He was firmly convinced that Douglas had given his case into the hands of the law; indeed, he found a certain satisfaction in the thought that he would be judged “unjustly,” of course, and as from one day to the other the summons never came, he explained, scornfully,
But Douglas seemed willing totally to ignore the ignominy he had suffered; he did not even demand the capital lent on mortgage.
Paul’s soul was overflowing with gratitude, and the less he found means to show it the deeper he felt the shame--the more his unrest haunted him.
So one night he again stood motionless at the garden fence of Helenenthal.
Early autumn mists lay on the ground, and the withering grass quivered lightly.
The White House disappeared in the shadows of the night, and only from one of the windows there shone a dull, dark-red light.
“There she is, watching near her sick mother,” Paul thought. And as he found no other means to call her he began to whistle. Twice, three times, he stopped to listen. Nobody came, and anxiety rose within him.
With groping hand he searched for the gap in the fence which Elsbeth had shown him once, and when he had found it he penetrated to the inner garden. The branches tore his clothes as, in a sort of wilderness, he crept along the ground to find a path. At last he came to an open place. The white gravel threw out a dim light which shone brighter than the little lamp in the sick-room.
He seated himself on a bench and looked thither. He thought he saw a shadow moving behind the curtains.
Then suddenly all around grew light; the rose-trees were visible in the night; the gravel sparkled, and the gables of the dwelling-house, which had just before stood out in a dark mass, now showed in dark reddish tints, as if the light of dawn had fallen upon it.
Wonderingly he turned round; the blood froze in his veins; a purple flash of fire shot up in the dark sky. The black clouds were outlined with edges of fire, white flames whirled upward, and high above shot the glowing beams, as if there was an _aurora borealis_ in the sky.
His head fell heavily against the back of the bench; the next moment he raised himself up, his knees shook, the blood hammered in his temples. “On, on! save what is to be saved!” cried a voice within him; and with a wild rush he broke through the bushes, climbed the garden fence, and sank down into the ditch on the other side.