"I hardly know how to tell you,"she said."I am very unhappy about my mother.""Begin at the beginning,"Fritz suggested;"tell him where you went,and what happened yesterday."Minna followed her instructions."Mamma and I went to our lodgings yesterday,"she began."We had given notice to leave when it was settled we were to live in Mr.Keller's house.The time was nearly up;and there were some few things still left at the apartments,which we could carry away in our hands.Mamma,who speaks considerately to everybody,said she hoped the landlady would soon let the rooms again.The good woman answered:'I don't quite know,madam,whether I have not let them already.'--Don't you think that rather a strange reply?""It seems to require some explanation,certainly.What did the landlady say?""The landlady's explanation explained nothing,"Fritz interposed."She appears to have spoken of a mysterious stranger,who had once before inquired if Madame Fontaine was likely to leave the lodgings--and who came yesterday to inquire again.You tell him the rest of it,Minna."Before she could speak,I had already recognized the suspicious-looking personage whom Mr.Engelman and I had some time since encountered on the door-step.I inquired what the man had said when he heard that the lodgings were to let.
"There is the suspicious part of it,"cried Fritz."Be very particular,Minna,to leave nothing out."Fritz's interruptions seemed only to confuse Minna.I begged him to be silent,and did my best to help her to find the lost thread of her story.
"Did the man ask to see the lodgings?"I said.
"No."
"Did he talk of taking the lodgings?"
"He said he wished to have the refusal of them until the evening,"Minna replied;"and then he asked if Madame Fontaine had left Frankfort.When the landlady said No,he had another question ready directly.He wanted to know in what part of Frankfort Madame Fontaine was now living.""And the old fool of a landlady actually told him the address,"said Fritz,interrupting again.
"And,I am afraid,did some serious mischief by her folly,"Minna added.
"I saw mamma start and turn pale.She said to the landlady,'How long ago did this happen?''About half an hour ago,'the landlady answered.'Which way did he turn when he left you--towards Mr.Keller's house or the other way?'The landlady said,'Towards Mr.Keller's house.'Without another word,mamma took me by the arm.'It's time we were home again,'she said--and we went back at once to the house.""You were too late,of course,to find the man there?""Yes,David--but we heard of him.Mamma asked Joseph if anyone had called while we were out.Joseph said a stranger had called,and had inquired if Madame Fontaine was at home.Hearing that she was out,he had said,'Ithink I had better write to her.She is here for a short time only,Ibelieve?'And innocent Joseph answered,'Oh,dear no!Madame Fontaine is Mr.Keller's new housekeeper.''Well?'mamma asked,'and what did he say when he heard that?''He said nothing,'Joseph answered,'and went away directly.'""Was that all that passed between your mother and Joseph?""All,"Minna replied."My mother wouldn't even let me speak to her.Ionly tried to say a few words of sympathy--and I was told sharply to be silent.'Don't interrupt me,'she said,'I want to write a letter.'""Did you see the letter?"
"Oh,no!But I was so anxious and uneasy that I did peep over her shoulder while she was writing the address.""Do you remember what it was?"
"I only saw the last word on it.The last word was 'Wurzburg.'""Now you know as much as we do,"Fritz resumed."How does it strike you,David?And what do you advise?"How could I advise?I could only draw my own conclusions privately.
Madame Fontaine's movements were watched by somebody;possibly in the interests of the stranger who now held the promissory note.It was,of course,impossible for me to communicate this view of the circumstances to either of my two companions.I could only suggest a patient reliance on time,and the preservation of discreet silence on Minna's part,until her mother set the example of returning to the subject.
My vaguely-prudent counsels were,naturally enough,not to the taste of my young hearers.Fritz openly acknowledged that I had disappointed him;and Minna turned aside her head,with a look of reproach.Her quick perception had detected,in my look and manner,that I was keeping my thoughts to myself.Neither she nor Fritz made any objection to my leaving them,to return to the office before post-time.I wrote to Mr.
Engelman before I left my desk that evening.
Recalling those memorable days of my early life,I remember that a strange and sinister depression pervaded our little household,from the time when Mr.Engelman left us.
In some mysterious way the bonds of sympathy,by which we had been hitherto more or less united,seemed to slacken and fall away.We lived on perfectly good terms with one another;but there was an unrecognized decrease of confidence among us,which I for one felt sometimes almost painfully.An unwholesome atmosphere of distrust enveloped us.Mr.Keller only believed,under reserve,that Madame Fontaine's persistent low spirits were really attributable,as she said,to nothing more important than nervous headaches.Fritz began to doubt whether Mr.Keller was really as well satisfied as he professed to be with the choice that his son had made of a portionless bride.Minna,observing that Fritz was occasionally rather more subdued and silent than usual,began to ask herself whether she was quite as dear to him,in the time of their prosperity,as in the time of their adversity.To sum up all,Madame Fontaine had her doubts of me--and I had my doubts (although she _had_saved Mr.Keller's life)of Madame Fontaine.
From this degrading condition of dullness and distrust,we were roused,one morning,by the happy arrival of Mrs.Wagner,attended by her maid,her courier--and Jack Straw.