Transcriber's Note:
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AT EVERY LIBRARY.

HERMANN.

A Novel,

BY

E. WERNER.

Author of "Success and How He Won it," "Under a Charm," "Riven Bonds," "No Surrender," etc.

TRANSLATED BY

HELEN KEER BROWN.

London:
REMINGTON AND CO.,
5, Arundel Street, Strand, W.C.

1879.

[All Rights Reserved.]

HERMANN.

CHAPTER I.

"But, Doctor, for heaven's sake tell us what this is all about."

"The whole town is talking of it already, and still we have heard no particulars!"

"Surely it is impossible, Doctor, it cannot be true!"

He, to whom all these questions and exclamations were addressed, rapped his stick with an air of impatient vexation against the pavement, and replied in a rather dry, concise tone--

"What you may think possible or impossible, gentlemen, is not for me to decide; the fact is simply this, that the sum of 20,000 thalers is missing, and that the steward, Brand, has shot himself this morning. You can decide for yourselves the connection between the two circumstances."

The assembled officers of the Prince's household surrounded, with pale, horrified faces, the principal physician of the town, from whose lips they had just received confirmation of a report, which had already agitated the little town for some hours.

"It is really true, then! And they say that the misfortune happened in Count Arnau's own room."

"In his business room! The Count had suspected the steward for some days, and therefore sent for him this morning. He called him to account, and finally charged him to his face with the robbery. Brand attempted to deny it at first, but at last confessed to it, and begged for mercy, which, of course, could not be granted to him; and as the Count turned to ring the bell, in order to have him taken into custody, he drew out a pistol and shot himself before his Excellency's eyes."

"Did you hear this from his Excellency himself?" asked one of the older members of the Count's household.

"From his own lips."

"Indeed?"

"What do you mean?" asked the Doctor, surprised at the strange tone of this "indeed?"

"O, nothing! Only I cannot understand how Brand could be a thief. Brand, the most punctual, most conscientious of all men, who would never allow the slightest irregularity in his work--"

"Appearances deceive sometimes. Just this apparent conscientiousness must have been the cloak for his villany."

The old man shook his head.

"And yet--it cannot be. I would have believed any one capable of it, sooner than Brand! Has it been proved already then, that--"

The Doctor made a movement of impatience.

"My dear Weiss, I am no judge in a court of law. Of course an examination will disclose all particulars; for the present the papers of the deceased have been seized, and I hear that Count Arnau has himself undertaken to look over them--but I have no time to waste. I must attend the Countess."

"Ah, yes, poor lady!" said a third, joining in the conversation. "How is she?"

The Doctor shrugged his shoulders gravely.

"Very unwell! which is, unfortunately, only what we can expect. Such an event in one's own house is enough to make any one ill, and when one is in the last stage of consumption, and ought to be carefully guarded from all agitation, it is enough to cause one's death. Adieu, gentlemen!"

So saying, he lifted his hat, and with a hurried greeting, left the steward's office, where the conversation had taken place, and hurried towards the house of the chamberlain, Count Arnau, which lay about midway between the former and the Prince's residence.

In the drawing-room of the large, splendidly appointed dwelling sat two ladies, the wife of the Count, and her mother, the widowed Präsidentin von Sternfeld, who had left her estates in the neighbourhood in order to visit her daughter, and had now been with her about a quarter of an hour. At the first glance no one would have taken the two ladies for mother and daughter, for, indeed, one could not trace the slightest resemblance between them. The Präsidentin was a woman about fifty, with a not very tall, but powerful figure, and with features, which, indeed, could never have been beautiful, but were now striking from their remarkable expression of energy and decision. There was nothing attractive, nor womanly in this sharply-cut countenance, and her whole appearance coincided with it. Carriage, speech, everything, was short, decided, and commanding, as is usual with any one accustomed to unconditional authority and command. The Countess, on the other hand, was a young, and still beautiful woman, though her form showed but too plainly the devastating traces of severe bodily suffering. The delicate, stooping figure, the gentle pale face, the low, soft voice, all formed the sharpest contrast to the mother's appearance.

The subject of the two ladies' conversation was naturally the dreadful event of the morning.

The Countess had just related it with renewed agitation; her eyes showed the traces of newly-shed tears, and her pale cheeks showed two burning, feverish spots. The Präsidentin apparently possessed stronger nerves than her daughter; the Countess's agitated relation seemed to make only a very slight impression upon her. The most painful feature in the whole affair appeared to her, that it should have happened in the Count's own house.

"Well, I hope they took care to inform you of it gradually?"

The Countess shook her head gently.

"O, mamma, that was impossible! I heard a shot in my husband's study; and of course I flew along the corridor, frightened to death, and just reached the door as Adalbert opened it for me. He hurried past me to call for help, and--"

"And took no notice of you, when it was enough to kill you on the spot!" interrupted the Präsidentin, very angrily. "What incomprehensible want of consideration!"

"Ach, Adalbert was so upset himself, so beside himself, indeed, more than I have ever seen him! He seemed quite unnerved, and I