Louis Couperus - Eline Vere

. .

Paul announced that he would be leaving the following morning to join his friend Oudendijk, Françoise’s brother, in Cologne, whence the young men would travel together across Switzerland to Italy. During dinner he was the same as usual, conversing on various topics in sarcastic tones with a supercilious expression hovering beneath the blond moustache. Frédérique was very subdued; it was generally assumed that she was suffering from the after-effects of the accident with the branch when out riding.

But it would not have been so easy for them to dissemble what had transpired between them had not that very afternoon seen the riotous homecoming of young Willy and Gustaaf. The two boys, fourteen and fifteen years old, were thrilled to be home from boarding school for the summer holidays, and in the midst of their boisterous capers with the children no one noticed that Paul and Frédérique were avoiding each other.

That evening, in the big bed, Frédérique was thankful for Marianne’s chatter about the novels she had been reading, as her rambling discourse on the psychological and philosophical ramifications of Adam Bede and Romola safeguarded Frédérique from thinking her own thoughts. The following morning, when Paul took his leave, she offered him her hand, which he pressed briefly. Not a word passed between them. When he had gone she felt sad and distraught, and longed to unburden herself. But to whom could she turn? Not to Marianne, for she was only a child, and not to Mama either, because it always upset her to see any of her offspring suffer. To her older sister, then?

She went looking for Mathilda and found her in the sitting room with her foursome, about to begin their daily lessons. Schoolbooks and copybooks lay scattered on the table. Nico was scribbling noisily on his slate.

‘Oh, I have disturbed you! I am so sorry!’ said Freddie. ‘I had forgotten all about your lesson. I just wanted a chat, that’s all.’ She made to withdraw, but looked so crestfallen that Mathilda checked her.

‘What about?’ she asked.

Frédérique hesitated, glancing at the children.

‘I’ll come back later, shall I?’ she said.

But Mathilda told the children they could have an hour’s breaktime, and they rushed happily out of the room and down the stairs. Frédérique began to cry and Mathilda drew her to the sofa.

‘I simply had to come and tell you!’ said Freddie between sobs. ‘Yesterday morning Paul proposed to me, and I turned him down!’

Mathilda was taken aback. Paul and Freddie had known each other for a long time; they were friends, of course, but she had never imagined the amity between them blossoming into love on either part, let alone his.

‘I’m afraid I was too harsh with him,’ continued Freddie. ‘I hurt his feelings without meaning to. It’s strange how one can be driven to say things one has no intention of saying at all! I mean, there was no need to be cruel. Why couldn’t I simply have told him I didn’t love him enough to marry him, instead of telling him it was impossible for me to believe him when he said he loved me.’

‘Did you wish you could believe him, then?’ asked Mathilda, curving her arm about Freddie’s waist.

Mathilda was asking her almost the same question as Paul! But Freddie could not bring herself to disclose her true feelings, even to her sister, and she demurred.

‘Well, no!’ she said, blushing. ‘No, I didn’t; it was just that afterwards I regretted having been so inconsiderate. I didn’t regret it at the time, though, so why should I regret it now? How awkward it is when there’s something you know you have to do, but you don’t know how to do it. I don’t think I have ever felt quite so unsure of myself.’

‘I know what you mean,’ murmured Mathilda encouragingly, for she could tell that Frédérique was not telling her the whole truth. ‘Decisions can be so heart-rending. Sometimes you make a decision without thinking, in a blur of happiness, and you regret it afterwards, and sometimes you consider all the aspects carefully beforehand, only to discover after a time that your feelings have changed, which doesn’t get you anywhere either. And sometimes you simply aren’t brave enough to commit yourself one way or the other—’

Mathilda’s voice trailed off as her thoughts drifted to Eline, then to Freddie, who, she could guess, had not dared to make the decision of her choice, and whose refusal to commit herself seemed to her to stem from indecision rather than indifference.

‘Yes, that’s exactly right!’ Freddie cried. ‘I wasn’t brave enough, I didn’t have the courage! Why? Because I was stupid enough to put myself up on a pedestal, because of my wretched self-worth, as Theodore calls it. Oh yes, I know: Paul has his faults, quite big ones actually, but I love him with all his faults, maybe I love him because of his egotism, because he’s no paragon of genius and virtue, but a man of flesh and blood, with all the good and the bad! Who do I think I am, placing myself above him, thinking he might not be worthy of me? As if I can claim to be a paragon of genius and virtue! Me, with my preposterous pride! My breeding! Oh yes, I have breeding all right!’

She burst into tears and threw her arms about her sister. Mathilda was overcome with sympathy for Freddie — Freddie, who was humbling herself for the sake of the man she loved! But her humility came too late. She should have humbled herself before, if it was happiness she was after.

. .

The following week Hetty returned from her boarding school in Bonn to spend the holidays with her family at De Horze. The Van Stralenburgs left for Zwolle, and in their place the Howards arrived from London. Notwithstanding the bustle of arrivals and departures, and notwithstanding Mathilda’s sympathy, Frédérique felt lonely. She suggested inviting Marie Verstraeten to stay, and Theodore and his wife were happy to oblige, as there was plenty of room in the big house.

Frédérique went to fetch her friend from the station in the old-fashioned buggy, taking the reins herself, and during the ride homeward the girls chatted nineteen to the dozen. Although they were alone — Freddie having left the stable-boy at home — she did not feel ready to bare her soul.

‘What about Paul? Has he been amusing?’ asked Marie.

‘Oh, that can wait; I’ll tell you about him later,’ said Freddie.

There was a strange note of anxiety in her voice; Marie looked at her a moment in wonder, then quickly changed the subject to the practicalities of her luggage, which she had left at the station to be collected by wheelbarrow later. When they pulled up at the entrance to the house all the children came running to give Marie a joyous welcome. That night Marianne kindly gave up her place in the large bedroom for Marie, and it was then that Freddie finally confided her secret in her friend.

Wearing their white nightgowns, they settled themselves on the wide window seat overlooking the cavernous room, which was lit by a single night light. Frédérique began to cry, covering her face with her hands, which Marie tried gently to prise apart.

‘But Freddie, if you love him surely things can be put right. All he wants is for you to love him. I shall write him a letter.’

Frédérique straightened up.

‘No, Marie,’ she said firmly, between her tears. ‘I would never allow you to do that. I turned him down, and I can’t go back on my word and make demands on him now. I’m not crying because I’ve lost him, I’m just upset because I was unnecessarily harsh with him, because I got on my high horse and didn’t take him seriously. So if he feels hurt, it’s my fault. And I respect him for the way he kept his dignity with me afterwards, which just goes to show that his sense of self-worth is just as strong as my ridiculous pride. He has “breeding” too, as much as I do.’