now saw, what I had not
before suspected, that she was really attached to Van Haubitz; hitherto,
I had taken her for a mere adventuress, speculating on his supposed
wealth. She spoke kindly and affectionately to him, smiled through the
tears brought to her eyes by his recent brutality, and evidently
trembled each time her mother spoke, lest she should vent a reproach or
refer to his heartless duplicity. She tried to speak confidently and
cheerfully of the future. They must go immediately to Vienna, she said;
there she would apply diligently to her profession; the manager had half
promised her an increase of salary after another year--she was sure she
should deserve it, and meanwhile Van Haubitz, with his abilities, could
not fail to find some lucrative employment. He must get rid of his
accent, she added with a smile, (he spoke a voluble but most execrable
jargon of mingled Dutch and German) and then he might go upon the stage,
where she was certain he would succeed. This last suggestion was made
timidly, as if she feared to hurt the pride of the scapegrace by
proposing such a plan. There was not a word or an accent of reproach in
all she said, and I heartily forgave the little coquetry, affectation,
and vulgarity I had formerly remarked in her, in consideration of the
intuitive delicacy and good feeling she now displayed. Truly, thought I,
it is humbling to us, the bearded and baser moiety of humankind, to
contrast our vile egotism with the beautiful self-devotion of woman, as
exhibited even in this poor actress.

Madame Sendel by no means acquiesced in her daughter's project. The
flesh-pots of Amsterdam had attractions for her, far superior to those
of a struggling and uncertain existence at Vienna. She evidently leaned
upon the hope of a reconciliation between Van Haubitz and his father,
and hinted pretty plainly at the effect that might be produced by a
personal interview with the obdurate banker. I could see she was
arranging matters in her queer old noddle upon the approved theatrical
principle, the penitent son and fascinating daughter-in-law throwing
themselves at the feet of the melting father, who, with handkerchief to
eyes, bestows on them a blubbering benediction and ample subsidy. To my
surprise Van Haubitz also seemed disposed to place hope in an appeal to
his father, perhaps as a drowning man clutches at a straw. He may have
thought that his marriage, imprudent as it was, would be taken as some
guarantee