poison. She had not cooked any more
mushrooms for him, although he had often asked for some. "Gather them
yourself," she had answered curtly, and had not allowed Rosa to fetch
any more. There was no object in doing so. And throwing him into the
ditch? Bah! Her upper lip curled contemptuously at the thought of her
own childish stupidity. A ditch was nothing to Mr. Tiralla; he was able
to get out of a much deeper pit. But rat poison! What about that poison
still lying in her chest in the lumber-room? A great longing for it
took possession of her. There was release, it lay in her hands, and
still she did not venture to make use of it. Would he also be guarded
against that poison, which [Pg 160] was said to be strong? Or was it
after all not strong enough to kill people? If only she could find out
exactly. Who could give her the most reliable information? Boehnke? Oh,
that liar! Her whole body shook, she sobbed so tempestuously. He had
deceived her. He had pretended to teach her which were poisonous
mushrooms, and he had not done so. The wretch! Let him never appear
before her eyes again.

Mrs. Tiralla felt furious when she thought of her slave. Had he not
sworn that he was devoted to her, first mutely and then in words? On
Easter Sunday after their festive meal, when Mr. Tiralla had fallen
asleep, surfeited with all the usual rich dishes, and Rosa had gone to
the village church with Marianna, he had besought her on his knees, and
she, with a look at the sleeper, had hastily whispered to him, "If I
were free." Then he had sworn to her with the most solemn oaths that
she should be free, that she must be free. And now? Oh, the coward! The
whole summer had passed by; the swallows had departed long ago, but the
son was flying back to the paternal nest and was bringing somebody else
with him; four more eyes to pry on her.

She was tormented with a great fear when she thought of Mikolai's
return. He had keen eyes, he was not stupid. He was certainly not like
Rosa, who had only one foot on earth, and who used to dream with open
eyes, and believed implicitly what was told her. If anything were to
happen, it must happen before Mikolai returned to his father.

Mrs. Tiralla made up her mind to get out of bed; nobody would see or
hear her now. She had sent Rosa to another room, she could not bear to
have anybody with her. Now the child slept in a room [Pg 161] on the
other side of the passage that had stood empty; and Marianna would