The man of Rotterdam moved forward a little as he spoke,and Gerard Douw,he scarce knew why,inwardly prayed for the speedy return of Schalken.
'I desire,'said the mysterious gentleman,'to place in your hands at once an evidence of my wealth,and a security for my liberal dealing with your niece.The lad will return in a minute or two with a sum in value five times the fortune which she has a right to expect from a husband.
This shall lie in your hands,together with her dowry,and you may apply the united sum as suits her interest best;it shall be all exclusively hers while she lives.Is that liberal?'
Douw assented,and inwardly thought that fortune had been extraordinarily kind to his niece.The stranger,he thought,must be both wealthy and generous,and such an offer was not to be despised,though made by a humourist,and one of no very prepossessing presence.
Rose had no very high pretensions,for she was almost without dowry;indeed,altogether so,excepting so far as the deficiency had been supplied by the generosity of her uncle.Neither had she any right to raise any scruples against the match on the score of birth,for her own origin was by no means elevated;and as to other objections,Gerard resolved,and,indeed,by the usages of the time was warranted in resolving,not to listen to them for a moment.
'Sir,'said he,addressing the stranger,'your offer is most liberal,and whatever hesitation I may feel in closing with it immediately,arises solely from my not having the honour of knowing anything of your family or station.Upon these points you can,of course,satisfy me without difficulty?'
'As to my respectability,'said the stranger,drily,'you must take that for granted at present;pester me with no inquiries;you can discover nothing more about me than I choose to make known.
You shall have sufficient security for my respectability--my word,if you are honourable:if you are sordid,my gold.'
'A testy old gentleman,'thought Douw;
'he must have his own way.But,all things considered,I am justified in giving my niece to him.Were she my own daughter,I would do the like by her.Iwill not pledge myself unnecessarily,however.'
'You will not pledge yourself unnecessarily,'said Vanderhausen,strangely uttering the very words which had just floated through the mind of his companion;'but you will do so if it IS necessary,I presume;and I will show you that I consider it in-
dispensable.If the gold I mean to leave in your hands satisfy you,and if you desire that my proposal shall not be at once withdrawn,you must,before I leave this room,write your name to this engagement.'
Having thus spoken,he placed a paper in the hands of Gerard,the contents of which expressed an engagement entered into by Gerard Douw,to give to Wilken Vanderhausen,of Rotterdam,in marriage,Rose Velderkaust,and so forth,within one week of the date hereof.
While the painter was employed in reading this covenant,Schalken,as we have stated,entered the studio,and having delivered the box and the valuation of the Jew into the hands of the stranger,he was about to retire,when Vanderhausen called to him to wait;and,presenting the case and the certificate to Gerard Douw,he waited in silence until he had satisfied himself by an inspection of both as to the value of the pledge left in his hands.At length he said:
'Are you content?'
The painter said he would fain have an other day to consider.
'Not an hour,'said the suitor,coolly.
'Well,then,'said Douw,'I am content;it is a bargain.'
'Then sign at once,'said Vanderhausen;
'I am weary.'
At the same time he produced a small case of writing materials,and Gerard signed the important document.
'Let this youth witness the covenant,'
said the old man;and Godfrey Schalken unconsciously signed the instrument which bestowed upon another that hand which he had so long regarded as the object and reward of all his labours.
The compact being thus completed,the strange visitor folded up the paper,and stowed it safely in an inner pocket.
'I will visit you to-morrow night,at nine of the clock,at your house,Gerard Douw,and will see the subject of our contract.Farewell.'And so saying,Wilken Vanderhausen moved stiffly,but rapidly out of the room.
Schalken,eager to resolve his doubts,had placed himself by the window in order to watch the street entrance;but the experiment served only to support his suspicions,for the old man did not issue from the door.This was very strange,very odd,very fearful.He and his master returned together,and talked but little on the way,for each had his own sub-jects of reflection,of anxiety,and of hope.
Schalken,however,did not know the ruin which threatened his cherished schemes.
Gerard Douw knew nothing of the attachment which had sprung up between his pupil and his niece;and even if he had,it is doubtful whether he would have regarded its existence as any serious obstruction to the wishes of Mynher Vanderhausen.
Marriages were then and there matters of traffic and calculation;and it would have appeared as absurd in the eyes of the guardian to make a mutual attachment an essential element in a contract of marriage,as it would have been to draw up his bonds and receipts in the language of chivalrous romance.
The painter,however,did not communicate to his niece the important step which he had taken in her behalf,and his resolution arose not from any anticipation of opposition on her part,but solely from a ludicrous consciousness that if his ward were,as she very naturally might do,to ask him to describe the appearance of the bridegroom whom he destined for her,he would be forced to confess that he had not seen his face,and,if called upon,would find it impossible to identify him.
Upon the next day,Gerard Douw having dined,called his niece to him,and having scanned her person with an air of satisfaction,he took her hand,and looking upon her pretty,innocent face with a smile of kindness,he said:'Rose,my girl,that face of yours will make your fortune.'