CHAPTER XIX.
RETRIBUTION.
In course of time, when arrangements had been made for their reception,a carriage was sent from Eichbourg to bring away the old farmer and hiswife. Their son was grieved to the heart when the time came for them togo, but their daughter-in-law had counted the days and hours until thetime of their departure, and felt nothing but vindictive pleasure atbeing rid of them. Her joy, however, received a severe check from anote which the coachman presented to her, in which the Count informedher that she and her husband should pay all that had been stipulatedfor the support of her father and mother-in-law; and that the price oftheir living valued in money, according to the current market price,should be paid to them every quarter. Realising her helplessness, shebecame violently angry and turned round to her husband, saying, "We areover-reached. If they had stayed here, it would not have cost us halfas much." Her husband was secretly pleased to think that he was stillpermitted to help his parents in their old age, but he took good carenot to show his joy before his wife.
The old people set off in the carriage the next morning, followed bythe blessings of their son and the secret ill-wishes of theirdaughter-in-law.
But the unnatural conduct of this wicked woman was visited with thetrouble which is always the lot of avarice and inhumanity. Hersecretly-cherished god was gold, and she had lent the bulk of her moneyto a merchant to use in his business, on his promise to pay her a largeinterest for the loan. Her greatest pleasure was in makingcalculations, as to how much her money would amount to after a certainnumber of years, with all the interest and compound interest added.Suddenly, however, these golden dreams received a rude awakening. Themanufacturer's speculations proved unfortunate, and he shortlyafterwards failed in business, and his goods were sold by order of thesheriff.
The news came as a thunder-stroke for the farmer's wife, and from themoment that she heard of the catastrophe she had no repose. Every dayshe kept running to the lawyers, or to her neighbours to complain ofher hard lot, and the nights she spent in weeping and scolding herhusband. From the wreck of her fortune of ten thousand florins shereceived only a paltry hundred or two, and so deeply did she feel theloss of her money that she openly declared her wish to die. The resultof the continual worrying induced a fever which never left her. Whenher husband wished to send for a physician she would not consent to it,and when, in spite of her objections, he at last sent for one, his wifein a passion threw the medicine he prescribed out of the window.
At last her husband saw that she was seriously ill, and he requestedthe minister of Erlenbrunn to come and see her. The good old manvisited her frequently and talked to her affectionately, in order toinduce her to repent of her sins, and to detach her heart from thethings of this earth, that she might turn to God.
But this advice made her very angry. She looked at the good man withutter astonishment. "I do not know," she said, "for what purpose theminister comes to preach repentance to me. He should have deliveredsuch a sermon to the merchant who stole our money. Yes, there wouldhave been some sense in that. As for me, I do not see that I have anyreason for repentance. As long as I was able to go out I always went tochurch, and I have never failed to say my prayers. I have not ceasedall my life to do my duty and to behave myself like a virtuoushousewife. I defy any living soul to slander me. And of all the poorpeople who have come to my door, not one can complain that I sent themaway without giving them something. Now, I should like to know how anyone can behave better!"
The venerable pastor saw that she was justifying herself before God,and he tried by adopting a more direct tone to lead her to contrition.He showed to her that she loved money more than anything else in theworld, and that the love of money was idolatry. He showed her that thebursts of anger in which she had indulged were heinous sins before God,that she had totally failed in the most beautiful of all Christianvirtues--filial affection; that by her greed of money she had made herhusband unhappy, cruelly driven away the poor orphan Mary, and eventurned away her husband's parents, those whom she ought to havecherished as if they were her own.
He showed her also that, with a fortune like hers, a little piece ofbread given to a poor man to get rid of him did not fulfil the dutieswhich God expected of her, that in spite of all her boasting of goingto church she was none the better of it, for her prayers had come froma heart unwarmed by love, and could not ascend to the throne of God. Inthis faithful way did he talk to her, but only with the result ofmaking her burst into a fit of passionate sobbing.
The illness from which she suffered was a long and trying one. Shespent whole nights in coughing, and yet the ruling passion of avaricewas so strong that she would scarcely take sufficient nourishment tosustain her. No consoling thought came to her to mitigate hersuffering. She was utterly unwilling to resign herself to God and tosubmit to His will.
The good minister tried in every imaginable way to bring her to abetter frame of mind. During the last days of her life she wasoccasionally a little softened in her manners, but she never evincedany true repentance. In the flower of her age she died, a sad instanceof the effects of avarice, passion, and love of the world.
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