Courts and courtiers -- Fiction; German fiction -- Translations into English; Germany -- Fiction
They called it "rummaging," and great was the charm of "rummaging"; for
it was difficult to acquire familiarity with the ground-plan and
structure of the old Schloss, and every time they penetrated far enough
into the remoter parts they found rooms, closets, and empty halls which
they had not yet trodden, or strange round-about ways to already-known
rooms. But once when thus wandering about they had a rencontre, an
adventure befell them, which made a great impression on Klaus Heinrich,
though he did not show it, and opened his eyes.
The opportunity came. While the Swiss governess was absent on leave to
attend the evening service, they had drunk their milk from tea-cups with
the Grand Duchess, accompanied by the two ladies-in-waiting, had been
dismissed and directed to go back hand-in-hand to their ordinary
occupations in the nursery, which lay not far off. It was thought that
they needed nobody to go with them; Klaus Heinrich was old enough to
take care of Ditlinde, of course. He was; and in the corridor he said:
"Yes, Ditlinde, we will certainly go back to the nursery, but we need
not go, you know, the shortest, dullest way. We'll rummage a bit first.
If you go up one step and follow the corridor as far as where the arches
begin, you'll find a hall with pillars behind them, and if you go out of
one of the doors of the hall with pillars--clamber up the corkscrew
staircase, you come to a room with a wooden roof; and there are lots of
funny things lying about there. But I don't know what comes after the
room, and that's what we've got to find out. So let's go."
"Yes, let's," said Ditlinde, "but not too far, Klaus Heinrich, and not
where it's too dusty, for this dress shows everything."
She was wearing a dress of dark-red velvet, trimmed with satin of the
same colour. She had at that time dimples in her elbows, and light
golden hair, that curled round her ears like ram's horns. In after years
she was pale and thin. She too had the broad, rather over-prominent
cheek-bones of her father and nation, but they were not accentuated, so
that they did not spoil the lines of her face. But with Klaus Heinrich
they were strong and emphatic, so that they seemed somewhat to encroach
upon, to narrow and to lengthen his steel-coloured eyes. His dark hair
was smoothly parted, cut in a careful rectangle on the temples, and
brushed straight back from the forehead. He wore an open jacket with a
waistcoat buttoning at the throat and a white turn-down collar. In his
right hand he held Ditlinde's little hand, but his left arm hung down,
with its brown, wrinkled, and undeveloped hand, thin and short from the
shoulder. He was glad that he could let it hang without bothering to
conceal it; for there was nobody there to stare and to require to be
elevated and inspired, and he himself might stare and examine to his
heart's content.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account