Category: Novels

A Twofold Life

TO YOU, DEAR MOTHER BELONGS THIS FIRST PRODUCT OF AN ASPIRATION YOU AWOKE, AND, IN LOYAL UNION WITH MY BELOVED FATHER, AIDED BY YOUR POWERFUL EXAMPLE TO DEVELOP. RECEIVE IT AS A FAINT TOKEN OF GRATITUDE FOR A LOVE WHICH A WHOLE LIFE WOULD NOT BE SUFFICIENT TO REPAY.

Chapters

25. Part 25

"You are right. But Ottmar does not belong to that class, but to one of great privileges and few duties, who are accustomed to drop the reins of self-control; and these men ofte...

15. Part 15

"Ah, princess, how am I to help myself? I know not; I have gone astray into this path, and cannot find strength to retrace my steps. I am well aware that my political career is...

28. Part 28

"It is only natural that the child of the world should speak in her lover's favor; and I will be patient now, as I have often been before. I cannot ask you to perceive the subli...

24. Part 24

They entered the drawing-room, the apartment so short a time ago the scene of peace and joy; whose atmosphere was still pervaded with _Henri's_ glowing breath. There lay the glo...

17. Part 17

"It is impossible; I cannot do it," she said, as she leaned for a moment against the window. "If it were only day! The night makes all anxieties rise before us like impassable m...

19. Part 19

"You have watched me with the eyes of love, and formed a tolerably clear idea of the true state of affairs. It would be useless to deny your guess, you would still believe it. I...

8. Part 8

"You are right, Ottmar. I have already said the same thing to myself. If every prince had a friend like you ('Who apparently contradicts him while telling him the very thing he...

23. Part 23

"Poor, poor child!" thought Cornelia, looking at the grave with tearful eyes. "Usually when a child is born it is received with joy and love; but shame stood beside your cradle,...

22. Part 22

"Here, also, I only followed the impulse of my own feelings. Love for one of them led me accidentally to the scene of his misery. Love for the individual taught me to understand...

18. Part 18

Ottilie clung dizzily to the railing of the deck. It seemed as if her soul must escape from its tenement and soar into eternity upon those tones, and she gazed with a strange, u...

5. Part 5

"No," said Severinus; "our mission is to serve God alone. This claims us so entirely that the interests of individuals must be excluded. We cannot trouble ourselves about any on...

12. Part 12

Cornelia held out her hand and looked at him with all her winning charm of manner. "No, no, Herr von Ottmar, I did not wish to cause you pain. I promise you that ere I sleep I w...

27. Part 27

Cornelia entered the public room, to ask if the newspapers had arrived. It was full of active life. Some twenty young artists were standing together consulting about a trip they...

4. Part 4

"Ah, I could love her!" said _Heinrich_. "You should not extend your arms to me vain, beautiful soul; I would foster and cherish you as my most sacred possession; but it is impo...

21. Part 21

Ottmar did everything in his power to employ her time and occupy her thoughts. He was well aware that he could only win this noble woman gradually, and by noble means. He read w...

11. Part 11

"You must know," said Veronica, in a low tone, "that my darling child has established among her friends a sort of nursery, in which she wishes to rear clearness of intellect and...

14. Part 14

"What was that?" asked Cornelia, covering her eyes with her hand. "Did it not seem as if another person was speaking from his lips? Did he not call my name so eagerly, and the n...

3. Part 3

_Heinrich_ at last could not resist inquiring into the conditions upon which he might be considered a tried servant of the order and be permitted to share these favors. For thei...

6. Part 6

Both _Heinrich_ and _Henri_ had fallen equally low. If _Heinrich_ had crushed his sense of right and yielded to ambition, _Henri_ had gone so far in his pursuit of pleasure that...

13. Part 13

_Heinrich_ could scarcely breathe; he did not know what had befallen him. Was it a supernatural creature who was speaking to him? He was obliged to start up and go to the window...

16. Part 16

Albert asked why the princess was unhappy, but Roeschen said she did not know; and even if she did she would never betray what was not her secret. When Albert repeated this to _...

7. Part 7

"But now I became the sport of other feelings, which were more dangerous to me,--I grew jealous. My beloved suddenly seemed changed. She became timid, absent-minded, embarrassed...

1. Part 1

TO YOU, DEAR MOTHER BELONGS THIS FIRST PRODUCT OF AN ASPIRATION YOU AWOKE, AND, IN LOYAL UNION WITH MY BELOVED FATHER, AIDED BY YOUR POWERFUL EXAMPLE TO DEVELOP. RECEIVE IT AS A...

10. Part 10

Early the following day there was a fresh crowd and bustle in the hall where the court held its session. The pressure was so violent that it was already necessary to have police...

26. Part 26

Weeks elapsed, and the people still hoped, while Ottmar saw the catastrophe he expected approach nearer and nearer,--for he knew the situation of affairs too well to believe for...

9. Part 9

"When Reinhold had partially recovered, a touching scene ensued,--a scene which may be felt but not described. They had never spoken to each other before; she did not even seem...

20. Part 20

The little dusky sleeping-room was cosy and silent. Single shafts of sunlight stole through the closely-drawn green curtains and flickered over the hangings of Veronica's bed. N...

29. Part 29

Severinus hastily approached the door: his whole manner betrayed tokens of violent emotion. "I dare not listen to you longer, terrible, dangerous woman! God sees my anguish that...

30. Part 30

But what could, what ought he to do now, since the only profession for which his education and studies fitted him--that of politics--was closed to him in every direction? A quie...

2. Part 2

Amid such thoughts be fell into that feverish, half slumber in which dreams and reality are often so strangely blended. We know that we are in bed, know that we are dreaming, an...