The doctor had sufficient cause to be excited. What usurious gossip-interest might be collected from such a capitol! Dr. Tromfszky already had an enviable reputation in the county, but what would it become when it became known that he was physician in ordinary to the Nameless Castle?
The rain was not falling so heavily when they arrived at the castle.
Marie and Henry at once conducted the doctor to Ludwig’s chamber. Henry first thrust his head cautiously through the partly open door, then whispered that his master was still tossing deliriously about on the bed; whereupon the doctor summoned courage to enter the room. His first act was to snuff the candle, the wick having become so charred it scarcely gave any light. He could now examine the invalid’s face, which was covered with a burning flush. His eyes rolled wildly. He had not removed his clothes, but had torn them away from his breast.
“H’m! h’m!” muttered the doctor, searching in his bag for his bloodletting instruments. Then he approached the bed, and laid his fingers on the invalid’s pulse.
At the touch of his cold hand the patient suddenly sat upright and uttered a cry of terror:
“Who are you?”
“I am the doctor—the county physician—Dr. Tromfszky. Pray, Herr Count, let me see your tongue.”
Instead of his tongue, the count exhibited a powerful fist.
“What do you want here? Who brought you here?” he demanded.
“Pray, pray be calm, Herr Count,” soothingly responded the doctor, who was inclined to look upon this aggressive exhibition as a result of the fever. “Allow me to examine your pulse. We have here a slight paroxysm that requires medical aid. Come, let me feel your pulse; one, two—”
The count snatched his wrist from the doctor’s grasp, and cried angrily:
“But I don’t need a doctor, or any medicine. There is nothing at all the matter with me. I don’t want anything from you, but to know who brought you here.”
“Beg pardon,” retorted the offended doctor. “I was summoned, and came through this dreadful storm. I was told that the Herr Count was seriously ill.”
“Who said so? Henry?” demanded the count, rising on one knee.
Henry did not venture to move or speak.
“Did you fetch this doctor, Henry?” again demanded the invalid, with expanded nostrils, panting with fury.
The doctor, fancying that it would be well to tell the truth, now interposed politely:
“Allow me, Herr Count! Herr Henry did not come alone to fetch me, but he came with the gracious countess; and on foot, too, in this weather.”
“What? Marie?” gasped the invalid; and at that moment his face looked as if he had become suddenly insane. An involuntary epileptic convulsion shook his limbs. He fell from the bed, but sprang at the same instant to his feet again, flung himself like an angry lion upon Henry, caught him by the throat, and cried with the voice of a demon:
“Wretch! Betrayer! What have you dared to do? I will kill you!”
The doctor required nothing further. He did not stop to see the friendly promise fulfilled, but, leaving his lances, elixirs, and plasters behind him, he flew down the staircase, four steps at a time, and into the pouring rain, totally forgetting the ischias which threatened his leg. Nor did he once think of a carriage, or of a human dromedary,—not even of a lantern, or an umbrella,—as he galloped down the dark road through the thickest of the mud.
When the count seized Henry by the throat and began to shake him, as a lion does the captured buffalo, Marie stepped suddenly to his side, and in a clear, commanding tone cried:
“Louis!”
At this word he released Henry, fell on his knees at Marie’s feet, clasped both arms around her, and, sobbing convulsively, pressed kiss after kiss on the little maid’s wet and muddy gown.
“Why—why did you do this for me?” he exclaimed, in a choking voice.
The doctor’s visit had, after all, benefited the invalid. The spontaneous reaction which followed the violent fit of passion caused a sudden turn in his illness. The salutary crisis came of its own accord during the outburst of rage, which threw him into a profuse perspiration. The brain gradually returned to its normal condition.
“You will get well again, will you not?” stammered the little maid shyly, laying her hand on the invalid’s brow.
“If you really want me to get well,” returned Ludwig, “then you must comply with my request. Go to your room, take off these wet clothes, and go to bed. And you must promise never again to go on another errand like the one you performed this evening. I hope you may sleep soundly.”
“I will do whatever you wish, Ludwig—anything to prevent your getting angry again.”
The little maid returned to her room, took off her wet clothes, and lay down on the bed; but she could not sleep. Every hour she rose, threw on her wrapper, thrust her feet into her slippers, and stole to the door of Ludwig’s room to whisper: “How is he now, Henry?”
“He is sleeping quietly,” Henry would answer encouragingly. The faithful fellow had forgotten his master’s anger, and was watching over him as tenderly as a mother over her child.
“He did not hurt you very much, did he, Henry?”
“No; it did not hurt, and I deserved what I got.”
The little maid pressed the old servant’s hand, whereupon he sank to his knees at her feet, and, kissing her pretty fingers, whispered:
“This fully repays me.”
The next morning Ludwig was entirely recovered. He rose, and, as was his wont, drank six tumblerfuls of water—his usual breakfast.
Of the events of the past night he spoke not one word.
At ten o’clock the occupants of the Nameless Castle were to be seen out driving as usual—the white-haired groom, the stern-visaged gentleman, and the veiled lady.
That same morning Dr. Tromfszky received from the castle a packet containing his medical belongings, and an envelop in which he found a hundred-guilder bank-note, but not a single written word.
Meanwhile the days passed with their usual monotony for the occupants of the Nameless Castle, and September, with its delightfully warm weather drew on apace. In Hungary the long autumn makes ample amends for the brief spring—like the frugal mother who stores away in May gifts with which to surprise her children later in the season.
Down at the lake, a merry crowd of naked children disported in the water; their shouts and laughter could be heard at the castle. Ludwig fully understood the deep melancholy which had settled on Marie’s countenance. Her sole amusement, her greatest happiness, had been taken from her. Other high-born maidens had so many ways of enjoying themselves; she had none. No train of admirers paid court to her. No strains of merry dance-music entranced her ear. Celebrated actors came and went; she did not delight in their performances—she had never even seen a theater. She had no girl friends with whom to exchange confidences—with whom to make merry over the silly flatterers who paid court to them; no acquaintances whose envy she could arouse by the magnificence of her toilets—one of the greatest pleasures in life!
She had no other flatterers but her cats; no other confidantes but her cats; no other actors but her cats. The world of waves had been her sole enjoyment. The water had been her theater, balls, concert—the great world. It was her freedom. The land was a prison.
Again it was the full of the moon, and quite warm. The tulip-formed blossoms of the luxuriant water-lilies were in bloom along the lake shore. Ludwig’s heart ached with pity for the little maid when he saw how sorrowfully she gazed from her window on the glittering lake.