passion and a want of reflection dfad.)led her rime, whilst Landolfo had <as usual’lfaaed the whole infamous intrigue \ upon a Anero mercenary calculation. His plan to obtain Nora’s hand, and thus becCme.at -first the partner and then the sue- !» cesspr of the-director, had been shipwrecked upo.fi .thepook of resistance he had'found so sliC not even- had one;, great love in..her‘heart-,-"she would never have encouraged Landolfo’s advances, 'for he was inexpressibly antipathetic, to her, feeling as she did that- if was not He who had marred her ... life’s, destiny,., . Menawhile, Landolfo’s love ; if his passion deserved that name —had turned to hatred of ( the bitterest;.-. kind, ; not only against Nora, but against her father, whom he ■ suspected ' of .. being her secret ally. Nora had, indeed, threatened that she would retire if Landolfo were al- ,, lowed to continue persecuting her with his ■ addresses, li Landolfo then tried to awaken her jealousy by paying his court to the- director’s wife. The latter, a silly and vain , woman, was highly flattered at her conquest -notwithstanding-. Nora’.s ..beauty, . which . generally placed her completely in the shade. .Her lifp v was, g. ( veyjy .monotonous 'pile. The ' director/'what with' his business ‘.and the. indifference of advancing ; years,, took very little notice of her. Even home luxuries were no longer what they had been., during' the days at. Bonn, for since his great failure the director was obliged to economise. There was some; compensation for her in being able to return to her former habits, and ~ Landolfo at once saw that she, could serve his end in n new plan his fertile brain had *** ■** aav/ »» JvAtAAJ. WilU KfX UiiJ. UUU formed. Mrs. Kirsten was all the more . flattered at .his marks of devotion, -that she , A N ’

was‘ at that ■ disagreeable age for . coquettish .women, when charms are diminishing whilst the desire to please is still in full force; arid she soon became a. pliable instrument in Lari•el olf o’s hands." ’i ■The director, preoccupied by other matters, took no notice of all - this.’ Landolfo had moreover, encouraged his inclination for drink to that extent, that he was often, during the whole day, incapable of clear thought. The pecuniary part of the enterprise was ■ completely under Landolfo, and the director placed entire . confidence in him. Not so Nora, who had already, been warned against him. ; . y' : The hints she had thrown out when, in conversation with the chaplain alluded to this low drama, which filled her daily more and more with a deep disgust. But as all she said was only laughed at by her father, who attributed her hints and remarks to her dislike for Landolfo, there had been nothing left for her to do, but to shut her eyes and pray in silence and in woe. Ourt’s reappearance had brought Landolfo’s plan to a crisis. He thought that some great turn would soon take place, and that all his hopes would be defeated.. Now he would give full play to his hatred, and gain his advantage, at every cost. His dishonesty in money matters could not be concealed much longer, so that he determined to make the director powerless by dealing his honor a deadly' blow. He was too well acquainted with Karsten’s pride, to doubt for a moment that he would not rather bear any pecuniary loss, than drag his honor into the mud' of public degradation. He had frightened weak Mrs. Karsten, threatening to reveal that she had been so long an accomplice in his thefts, by her silence, and on the other hand, he made all sorts of bright visions glitter before her eyes, which would turn to reality ,if she consented to go with him. He assured her, that Karsten’s rival would be delighted to receive these runaways from the circus, and would prove his satisfaction by the large salaries he would pay. Passion, fear, and the prospect of a brilliant and amusing life, triumphed even over her love for her child, and after a few more round sums taken from the director’s cash-box, the pair had eloped in the' mariner related by the waiter. ■ ; , Landolfo satisfied his revenge against Nora by causing false reports to be spread, so that,, as we have seen, one person was mistaken for. the other. He was sure that, in this way, all chance of . union with Degenthal would be at an end. The paragraph which had thrown a doubt upon Nora’s as well as •. upon Ourt’s good fame had emanated- from Ins pen. Of course, the public might not believe all that this .paragraph contained, .. and, later on, some explanation might come;

but Landolfo knew the world, and he knew that .the false impressions would never be t/<i ni to . effaced —on the principle: mentez, inr.nlrz Iniijimi's , it cii■ rrsti'ra him fuchjue chose. The same day Nora had been exposed to a violent scene with her father, who had heard of Degenthal’s visit through Landolfo. This had upset the poor girl so completely, that she was unable to appear as usual at the Circus, and her non-appearance added to the evidence against her. She was alone in her room that evening, trying to rest her weary head, when a sound like that of a fall, in the next room, con- \ siderably alarmed her. Hurrying into the room, she found her father lying unconscious on the floor, and nervously clasping a crumpled note in his right hand. He had come to fetch his wife for the representation, when the porter met him with the news that one of the ladies had already driven away with Signor Landolfo. Surprised at so unusual an occurrence, he had rushed to his wife’s apartment, and had found his boy sleep gas soundly as a. child alone can sleep, but all the cupboards and drawers open , and almost empty, ; .A letter was on the' table, filled with such cold commonplaces as the following.,:—“My heart can no longer put up . with your indifference, and has, therefore, 'given itself up to one who really loves and understands me. Moreover, my talent as an artist is completely forced into the shade by your tyrranny, and I feel compelled by it to seek an arena where it will be duly appreciated.” Epistolary style was evidently not Mrs. Karstems strong point! She added a few more phrases, in which she confided her child ,to him, and hoped that lie would make up to the son for his ill-treatment of the mother. It is questionable whether the director perused these lines, or understood their meaning. It was only later on, when by degrees consciousness returned to him, that he realised how infamously he had been taken in. Anger, indignation, nay, fury," then took possession of him, and he fell into an apoplectic fit, such as he had already had a slight touch of in former days. - Nora, poor girl, soon realised what had taken place, and her first thought was ,to destroy every sign and paper which might make her father’s shame public. :'; This was her foremost preoccupation, so that, later on, she only allowed the doctor and her old. Hannah to enter the room, in a sort of wild fancy, that, by preventing any great fuss being made, she could also prevent the _ fact being known. She had hoped that her father had 'only had an ordinary faulting fit’ but the doctor’s grave face soon convinced her of the; contrary. * The first days went by in breathless, fever-' ish anxiety, and in the most devoted watching and nursing on her part. Then other worries of a different kind fell upon the wretched girl in these hours of sorrow. By - the illness of the director, and the disappearance of Landolfo, the troop had lost all sort of leadership. ; ; Nora had presence of mind enough not to pet anyone know that her father was totally unconscious, and, placing the direction into

the hands of an elderly member, she transmitted her orders to him, leaving the company under the impression that it was the director who issued these orders. This went on pretty well for a short time, but Landolfo’s thefts became daily more evident, and as he had mostly stolen from the salaries due to the troop, the matter became so complicated, the . discontent so manifold, that even to Nora with her energetic mind the task seemed above her strength. Her great preoccupation was to avoid bringing the law to bear upon this sad business, dreading; above all things, the shame of publicity. How she longed and thirsted for advice For some one to sand by her and hold her out a helping hand! It certainly crossed her mind that Curt had said he would return in “a few days,” but these few days had long gone by. Perhaps he had called or sent her a word of sympathy, and that, in the general confusion, his name or his message had not reached her. She inquired after those who had called, and a few, very few, cards of indifferent people were brought to her. For a moment she had thought of writing to the chaplain, and of begging him to advise and help her but a feeling of pride kept her back. She would not, in any way, appear to seek the Dcgenthal family. One day, however, her heart bounded within her as a visitor was announced; but a look thrown at the card caused a bitter disappointment to betray itself on her features. .“Baron Dahnow!” Ay! That was the good stout Mecklemburger, whom she had almost forgotten amidst the ups and downs of her life. She was on the point of sending him word that she was at homo to no one, when these few words, written in pencil upon the cord, made her pause in her intent; “Should Miss Nora be in Avant of .a friend or adviser, she will surely allow an old acquaintance the honor of offering her his services.” Notwithstanding her disappointment, these kind and friendly words fell as a balm upon her distracted heart, and she felt that God had sent her the friend and adviser she had so pined after. She felt it all the more when* sitting before him, she gazed upon the calm and resolute expression of the Mecklem- . burger’s face, and recognised in those bright and twinkling little eyes of his all the clearsightedness, firmness, and intelligence necessary to help her - through the labyrinth she was placed in. Full of her own thoughts, Nora did not notice the deep, emotion which „ overpowered Dahnow as she arose to meet ■ him. Perhaps it was in order to conceal this emotion that ho bent low, and respectfully pressed his lips upon the hand she held out. It was a little thing, perhaps, this outward sign of respect, but it did Nora a world of good. ’ “Can I ever thank you sufficiently, Baron Dahnow?” she said, her voice trembling. “How could you guess that I AAas so sadly in want of help and of advice?” Dahnow’s explanation Avas a very simple one.. He had casually passed through Vienna, and, having heard of her father’s illness, had called upon her, in order; to offer her his services as was the duty of an old friend. It would, perhaps, have been more difficult

for the good Mecklemburger to state the whole fact in all its crudeness. Ho was on, the point of trying to find out what had happened to Nora Karsten, 'when, the newspapers had brought him the false report we know of. He had'heard nothing about her, and nothing about the breaking off of her engagement with Curt. , He even ignored that she now appeared in her father’s circus, and was therefore astounded at all that the newspapers reported. ■ The placid creature was completely upset. One thing alone he would have staked his head upon Nora was innocent of all that had .. taken place, and she had been forced into taking lip this line of .life by some mysterious and sad cause. As to Nora’s elopement, Dahnow graphically described it as a“d d lie”; but he then, and at once made up his mind to go to Vienna, and to ascertain how matters ' really stood. After a deal of trouble he succeeded not only in finding Nora’s- whereabouts, but also in getting at the truth of the whole story, for the which our Mecklemburger silently triumphed and thanked God. ~ He now sat opposite to Nora whilst she gave him a clear insight into all the intricacies of her present position; and then he promised her that he would see about finding a clever lawyer, and would after that be able to give her sound and useful advice in the matter. But Nora started at this proposal, and said in hesitating tones, “Oh, please let us avoid bringing a man of law into it! We shall be the talk of the whole town!” Something in Dahnow’s face told her that the matter had already been made public. Strange enough that it should be so! But we are all, more or less, like the ostrich, who fancies he is not seen, so long as he keeps his head under his wings. Children, too, are blest with the same illusion, and putting their little hands before their faces, call out triumphantly, “Now, where am I?” A new light thus broke suddenly upon her, and she asked hastily and sharply: “Has the matter already been spoken of publicly?” Dahnow tried to soothe her by reminding; her of her father’s and her own celebrity; and he hinted at the reports having been various and mostly false. “What do you mean?’’ asked Nora, opening her large eyes. “Is it possible that- my father was accused in any way? - He was surely innocent of all that happened.”, f? “It was only ... you see . . . thefo was, in fact,” stammered poor Dahnow, “a mistake made between the actors in this tragedy. The presence of the son her made it so difficult for any one to believe that . . . that . . . the mother would have gone; away without him, so that it was perhaps natural. ...” “A mistake !” repeated Nora. “No! no It’s impossible!” she cried, turning crimson from shame and auger, and hiding her face in her hands. “Oh, my God! Do you mean to say that I was supposed to” “You see,” said Dahnow apologetically, “newspapers are always so inexact.” V l . “Oh! this must be set to rights! This must be set to rights !’’ repeated Nora, wringing her hands in sheer despair.

“It was already been contradicted,” said ■ minnow. -’“I read only lately a denial of ./it / in one of. the leading papers here.”; ' , • “It will hardly be of any use now,” the poor girl sighed. “Whatever scandal is Avrit- __ ten about us is of course believed.” And . for the'first/time, since -the : day, of the catas- . trophe, burning tears rolled doWn her cheeks. '“.I will try all I possibly can for 1 ' justice -, to be done to you,” promised ?Dahnow. I“I will move heaven' and earth that your name may once more be above all suspicion.” And DahnoAV kept his word. A few days later, and a clear and unanswerable refutation was in every paper; the paragraph laid particular stress upon the fact that Nora Karsteu was, and had been all the time, at her father’s bedside.. But Nora was right; the refutation produced no great effect. One read it as one reads such uninteresting paragraphs, hardly grasping, or caring even to grasp, at their real sense. It mattered little, now whether it was the circus-director’s wife or his daughter who had eloped. - This dotting-of., the i’s in such a matter was really superfluous. The .few. people to whom the false report had been a turning-point in their lives,’did not read the refutation. The family-circle at Gohlitz had but little taste iioav for the