VOLUME TWO
CHAPTER I.
THE NEW HOME.
Winter was over and gone. The early summer roses had opened again, andraised their heads high about the villa on the Rhine. They glowed andblossomed in all the garden-beds, and glistened in the sunshine, andsent their sweet perfume far and near on every breeze. On the pebblypath that led down from the splashing fountain to the lindens by theriver, Fani and Elsli scampered back and forth, drinking in the fragrantair.
"Do you know where Mrs. Stanhope's house gets its name?" asked Fani, ashe stood by a bed of flowers, watching with delight the airybutterflies flitting from blossom to blossom, and then floating away asin ecstacy up into the blue air.
"Of course I do," answered Elsli; "it is called Rosemount because thereare so many rose-bushes stretching from up here way down to thelindens."
"Well, that's true; but there's nothing melancholy about it," said Fani,reproachfully. "What makes you look so sad, Elsli? You almost alwayslook sad nowadays, and it isn't right, for I'm sure there's no reasonfor it. And Mrs. Stanhope notices it, too, and she doesn't like it verywell; she must think that you are horribly ungrateful, and that youdon't realize how well off we are. And yet you can't help realizing itwhen you think how it used to be at home."
"Yes; I do think of it, and I realize it all perfectly, Fani; and I amnot a bit ungrateful. But you see I can't express it to Mrs. Stanhope;I wish I could. And then, besides, Fani," she added, after a pause,"Aunt Clarissa has often told me that when we are well off ourselves,and have everything we need, and more, too, we ought to think all themore about the poor, and do what we can to help them. And I am alwaysthinking about them, and wishing that I could share some of the goodthings we enjoy with those who have none."
"What do you mean, Elsli?" cried Fani; "there is no one about here whois poor; even the men and women-servants live like gentlefolk. Have younever noticed that Lina, the chambermaid, wears a hat when she goes out,and a red and yellow shawl, just like Mrs. Bickel? And what red cheeksthe cook has! She has enough to eat, I'm sure; and the coachman wearsgloves when he drives."
"Yes, I know; but I mean--well, you see we have a great deal of time toourselves, and can run round in the garden and amuse ourselves, and Ican't help thinking that I might be doing something useful. I might knitsome stockings for the children at home if I had some yarn, but I don'tlike to ask for any; I have so many things."
"Why, of course you can't ask for it, Elsli; what are you thinking of?And you know how many clothes and things Mrs. Stanhope is always sendingto mother? Only last week a big bundle went off; don't you remember,Elsli?"
"Yes, I know all that; but what I mean is that I want to do somethingmyself, and not go on taking my own comfort and enjoyment when so manyother people are suffering."
"But you know the doctor said you _must_ take comfort; and he told Mrs.Stanhope not to let you sit at your books and study all the time, but tokeep you a great deal in the open air. Come, let's run all round the bigrose-bed, and draw in long breaths of that delicious perfume. How strongit is! I can smell it way off here. Come!" and Fani took hold of hissister's hand and began to run. But she held back.
"I can't run as you do, Fani," she said, breathing heavily; "I wouldrather go down to the stone seat under the lindens by the river and sita while."
"Now you see, Elsli," said Fani, as he walked slowly by her side downtowards the river, "now you see how soon you get tired. It is a goodthing for you that you have this garden to stay in. And how lovely it isdown here, too! do you notice? there's quite a different smell here, andits delicious!"
Fani was already seated on the bench, and he leaned back against thetrunk of the old linden, whose head was crowned with flowers thatdiffused a sweet perfume through the air. The fresh foaming waves of theriver ran below, bathing the low hanging branches as they flowed along.
"Oh, how beautiful it is here! It will do you good to shout as loud asyou can, Elsli. I'm sure it would make you feel better."
"Yes, indeed," said the girl assentingly, but no joyous look came intoher pale face, such as shone from Fani's eyes. "When I sit here I alwaysthink of Nora. There's such a beautiful view of the sunset from here.And then I think of the evening when she went away, how the whole skywas golden, as if the heavens were open, and you could look right intothem and see the crystal river flowing there forever. Whenever it is aclear evening, and the red clouds come in the west, I always think thatNora is looking down at me and beckoning me to come to her. How dearly Ishould love to go!"
Fani sprang to his feet in great distress.
"How can you talk so, Elsli? Here we are living so happily together.Nobody was ever so happy as we are, and yet you talk as if it was allnothing, and all you want is to die! I'm sure I don't want to die, andyou ought not to. And if you were to talk in this way to Mrs. Stanhopejust once, what do you suppose would happen? I can tell you--she'd justsend us straight home, I know; and how would you like that? And I'mcertain that she means to have us stay here always; for several timeswhen I've said something about being a painter she has begun to talkabout the future, and she takes it for granted that you and I are tolive with her. Just think of that! Then I shall be a gentleman and you alady like Mrs. Stanhope, and then--"
"Oh, Fani, you trouble me still more when you talk so," interruptedElsli, sadly. "I see more plainly every day that I can never be whatMrs. Stanhope wants me to be. I am afraid she will be more and morevexed about it, and will like me less and less. And you too will beashamed of me by and by, because I cannot be what you would like to haveme."
Fani had seated himself again at Elsli's side, but at these words hesprang again to his feet, crying out reproachfully:--
"Oh, Elsli, what strange notions have you taken into your head? It isn'tpleasant in you to talk so. Why don't you think of all the nice thingsthere are, and what good times we have together, and let all thesemelancholy ideas go?"
"I don't think of melancholy things on purpose, Fani, and I wish I didnot at all," said Elsli, pleadingly. "It is this way. Whenever I beginto think of something very pleasant, then sad thoughts come into mymind, and I keep wondering whether there isn't something that I can dofor those in trouble, and then I am unhappy because I can't think ofanything. I see so many things that you don't see, and I can't get themout of my head all day long."
"What sort of things?" asked the boy in surprise.
"Well, for instance, twice when we have been coming home from ourafternoon walk, we have met a man with a heavy shovel on his shoulder,and you didn't notice him because you were so busy talking with Mrs.Stanhope. The man looked down on the ground, just as father does whenhe comes home at night all tired out and says, 'We shall hardly pullthrough, if I work ever so hard; I'm afraid we can't keep out of debt.'I'm sure that man is worried just as father was, and I keep thinking ifI could only go after him and find out where he lives, I might do himsome good, perhaps."
"But you mustn't do that," cried Fani, much horrified. "Don't youremember how Mrs. Stanhope told us in the very beginning that we mustnever go into any house where we didn't know the people? and that wemustn't speak first to people we don't know, as we do at home? You mustnot go and talk to that man. Do you hear, Elsli? Mrs. Stanhope would bevery angry with you."
Elsli thought for a while. Presently she said, "I do not believe thatMrs. Stanhope meant that I should not speak to a poor man who is introuble, as this man is. She only meant that we mustn't talk with peoplewho ask us questions about where we came from and how we live at home. Idon't believe she meant people like this man at all."
"Oh, Elsli, you can't make distinctions, that way," said Fani,impatiently. "All we have to do is to mind what we are told, and notspeak to strange people or go to their houses. Now let's talk aboutsomething else; this sort of talk is tiresome. Come here; I'll show yousomething."
The children sat down again side by side on the stone bench, with theirheads close together, and Fani took something out of his pocket whichthey both examined car
efully. It was a small, nicely painted landscape,in fresh bright colors. Elsli studied it silently.
"Do you see what it is?" asked Fani.
"Yes, indeed, I knew it at the first glance. It is Rosemount; there arethe roses and the linden trees. How beautifully you have done it, Fani!Won't Emma be delighted when she sees it, and surprised too? I'm sureshe has no idea that you can paint so well!"
"I'm so glad she is coming," cried the lad, and his face glowed withpleasure. "There is no one that I can talk with about being a painter asI can with her. She understands just how I feel, and is as muchinterested in it as I am myself."
"Are you still bent on being an artist?" asked Elsli.
"Yes, indeed, more and more. Every day, and after every drawing lesson,I care about it more than ever before. I don't say anything about it,because I see that Mrs. Stanhope doesn't like the idea. You see, Elsli,she means to keep us with her all our lives, just as if we were her ownchildren. I'm sure of it, from a great many things that she has said. Wecan stay here just as long as we don't do anything to displease her, andof course we sha'n't do that. Several times when I've said that I shouldlike to be a painter, Mrs. Stanhope has said that it was a very goodprofession for persons who had no home, and were obliged to live alone,and could travel as much as they pleased in foreign countries. She saidI might paint at Rosemount as much as I chose, but that I must not makeit my business, because then I should have to go away to live. So yousee that she is quite decided that we are to stay here."
Elsli shook her head.
"I don't know, Fani. It seems to me that we don't belong here in thisbeautiful house. Don't you feel so too, Fani? Somehow as if we were onlyhere on a visit, and that to-morrow we might be going away again."
"There you are again with the old story," said Fani, rather vexed, forthis doubt was very distasteful to him.
The time which they had to spend in the garden was now over, and hand inhand they passed back up the white pebbly path, and by the sweet-scentedrose-beds, and entered the hall, which stood with wide-open doors on thegarden side.
Gritli's Children Page 10
