18. Rosa's Lover

by Alexandre Dumas

　　Rosa had scarcely pronounced these consolatory words when avoice was heard from the staircase asking Gryphus howmatters were going on."Do you hear, father?" said Rosa."What?""Master Jacob calls you, he is uneasy.""There was such a noise," said Gryphus; "wouldn't you havethought he would murder me, this doctor? They are alwaysvery troublesome fellows, these scholars."Then, pointing with his finger towards the staircase, hesaid to Rosa: "Just lead the way, Miss."After this he locked the door and called out: "I shall bewith you directly, friend Jacob."Poor Cornelius, thus left alone with his bitter grief,muttered to himself, --"Ah, you old hangman! it is me you have trodden under foot;you have murdered me; I shall not survive it."And certainly the unfortunate prisoner would have fallen illbut for the counterpoise which Providence had granted to hisgrief, and which was called Rosa.In the evening she came back. Her first words announced toCornelius that henceforth her father would make no objectionto his cultivating flowers."And how do you know that?" the prisoner asked, with adoleful look."I know it because he has said so.""To deceive me, perhaps.""No, he repents.""Ah yes! but too late.""This repentance is not of himself.""And who put it into him?""If you only knew how his friend scolded him!""Ah, Master Jacob; he does not leave you, then, that MasterJacob?""At any rate, he leaves us as little as he can help."Saying this, she smiled in such a way that the little cloudof jealousy which had darkened the brow of Corneliusspeedily vanished."How was it?" asked the prisoner."Well, being asked by his friend, my father told at supperthe whole story of the tulip, or rather of the bulb, and ofhis own fine exploit of crushing it."Cornelius heaved a sigh, which might have been called agroan."Had you only seen Master Jacob at that moment!" continuedRosa. "I really thought he would set fire to the castle; hiseyes were like two flaming torches, his hair stood on end,and he clinched his fist for a moment; I thought he wouldhave strangled my father.""'You have done that,' he cried, 'you have crushed thebulb?'"'Indeed I have.'"'It is infamous,' said Master Jacob, 'it is odious! Youhave committed a great crime!'"My father was quite dumbfounded."'Are you mad, too?' he asked his friend.""Oh, what a worthy man is this Master Jacob!" mutteredCornelius, -- "an honest soul, an excellent heart that heis.""The truth is, that it is impossible to treat a man morerudely than he did my father; he was really quite indespair, repeating over and over again, --"'Crushed, crushed the bulb! my God, my God! crushed!'"Then, turning toward me, he asked, 'But it was not the onlyone that he had?'""Did he ask that?" inquired Cornelius, with some anxiety."'You think it was not the only one?' said my father. 'Verywell, we shall search for the others.'"'You will search for the others?' cried Jacob, taking myfather by the collar; but he immediately loosed him. Then,turning towards me, he continued, asking 'And what did thatpoor young man say?'"I did not know what to answer, as you had so strictlyenjoined me never to allow any one to guess the interestwhich you are taking in the bulb. Fortunately, my fathersaved me from the difficulty by chiming in, --"'What did he say? Didn't he fume and fret?'"I interrupted him, saying, 'Was it not natural that beshould be furious, you were so unjust and brutal, father?'"'Well, now, are you mad?' cried my father; 'what immensemisfortune is it to crush a tulip bulb? You may buy ahundred of them in the market of Gorcum.'"'Perhaps some less precious one than that was!' I quiteincautiously replied.""And what did Jacob say or do at these words?" askedCornelius."At these words, if I must say it, his eyes seemed to flashlike lightning.""But," said Cornelius, "that was not all; I am sure he saidsomething in his turn.""'So, then, my pretty Rosa,' he said, with a voice as sweeta honey, -- 'so you think that bulb to have been a preciousone?'"I saw that I had made a blunder."'What do I know?' I said, negligently; 'do I understandanything of tulips? I only know -- as unfortunately it isour lot to live with prisoners -- that for them any pastimeis of value. This poor Mynheer van Baerle amused himselfwith this bulb. Well, I think it very cruel to take from himthe only thing that he could have amused himself with.'"'But, first of all,' said my father, 'we ought to know howhe has contrived to procure this bulb.'"I turned my eyes away to avoid my father's look; but I metthose of Jacob."It was as if he had tried to read my thoughts at the bottomof my heart."Some little show of anger sometimes saves an answer. Ishrugged my shoulders, turned my back, and advanced towardsthe door."But I was kept by something which I heard, although it wasuttered in a very low voice only."Jacob said to my father, --"'It would not be so difficult to ascertain that.'"'How so?'"'You need only search his person: and if he has the otherbulbs, we shall find them, as there usually are threesuckers!'""Three suckers!" cried Cornelius. "Did you say that I havethree?""The word certainly struck me just as much as it does you. Iturned round. They were both of them so deeply engaged intheir conversation that they did not observe my movement."'But,' said my father, 'perhaps he has not got his bulbsabout him?'"'Then take him down, under some pretext or other and I willsearch his cell in the meanwhile.'""Halloa, halloa!" said Cornelius. "But this Mr. Jacob ofyours is a villain, it seems.""I am afraid he is.""Tell me, Rosa," continued Cornelius, with a pensive air."What?""Did you not tell me that on the day when you prepared yourborders this man followed you?""So he did.""That he glided like a shadow behind the elder trees?""Certainly.""That not one of your movements escaped him?""Not one, indeed.""Rosa," said Cornelius, growing quite pale."Well?""It was not you he was after.""Who else, then?""It is not you that he was in love with!""But with whom else?""He was after my bulb, and is in love with my tulip!""You don't say so! And yet it is very possible," said Rosa."Will you make sure of it?""In what manner?""Oh, it would be very easy!""Tell me.""Go to-morrow into the garden; manage matters so that Jacobmay know, as he did the first time, that you are goingthere, and that he may follow you. Feign to put the bulbinto the ground; leave the garden, but look through thekeyhole of the door and watch him.""Well, and what then?""What then? We shall do as he does.""Oh!" said Rosa, with a sigh, "you are very fond of yourbulbs.""To tell the truth," said the prisoner, sighing likewise,"since your father crushed that unfortunate bulb, I feel asif part of my own self had been paralyzed.""Now just hear me," said Rosa; "will you try somethingelse?""What?""Will you accept the proposition of my father?""Which proposition?""Did not he offer to you tulip bulbs by hundreds?""Indeed he did.""Accept two or three, and, along with them, you may grow thethird sucker.""Yes, that would do very well," said Cornelius, knitting hisbrow; "if your father were alone, but there is that MasterJacob, who watches all our ways.""Well, that is true; but only think! you are deprivingyourself, as I can easily see, of a very great pleasure."She pronounced these words with a smile, which was notaltogether without a tinge of irony.Cornelius reflected for a moment; he evidently wasstruggling against some vehement desire."No!" he cried at last, with the stoicism of a Roman of old,"it would be a weakness, it would be a folly, it would be ameanness! If I thus give up the only and last resource whichwe possess to the uncertain chances of the bad passions ofanger and envy, I should never deserve to be forgiven. No,Rosa, no; to-morrow we shall come to a conclusion as to thespot to be chosen for your tulip; you will plant itaccording to my instructions; and as to the third sucker,"-- Cornelius here heaved a deep sigh, -- "watch over it as amiser over his first or last piece of gold; as the motherover her child; as the wounded over the last drop of bloodin his veins; watch over it, Rosa! Some voice within metells me that it will be our saving, that it will be asource of good to us.""Be easy, Mynheer Cornelius," said Rosa, with a sweetmixture of melancholy and gravity, "be easy; your wishes arecommands to me.""And even," continued Van Baerle, warming more and more withhis subject, "if you should perceive that your steps arewatched, and that your speech has excited the suspicion ofyour father and of that detestable Master Jacob, -- well,Rosa, don't hesitate for one moment to sacrifice me, who amonly still living through you, -- me, who have no one in theworld but you; sacrifice me, -- don't come to see me anymore."Rosa felt her heart sink within her, and her eyes werefilling with tears."Alas!" she said."What is it?" asked Cornelius."I see one thing.""What do you see?""I see," said she, bursting out in sobs, "I see that youlove your tulips with such love as to have no more room inyour heart left for other affections."Saying this, she fled.Cornelius, after this, passed one of the worst nights heever had in his life.Rosa was vexed with him, and with good reason. Perhaps shewould never return to see the prisoner, and then he wouldhave no more news, either of Rosa or of his tulips.We have to confess, to the disgrace of our hero and offloriculture, that of his two affections he felt moststrongly inclined to regret the loss of Rosa; and when, atabout three in the morning, he fell asleep overcome withfatigue, and harassed with remorse, the grand black tulipyielded precedence in his dreams to the sweet blue eyes ofthe fair maid of Friesland.