Cihlar & Egeler - The Saint and her Fool

He feels the blood rush to his head. Could it be that they are planning to bestow him with a gift? The Thorsteiner is one of those people, who like to give but do not like to receive anything. He had not considered that! He would surely not have come then! That he himself has given is already forgotten. Inhibited, he looks towards the door, pondering over a reason to escape under some excuse. Was he a servant supposedly to be paid with a gratuity for his performance? People who are uprooted from their sphere of life are always hypersensitive; the Thorsteiner was about to commit a great mistake, not the first one in his life.

He begins to move to the door, but little Rose is already walking towards him from behind the Christmas tree; her subtle, resilient steps with her white satin shoes, her shining eyes searching his and she solemnly is carrying a ring in her pale hands. A red flash of sparkling light reflects from it. A strange feeling touches his soul with incredible impact.

You have experienced this before! You have seen this before… the solemn hall with the golden animals sitting on pedestals, the pale little elf with the blood ring in her hand, the walls of which the painted eyes stare in reddish glow. Vanished is his anger, almost fearful solemnity descends into his heart. The child takes his hand to put the ring on.

“From your Saint Rose, hoping I shall always be in your heart.”

He can feel tears building up in his eyes. „Thank you so much, my little Rose.”

He then thanks the Duke in true sincerity. Anyone who knew how the Thorsteiner thought about receiving gifts would have been truly amazed. Then, as the Duke explains about the ancestry of the jewel, he seems even close to being ashamed. The gift was chosen in deep kindness and gratitude und did not emphasize the present gap of friendship, but a former unity.

„And now we shall eat, Earl Thorstein and you, my little one, you eat with us and your Snow White shall also attend. I am so pleased that you have finally found something that you really wished for.”

„Oh, Daddy,“ pleads Rose, „something else before… but you may not look…” She disappears behind the trees, after having taken a new brocade blanket from the Duke’s gift table. For a while, they can hear her rummaging. The Duke is beaming. „Yesterday’s escapade did her well; I have never seen her so lively. Last Christmas had been heart-depressing, how quiet she had been. However, one never knows the outcome of her surprises. Are all children this mysterious?”

„The outcome of a child’s heart is always delightful,” Harro replies, „however, maybe they feel the need to explain what is on their mind. From an idea of a child to the final result, always represents a big step.”

„Now, you may look.” Her voice resounds from behind the tree. The branches of the tree hang down very low and partially hidden by these branches, is Rose. She is lying on the floor, the brocade blanket wrapped around her delicate body except for a beautiful, pale little bare foot peeking out of the folds. In her arms she is holding the baby doll, around which she has draped her golden hair like curtains to a cradle. Her eyes are closed and her lips are smiling. She whispers: „Harro, come behind me to be Joseph.”

It did not need any explanation; his impression of the Madonna and the crib is exactly in position, even the folds of the vestment so completely reproduced that he is amazed.

„You have done very well. It is Mary with her child.” The Duke seems a bit embarrassed. „Well, did you really have to take off your shoes and stockings? How fortunate that Miss Whart does not see this.”

The little girl lifts her head. „Oh, Harro, why don’t you be Joseph? Oh, please, be him. Take Miss Whart’s blanket and the billiard cue stick shall be your rod. “

„Little Rose, I cannot just take Miss Whart’s property.”

„Take off your waistcoat, Harro ….”

The presumption of standing here in these surroundings in his shirt sleeves startles him tremendously. The dinner bell saves him.

„Come, Harro, our little lady shall follow once she has become decent again,” says the Duke.

Little Rose realizes that her precious thought has not been perceived. Father had not seen Harro’s manger, that was surely why. And she would so like to make amends.

„Daddy, I would like to ride on the horse so that you can telegraph to Aunt Helen,“ she cries and runs with her bare feet across the shining parquet floor.

The painted eyes on the walls have seen so much today ... in the dying light of the candles, which have burned down to stumps of red, dripping wax, the eyes seem to come to life in the flickering shadows. Harro rushes to raise little Rose onto the saddle. As he grasps her under her arms, her face suddenly changes into a deathly pale color and she cries out in pain, sitting on the saddle with her bare feet stretched out as if in agony.

The Duke shouts out: „Take her down, something is wrong with her!” He hurries away to send a servant to Fräulein Braun. Harro has taken her in his arms and lays on the couch.

„Darling, have I hurt you?“

„Oh no, Harro,“ she whispers ... „Oh, not you, surely not you.”

„My little Saint Rose, tell me, what is wrong with you…” His mind wanders to a suspicion.

„Why do you not want to bathe? “

„Have you heard my screaming?“ she asks.

„Tell me, child, what has happened to you.“

„I cannot. Not ever. Do you see how the man with the sword is looking at me? I would not be worthy if I told. I want to be as they are, just like all of the honorable descendants.”

„But Rose, you are feverish. Those are only paintings…please trust me.”

The Duke comes back in, quite breathless. „I cannot find Fräulein Braun; now I can imagine whose fault it was yesterday that my daughter was able to leave the castle!”

Harro takes him aside. „The Princess seems to have some sort a secret which she does not wish to reveal; it seems to me that she is injured in some way. Would it not be best to send for the doctor? “

„But he was here this morning and has checked her thoroughly. He was pleased that she had survived the unexpected journey so well. Injured? Yesterday? “

„No, it seems to be something that has happened before then.”

The Duke’s voice is dark and angry, as he shouts out: „Where is this Whart woman, she shall come if Fräulein Braun cannot be found!” His voice wavers, as he glances at his daughter. „My little girl always has had a hang to telling myths; she has such an overflowing imagination. „

„Believe me,“ says Harro so insistently that the Duke looks at him in astonishment.

„The child has some sort of dark secret that is tormenting her; physically and mentally.“

„What could that be…oh, I never seem to be able to enjoy this child longer than a few moments.” He then looks up. „There you are at last, Fräulein Braun! Bring the child to bed and send immediately for the doctor!”

He mumbles to the Earl as he turns away. „Let us go into the salon and wait for report.”

Smiling at his daughter he says: „Go to bed, sweetheart, I will be up soon to kiss you good night.”

The dining room, in which they go into, is paneled in dark wood with, again, many portraits on the walls. A golden light shimmers from the electric lights of old Venetian chandeliers onto a friendly decorated dinner table, specked with red carnations and green prickly leaves of holly. They lead a conversation about local interests and the Duke’s last hunting event, as he has leased the Thorsteiner hunting grounds. The Duke sometimes falters in his words, seemingly listening for footsteps to approach. By the time the dessert is served, the Duke seems to be quite uneasy and speaks to the Earl in a sorrowful tone: