The next morning as I lay in bed ruminating more soberly upon my extraordinary situation, some doubts again arose in my mind. It was flattering to me to be chosen for the hero to destroy the spell that bound these inseparables, and to release so many captive hearts. George came to attend me; there was an expression of sprightliness in his countenance that indicated, as I thought, the possession of some joyful secret. I asked whether he had already been more successful in love here, in Bordeaux, than the Germans formerly were in the field?
"I think not of myself," he answered; "you have it now in your power to redeem the honour of our country. I have seen Mad. Constantia."—
"Who is Mad. Constantia?"—
" M. Gerson's eldest daughter."—
"You have seen her, you say; well, is she worth the journey? "—
"Aye, and though you had made it upon your knees like a pilgrim, mounting the holy steps. But what signifies my talking up instantly, every moment is a treasure that is spent in gazing on her."
"Donnervetter!—I sprang out of bed and bade him dispatch. "When such a connoisseur as you is in extacy, what is to become of my fine senses?"
M. Gerson paid me a morning visit.
"You' will forgive me, Mr. Waltmann," said he, "if you do not see me all day long except at table. My daughter will afford you society whenever you feel disposed to seek it, and I beg you will make yourself quite at home here."
I thanked him for his kindness, and went, as soon as I was dressed, to announce myself as a new candidate to his daughter. Alas, my poor heart! It throbbed violently as I entered the flame to singe my wings, as so many enamoured moths had done before me. A reverential awe overwhelmed me in the presence of this dazzling beauty, such as I had never before experienced, except in Paris, at the sight of the unknown. She stood there like a fairy queen, robed in majesty, and crowned with the perfection of beauty and loveliness; and a smile of compassion for the daring lover, who ventured, not without fear and trembling, into her presence, danced upon her rosy lips. I have not taken up the pen to write an elaborate treatise on female beauty, or to give laws to the pencil of the artist, but how contemptible in my present estimation did the brightest beauties of Hamburgh appear, who were so unlucky as to serve me for a comparison with this angelic creature: My admiration increased as she, with an amiable artlessness, gradually developed her talents and accomplishments. She played, she sang, she drew, in the style of a master. The evil grew every time I saw her. She herself was evidently less at ease. In short, unable to hold out longer, I went to M. Gerson, fourteen days after my arrival, and demanded the hand of his daughter. I will not attempt to describe the old man's joy on the occasion, or the grotesque capers and gestures by which he testified it. He led me to his daughter, and gave her into my arms. I clasped the incomparable girl with rapture to my bosom.
"Bravo!" cried he, as he beheld us; excellent! c'est comme il faut, je m'en souviens encore? Tomorrow, Constantia, I will write to your sisters, for they must be present at your nuptials."
Angelica, the second daughter, arrived in a few days. She had been residing with a relation at Rochelle. Beautiful as she was she appeared less so, near her sister, and I congratulated myself, almost without knowing it, on having, at all events, chosen the best of the two. Victoria, the youngest, was still absent. A letter came in eight or ten days time to her sister Angelica, saying that she was gone to a distant part of the country on a visit, with her aunt, to whose care she had been entrusted, and would soon return.
This delayed our nuptials, and I had plenty of leisure to compare the two sisters with each other. Angelica was one inch shorter than her sister; naturally gay and lively myself, I was delighted with her volatile disposition; we grew more and more intimate. As often as I beheld Constantia my bosom heaved with tender wishes; as often as I listened to Angelica my whole soul flew to the fascinating chatterer. For some time they preserved an equipoise— imperceptibly the scales began to rise and fall alternately, and at the end of another fortnight I loved Constantia while I beheld her only, but the lively Angelica occupied my thoughts no less in solitude than in her presence.
