CHAPTER III
On the third day after Nina's visit to her aunt, Ziska Zamenoy cameacross to the Kleinseite on a visit to old Balatka. In the mean timeNina had told the story of her love to her father, and the effect onBalatka had simply been that he had not got out of his bed since. Forhimself he would have cared, perhaps, but little as to the Jewishmarriage, had he not known that those belonging to him would have caredso much. He had no strong religious prejudice of his own, nor indeedhad he strong feeling of any kind. He loved his daughter, and wishedher well; but even for her he had been unable to exert himself in hisyounger days, and now simply expected from her hands all the comfortwhich remained to him in this world. The priest he knew would attackhim, and to the priest he would be able to make no answer. But toTrendellsohn, Jew as he was, he would trust in worldly matters, ratherthan to the Zamenoys; and were it not that he feared the Zamenoys, andcould not escape from his close connection with them, he would havebeen half inclined to let the girl marry the Jew. Souchey, indeed, hadfrightened him on the subject when it had first been mentioned to him;and Nina, coming with her own assurance so quickly after Souchey'ssuspicion, had upset him; but his feeling in regard to Nina had noneof that bitter anger, no touch of that abhorrence which animated thebreast of his sister-in-law. When Ziska came to him he was alone inhis bedroom. Ziska had heard the news, as had all the household in theWindberg-gasse, and had come over to his uncle's house to see what hecould do, by his own diplomacy, to put an end to an engagement whichwas to him doubly calamitous. "Uncle Josef," he said, sitting by theold man's bed, "have you heard what Nina is doing?"
"What she is doing!" said the uncle. "What is she doing?" Balatkafeared all the Zamenoys, down to Lotta Luxa; but he feared Ziska lessthan he feared any other of the household.
"Have you heard of Anton Trendellsohn?"
"What of Anton Trendellsohn? I have been hearing of Anton Trendellsohnfor the last thirty years. I have known him since he was born."
"Do you wish to have him for a son-in-law?"
"For a son-in-law?"
"Yes, for a son-in-law--Anton Trendellsohn, the Jew. Would he be a goodhusband for our Nina? You say nothing, uncle Josef."
"What am I to say?"
"You have heard of it, then? Why can you not answer me, uncle Josef?Have you heard that Trendellsohn has dared to ask Nina to be his wife?"
"There is not so much of daring in it, Ziska. Among you all the poorgirl is a beggar. If some one does not take pity on her, she willstarve soon."
"Take pity on her! Do not we all take pity on her?"
"No," said Josef Balatka, turning angrily against his nephew; "not ascrap of pity--not a morsel of love. You cannot rid yourself of herquite--of her or me--and that is your pity."
"You are wrong there."
"Very well; then let me be wrong. I can understand what is before myeyes. Look round the house and see what we are coming to. Nina at thepresent moment has not got a florin in her purse. We are starving, ornext to it, and yet you wonder that she should be willing to marry anhonest man who has plenty of money."
"But he is a Jew!"
"Yes; he is a Jew. I know that."
"And Nina knows it."
"Of course she does. Do you go home and eat nothing for a week, andthen see whether a Jew's bread will poison you."
"But to marry him, uncle Josef!"
"It is very bad. I know it is bad, but what can I do? If she says shewill do it, how can I help it? She has been a good child to me--a verygood child; and am I to lie here and see her starve? You would not giveto your dog the morsel of bread which she ate this morning before shewent out."
All this was a new light to Ziska. He knew that his uncle and cousinwere very poor, and had halted in his love because he was ashamedof their poverty; but he had never thought of them as people hungryfrom want of food, or cold from want of clothes. It may be said ofhim, to his credit, that his love had been too strong for his shame,and that he had made up his mind to marry his cousin Nina in spiteof her poverty. When Lotta Luxa had called him a calf she hadnot inappropriately defined one side of his character. He was agood-looking well-grown young man, not very wise, quickly susceptibleto female influences, and gifted with eyes capable of convincing himthat Nina Balatka was by far the prettiest woman whom he ever saw. But,in connection with such calf-like propensities, Ziska was endowed withsomething of his mother's bitterness and of his father's persistency;and the old Zamenoys did not fear but that the fortunes of the familywould prosper in the hands of their son. And when it was known toMadame Zamenoy and to her husband Karil that Ziska had set his heartupon having his cousin, they had expressed no displeasure at theprospect, poor as the Balatkas were. "There is no knowing how it maygo about the houses in the Kleinseite," Karil Zamenoy had said. "OldTrendellsohn gets the rent and the interest, but he has little ornothing to show for them--merely a written surrender from Josef,which is worth nothing." No hindrance, therefore was placed in theway of Ziska's suit, and Nina might have been already accepted in theWindberg-gasse had Nina chosen to smile upon Ziska. Now Ziska was toldthat the girl he loved was to marry a Jew because she was starving,and the tidings threw a new light upon him. Why had he not offeredassistance to Nina? It was not surprising that Nina should be so hardto him--to him who had as yet offered her nothing in her poverty buta few cold compliments.
"She shall have bread enough, if that is what she wants," said Ziska.
"Bread and kindness," said the old man.
"She shall have kindness too, uncle Josef. I love Nina better than anyJew in Prague can love her."
"Why should not a Jew love? I believe the man loves her well. Why elseshould he wish to make her his wife?"
"And I love her well--and I would make her my wife."
"You want to marry Nina!"
"Yes, uncle Josef. I wish to marry Nina. I will marry her to-morrow--or, for that matter, to-day--if she will have me."
"You! Ziska Zamenoy!"
"I, Ziska Zamenoy."
"And what would your mother say?"
"Both father and mother will consent. There need be no hindrance ifNina will agree. I did not know that you were so badly off. I did notindeed, or I would have come to you myself and seen to it."
Old Balatka did not answer for a while, having turned himself in hisbed to think of the proposition which had been made to him. "Would younot like to have me for a son-in-law better than a Jew, uncle Josef?"said Ziska, pleading for himself as best he knew how to plead.
"Have you ever spoken to Nina?" said the old man.
"Well, no; not exactly to say what I have said to you. When one loves agirl as I love her, somehow--I don't know how--But I am ready to do soat once.
"Ah, Ziska, if you had done it sooner!"
"But is it too late? You say she has taken up with this man because youare both so poor. She cannot like a Jew best."
"But she is true--so true!"
"If you mean about her promise to Trendellsohn, Father Jerome wouldtell her in a minute that she should not keep such a promise to a Jew."
"She would not mind Father Jerome."
"And what does she mind? Will she not mind you?"
"Me; yes--she will mind me, to give me my food."
"Will she not obey you?"
"How am I to bid her obey me? But I will try, Ziska."
"You would not wish her to marry a Jew?"
"No, Ziska; certainly I should not wish it."
"And you will give me your consent?"
"Yes, if it be any good to you."
"It will be good if you will be round with her, telling her that shemust not do such a thing as this. Love a Jew! It is impossible. Asyou have been so very poor, she may be forgiven for having thought ofit. Tell her that, uncle Josef; and whatever you do, be firm with her."
"There she is in the next room," said the father, who had heard hisdaughter's entrance. Ziska's face had assumed something of a defiantlook while he was recommending firmness to the old man; but now thatthe g
irl of whom he had spoken was so near at hand, there returned tohis brow the young calf-like expression with which Lotta Luxa was sowell acquainted. "There she is, and you will speak to her yourselfnow," said Balatka.
Ziska got up to go, but as he did so he fumbled in his pocket andbrought forth a little bundle of bank-notes. A bundle of bank-notes inPrague may be not little, and yet represent very little money. Whenbank-notes are passed for two-pence and become thick with use, a manmay have a great mass of paper currency in his pocket without beingrich. On this occasion, however, Ziska tendered to his uncle notwo-penny notes. There was a note for five florins, and two or threefor two florins, and perhaps half-a-dozen for a florin each, so thatthe total amount offered was sufficient to be of real importance toone so poor as Josef Balatka.
"This will help you awhile," said Ziska, "and if Nina will come roundand be a good girl, neither you nor she shall want anything; and sheneed not be afraid of mother, if she will only do as I say." Balatkahad put out his hand and had taken the money, when the bedroom door wasopened, and Nina came in.
"What, Ziska," said she, "are you here?"
"Why not? why should I not see my uncle?"
"It is very good of you, certainly; only, as you never came before--"
"I mean it for kindness, now I have come, at any rate," said Ziska.
"Then I will take it for kindness," said Nina.
"Why should there be quarrelling among relatives?" said the old manfrom among the bed-clothes.
"Why, indeed?" said Ziska.
"Why, indeed," said Nina, "--if it could be helped?"
She knew that the outward serenity of the words spoken was too good tobe a fair representation of thoughts below in the mind of any of them.It could not be that Ziska had come there to express even his ownconsent to her marriage with Anton Trendellsohn; and without suchconsent there must of necessity be a continuation of quarrelling. "Haveyou been speaking to father, Ziska, about those papers?" Nina wasdetermined that there should be no glozing of matters, no soft wordsused effectually to stop her in her projected course. So she rushed atonce at the subject which she thought most important in Ziska'spresence.
"What papers?" said Ziska.
"The papers which belong to Anton Trendellsohn about this house and theothers. They are his, and you would not wish to keep things whichbelong to another, even though he should be a--Jew."
Then it occurred to Ziska that Trendellsohn might be willing to giveup Nina if he got the papers, and that Nina might be willing to befree from the Jew by the same arrangement. It could not be that such agirl as Nina Balatka should prefer the love of a Jew to the love of aChristian. So at least Ziska argued in his own mind. "I do not want tokeep anything that belongs to anybody," said Ziska. "If the papers arewith us, I am willing that they should be given up--that is, if it beright that they should be given up."
"It is right," said Nina.
"I believe the Trendellsohns should have them--either father or son,"said old Balatka.
"Of course they should have them," said Nina; "either father or son--itmakes no matter which."
"I will try and see to it," said Ziska.
"Pray do," said Nina; "it will be only just; and one would not wishto rob even a Jew, I suppose." Ziska understood nothing of what wasintended by the tone of her voice, and began to think that there mightreally be ground for hope.
"Nina," he said, "your father is not quite well. I want you to speak tome in the next room."
"Certainly, Ziska, if you wish it. Father, I will come again to yousoon. Souchey is making your soup, and I will bring it to you when itis ready." Then she led the way into the sitting-room, and as Ziskacame through, she carefully shut the door. The walls dividing the roomswere very thick, and the door stood in a deep recess, so that no soundcould be heard from one room to another. Nina did not wish that herfather should hear what might now pass between herself and her cousin,and therefore she was careful to shut the door close.
"Ziska," said she, as soon as they were together, "I am very glad thatyou have come here. My aunt is so angry with me that I cannot speakwith her, and uncle Karil only snubs me if I say a word to him aboutbusiness. He would snub me, no doubt, worse than ever now; and yet whois there here to speak of such matters if I may not do so? You see howit is with father."
"He is not able to do much, I suppose."
"He is able to do nothing, and there is nothing for him to do--nothingthat can be of any use. But of course he should see that those who havebeen good to him are not--are not injured because of their kindness."
"You mean those Jews--the Trendellsohns."
"Yes, those Jews the Trendellsohns! You would not rob a man because heis a Jew," said she, repeating the old words.
"They know how to take care of themselves, Nina."
"Very likely."
"They have managed to get all your father's property between them."
"I don't know how that is. Father says that the business which uncleand you have was once his, and that he made it. In these matters theweakest always goes to the wall. Father has no son to help him, asuncle Karil has--and old Trendellsohn."
"You may help him better than any son."
"I will help him if I can. Will you and uncle give up those paperswhich you have kept since father left them with uncle Karil, just thatthey might be safe?"
This question Ziska would not answer at once. The matter was one onwhich he wished to negotiate, and he was driven to the necessity ofconsidering what might be the best line for his diplomacy. "I am sure,Ziska," continued Nina, "you will understand why I ask this. Father istoo weak to make the demand, and uncle would listen to nothing thatAnton Trendellsohn would say to him."
"They say that you have betrothed yourself to this Jew, Nina."
"It is true. But that has nothing to do with it."
"He is very anxious to have the deeds?"
"Of course he is anxious. Father is old and poorly; and what would hedo if father were to die?"
"Nina, he shall have them--if he will give you up."
Nina turned away from her cousin and looked out from the window intothe little court. Ziska could not see her face; but had he done so hewould not have been able to read the smile of triumph with which for amoment or two it became brilliant. No; Anton would make no such bargainas that! Anton loved her better than any title-deeds. Had he not toldher that she was his sun--the sun that gave to him light and heat? "Ifthey are his own, why should he be asked to make any such bargain?"said Nina.
"Nina," said Ziska, throwing all his passion into his voice, as he bestknew how, "it cannot be that you should love this man."
"Why not love him?"
"A Jew!"
"Yes--a Jew! I do love him."
"Nina!"
"What have you to say, Ziska? Whatever you say, do not abuse him. It ismy affair, not yours. You may think what you like of me for taking sucha husband, but remember that he is to be my husband."
"Nina, let me be your husband."
"No, Ziska; that cannot be."
"I love you. I love you fifty times better than he can do. Is not aChristian's love better than a Jew's?"
"Because I do not love you. Can there be any other reason in such amatter? I do not love you. I do not care if I never see you. But him Ilove with all my heart. To see him is the only delight of my life. Tosit beside him, with his hand in mine, and my head on his shoulder, isheaven to me. To obey him is my duty; to serve him is my pleasure. Tobe loved by him is the only good thing which God has given me on earth.Now, Ziska, you will know why I cannot be your wife." Still she stoodbefore him, and still she looked up into his face, keeping her gazeupon him even after her words were finished.
"Accursed Jew!" said Ziska.
"That is right, Ziska; curse him; it is so easy."
"And you too will be cursed--here and hereafter. If you marry a Jew youwill be accursed to all eternity."
"That, too, is very easy to say."
"It is not I who say it. Th
e priest will tell you the same."
"Let him tell me so; it is his business, but it is not yours. You sayit because you cannot have what you want yourself; that is all. Whenshall I call in the Ross Markt for the papers?" In the Ross Markt wasthe house of business of Karil Zamenoy, and there, as Nina well knew,were kept the documents which she was so anxious to obtain. But thedemand at this moment was made simply with the object of vexing Ziska,and urging him on to further anger.
"Unless you will give up Anton Trendellsohn, you had better not come tothe Ross Markt."
"I will never give him up."
"We will see. Perhaps he will give you up after a while. It will be afine thing to be jilted by a Jew."
"The Jew, at any rate, shall not be jilted by the Christian. And now,if you please, I will ask you to go. I do not choose to be insulted infather's house. It is his house still."
"Nina, I will give you one more chance."
"You can give me no chance that will do you or me any good. If you willgo, that is all I want of you now."
For a moment or two Ziska stood in doubt as to what he would next door say. Then he took up his hat and went away without another word. Onthat same evening some one rang the bell at the door of the house inthe Windberg-gasse in a most humble manner--with that weak, hesitatinghand which, by the tone which it produces, seems to insinuate that noone need hurry to answer such an appeal, and that the answer, whenmade, may be made by the lowest personage in the house. In thisinstance, however, Lotta Luxa did answer the bell, and not the stoutBohemian girl who acted in the household of Madame Zamenoy as assistantand fag to Lotta. And Lotta found Nina at the door, enveloped in hercloak. "Lotta," she said, "will you kindly give this to my cousinZiska?" Then, not waiting for a word, she started away so quickly thatLotta had not a chance of speaking to her, no power of uttering anaudible word of abuse. When Ziska opened the parcel thus brought tohim, he found it to contain all the notes which he had given to JosefBalatka.