CHAPTER XIV
Thanks to the instructions confided to me,my errand presented no difficulties.There were certain persons to whom I was introduced,and certain information to be derived from them,which it was my duty to submit to Mr.Keller on my return.Fidelity was required of me,and discretion was required of me--and that was all.
At the close of my day's work,the hospitable merchant,whose references I had been engaged in verifying,refused to permit me to return to the hotel.His dinner-hour had been put off expressly to suit my convenience.
"You will only meet the members of my family,"he said,"and a cousin of my wife's who is here with her daughter,on a visit to us--Frau Meyer,of Wurzburg."I accepted the invitation,feeling privately an Englishman's reluctance to confronting an assembly of strangers,and anticipating nothing remarkable in reference to Frau Meyer,although she did come from Wurzburg.Even when I was presented to the ladies in due form,as "the honored representative of Mr.Keller,of Frankfort,"I was too stupid,or too much absorbed in the business on which I had been engaged,to be much struck by the sudden interest with which Frau Meyer regarded me.She was a fat florid old lady,who looked coarsely clever and resolute;and she had a daughter who promised to resemble her but too faithfully,in due course of time.It was a relief to me,at dinner,to find myself placed between the merchant's wife and her eldest son.They were far more attractive neighbors at table,to my thinking,than Frau Meyer.
Dinner being over,we withdrew to another room to take our coffee.The merchant and his son,both ardent musicians in their leisure hours,played a sonata for pianoforte and violin.I was at the opposite extremity of the room,looking at some fine proof impressions of prints from the old masters,when a voice at my side startled me by an unexpected question.
"May I ask,sir,if you are acquainted with Mr.Keller's son?"I looked round,and discovered Frau Meyer.
"Have you seen him lately?"she proceeded,when I had acknowledged that Iwas acquainted with Fritz."And can you tell me where he is now?"I answered both these questions.Frau Meyer looked thoroughly well satisfied with me."Let us have a little talk,"she said,and seated herself,and signed to me to take a chair near her.
"I feel a true interest in Fritz,"she resumed,lowering her voice so as not to be heard by the musicians at the other end of the room."Until to-day,I have heard nothing of him since he left Wurzburg.I like to talk about him--he once did me a kindness a long time since.I suppose you are in his confidence?Has he told you why his father sent him away from the University?"My reply to this was,I am afraid,rather absently given.The truth is,my mind was running on some earlier words which had dropped from the old lady's lips."He once did me a kindness a long time since."When had Ilast heard that commonplace phrase?and why did I remember it so readily when I now heard it again?
"Ah,his father did a wise thing in separating him from that woman and her daughter!"Frau Meyer went on."Madame Fontaine deliberately entrapped the poor boy into the engagement.But perhaps you are a friend of hers?In that case,I retract and apologize.""Quite needless,"I said.
"You are _not_a friend of Madame Fontaine?"she persisted.
This cool attempt to force an answer from me failed in its object.It was like being cross-examined in a court of law;and,in our common English phrase,"it set my back up."In the strict sense of the word,Madame Fontaine might be termed an acquaintance,but certainly not a friend,of mine.For once,I took the prudent course,and said,No.
Frau Meyer's expansive bosom emitted a hearty sigh of relief."Ah!"she said,"now I can talk freely--in Fritz's interest,mind.You are a young man like himself,he will be disposed to listen to you.Do all you can to back his father's influence,and cure him of his infatuation.I tell you plainly,his marriage would be his ruin!""You speak very strongly,madam.Do you object to the young lady?""Not I;a harmless insignificant creature--nothing more and nothing less.
It's her vile mother that I object to."
"As I have heard,Frau Meyer,there are two sides to that question.Fritz is persuaded that Madame Fontaine is an injured woman.He assures me,for instance,that she is the fondest of mothers.""Bah!What does _that_amount to?It's as much a part of a woman's nature to take to her child when she has got one,as it is to take to her dinner when she is hungry.A fond mother?What stuff!Why,a cat is a fond mother!--What's the matter?"_A cat is a fond mother._Another familiar phrase--and this time a phrase remarkable enough to lead my memory back in the right direction.In an instant I recollected the anonymous letter to Fritz.In an instant I felt the conviction that Frau Meyer,in her eagerness to persuade me,had unconsciously repeated two of the phrases which she had already used,in her eagerness to persuade Fritz.No wonder I started in my chair,when Ifelt that I was face to face with the writer of the anonymous letter!
I made some excuse--I forget what--and hastened to resume the conversation.The opportunity of making discoveries which might be invaluable to Fritz (to say nothing of good Mr.Engelman)was not an opportunity to be neglected.I persisted in quoting Fritz's authority;Irepeated his assertion relative to the love of scandal at Wurzburg,and the envy of Madame Fontaine's superior attractions felt among the ladies.
Frau Meyer laughed disdainfully.
"Poor Fritz!"she said."An excellent disposition--but so easily persuaded,so much too amiable.Our being all envious of Widow Fontaine is too ridiculous.It is a mere waste of time to notice such nonsense.