第 20 页

She was without a lantern. She needed no longer a light, asshe could now read. Moreover, the light might betray her, asJacob was dogging her steps more than ever. And lastly, thelight would have shown her blushes.

Of what did the young people speak that evening? Of thosematters of which lovers speak at the house doors in France,or from a balcony into the street in Spain, or down from aterrace into a garden in the East.

They spoke of those things which give wings to the hours;they spoke of everything except the black tulip.

At last, when the clock struck ten, they parted as usual.

Cornelius was happy, as thoroughly happy as a tulip-fancierwould be to whom one has not spoken of his tulip.

He found Rosa pretty, good, graceful, and charming.

But why did Rosa object to the tulip being spoken of?

This was indeed a great defect in Rosa.

Cornelius confessed to himself, sighing, that woman was notperfect.

Part of the night he thought of this imperfection; that isto say, so long as he was awake he thought of Rosa.

After having fallen asleep, he dreamed of her.

But the Rosa of his dreams was by far more perfect than theRosa of real life. Not only did the Rosa of his dreams speakof the tulip, but also brought to him a black one in a chinavase.

Cornelius then awoke, trembling with joy, and muttering, --

"Rosa, Rosa, I love you."

And as it was already day, he thought it right not to fallasleep again, and he continued following up the line ofthought in which his mind was engaged when he awoke.

Ah! if Rosa had only conversed about the tulip, Corneliuswould have preferred her to Queen Semiramis, to QueenCleopatra, to Queen Elizabeth, to Queen Anne of Austria;that is to say, to the greatest or most beautiful queenswhom the world has seen.

But Rosa had forbidden it under pain of not returning; Rosahad forbidden the least mention of the tulip for three days.That meant seventy-two hours given to the lover to be sure;but it was seventy-two hours stolen from the horticulturist.

There was one consolation: of the seventy-two hours duringwhich Rosa would not allow the tulip to be mentioned,thirty-six had passed already; and the remaining thirty-sixwould pass quickly enough: eighteen with waiting for theevening's interview, and eighteen with rejoicing in itsremembrance.

Rosa came at the same hour, and Cornelius submitted mostheroically to the pangs which the compulsory silenceconcerning the tulip gave him.

His fair visitor, however, was well aware that, to commandon the one point, people must yield on another; shetherefore no longer drew back her hands from the grating,and even allowed Cornelius tenderly to kiss her beautifulgolden tresses.

Poor girl! she had no idea that these playful little lovers'tricks were much more dangerous than speaking of the tulipwas; but she became aware of the fact as she returned with abeating heart, with glowing cheeks, dry lips, and moisteyes.

And on the following evening, after the first exchange ofsalutations, she retired a step, looking at him with aglance, the expression of which would have rejoiced hisheart could he but have seen it.

"Well," she said, "she is up."

"She is up! Who? What?" asked Cornelius, who did not ventureon a belief that Rosa would, of her own accord, haveabridged the term of his probation.

"She? Well, my daughter, the tulip," said Rosa.

"What!" cried Cornelius, "you give me permission, then?"

"I do," said Rosa, with the tone of an affectionate motherwho grants a pleasure to her child.

"Ah, Rosa!" said Cornelius, putting his lips to the gratingwith the hope of touching a cheek, a hand, a forehead, --anything, in short.

He touched something much better, -- two warm and half openlips.

Rosa uttered a slight scream.

Cornelius understood that he must make haste to continue theconversation. He guessed that this unexpected kiss hadfrightened Rosa.

"Is it growing up straight?"

"Straight as a rocket," said Rosa.

"How high?"

"At least two inches."

"Oh, Rosa, take good care of it, and we shall soon see itgrow quickly."

"Can I take more care of it?" said she. "Indeed, I think ofnothing else but the tulip."

"Of nothing else, Rosa? Why, now I shall grow jealous in myturn."

"Oh, you know that to think of the tulip is to think of you;I never lose sight of it. I see it from my bed, on awakingit is the first object that meets my eyes, and on fallingasleep the last on which they rest. During the day I sit andwork by its side, for I have never left my chamber since Iput it there."

"You are right Rosa, it is your dowry, you know."

"Yes, and with it I may marry a young man of twenty-six ortwenty-eight years, whom I shall be in love with."

"Don't talk in that way, you naughty girl."

That evening Cornelius was one of the happiest of men. Rosaallowed him to press her hand in his, and to keep it as longas he would, besides which he might talk of his tulip asmuch as he liked.

From that hour every day marked some progress in the growthof the tulip and in the affection of the two young people.

At one time it was that the leaves had expanded, and atanother that the flower itself had formed.

Great was the joy of Cornelius at this news, and hisquestions succeeded one another with a rapidity which gaveproof of their importance.

"Formed!" exclaimed Cornelius, "is it really formed?"

"It is," repeated Rosa.

Cornelius trembled with joy, so much so that he was obligedto hold by the grating.

"Good heavens!" he exclaimed.

Then, turning again to Rosa, he continued his questions.

"Is the oval regular? the cylinder full? and are the pointsvery green?"

"The oval is almost one inch long, and tapers like a needle,the cylinder swells at the sides, and the points are readyto open."

Two days after Rosa announced that they were open.

"Open, Rosa!" cried Cornelius. "Is the involucrum open? butthen one may see and already distinguish ---- "

Here the prisoner paused, anxiously taking breath.

"Yes," answered Rosa, "one may already distinguish a threadof different colour, as thin as a hair."

"And its colour?" asked Cornelius, trembling.

"Oh," answered Rosa, "it is very dark!"

"Brown?"

"Darker than that."

"Darker, my good Rosa, darker? Thank you. Dark as ---- "

"Dark as the ink with which I wrote to you."

Cornelius uttered a cry of mad joy.

Then, suddenly stopping and clasping his hands, he said, --

"Oh, there is not an angel in heaven that may be compared toyou, Rosa!"

"Indeed!" said Rosa, smiling at his enthusiasm.

"Rosa, you have worked with such ardour, -- you have done somuch for me! Rosa, my tulip is about to flower, and it willflower black! Rosa, Rosa, you are the most perfect being onearth!"

"After the tulip, though."

"Ah! be quiet, you malicious little creature, be quiet! Forshame! Do not spoil my pleasure. But tell me, Rosa, -- asthe tulip is so far advanced, it will flower in two or threedays, at the latest?"

"To-morrow, or the day after."

"Ah! and I shall not see it," cried Cornelius, startingback, "I shall not kiss it, as a wonderful work of theAlmighty, as I kiss your hand and your cheek, Rosa, when bychance they are near the grating."

Rosa drew near, not by accident, but intentionally, andCornelius kissed her tenderly.

"Faith, I shall cull it, if you wish it."

"Oh, no, no, Rosa! when it is open, place it carefully inthe shade, and immediately send a message to Haarlem, to thePresident of the Horticultural Society, that the grand blacktulip is in flower. I know well it is far to Haarlem, butwith money you will find a messenger. Have you any money,Rosa?"

Rosa smiled.

"Oh, yes!" she said.

"Enough?" said Cornelius.

"I have three hundred guilders."

"Oh, if you have three hundred guilders, you must not send amessenger, Rosa, but you must go to Haarlem yourself."

"But what in the meantime is to become of the flower?"

"Oh, the flower! you must take it with you. You understandthat you must not separate from it for an instant."

"But whilst I am not separating from it, I am separatingfrom you, Mynheer Cornelius."

"Ah! that's true, my sweet Rosa. Oh, my God! how wicked menare! What have I done to offend them, and why have theydeprived me of my liberty? You are right, Rosa, I cannotlive without you. Well, you will send some one to Haarlem,-- that's settled; really, the matter is wonderful enoughfor the President to put himself to some trouble. He willcome himself to Loewestein to see the tulip."

Then, suddenly checking himself, he said, with a falteringvoice, --

"Rosa, Rosa, if after all it should not flower black!"

"Oh, surely, surely, you will know to-morrow, or the dayafter."

"And to wait until evening to know it, Rosa! I shall diewith impatience. Could we not agree about a signal?"

"I shall do better than that."

"What will you do?"

"If it opens at night, I shall come and tell you myself. Ifit is day, I shall pass your door, and slip you a noteeither under the door, or through the grating, during thetime between my father's first and second inspection."

"Yes, Rosa, let it be so. One word of yours, announcing thisnews to me, will be a double happiness."

"There, ten o'clock strikes," said Rosa, "I must now leaveyou."

"Yes, yes," said Cornelius, "go, Rosa, go!"

Rosa withdrew, almost melancholy, for Cornelius had all butsent her away.

It is true that he did so in order that she might watch overhis black tulip.

Chapter 22

The Opening of the Flower

The night passed away very sweetly for Cornelius, althoughin great agitation. Every instant he fancied he heard thegentle voice of Rosa calling him. He then started up, wentto the door, and looked through the grating, but no one wasbehind it, and the lobby was empty.

Rosa, no doubt, would be watching too, but, happier than he,she watched over the tulip; she had before her eyes thatnoble flower, that wonder of wonders. which not only wasunknown, but was not even thought possible until then.

What would the world say when it heard that the black tulipwas found, that it existed and that it was the prisoner VanBaerle who had found it?

How Cornelius would have spurned the offer of his liberty inexchange for his tulip!

Day came, without any news; the tulip was not yet in flower.

The day passed as the night. Night came, and with it Rosa,joyous and cheerful as a bird.

"Well?" asked Cornelius.

"Well, all is going on prosperously. This night, without anydoubt, our tulip will be in flower."

"And will it flower black?"

"Black as jet."

"Without a speck of any other colour."

"Without one speck."

"Good Heavens! my dear Rosa, I have been dreaming all night,in the first place of you," (Rosa made a sign ofincredulity,) "and then of what we must do."

"Well?"

"Well, and I will tell you now what I have decided on. Thetulip once being in flower, and it being quite certain thatit is perfectly black, you must find a messenger."

"If it is no more than that, I have a messenger quiteready."

"Is he safe?"

"One for whom I will answer, -- he is one of my lovers."

"I hope not Jacob."

"No, be quiet, it is the ferryman of Loewestein, a smartyoung man of twenty-five."

"By Jove!"

"Be quiet," said Rosa, smiling, "he is still under age, asyou have yourself fixed it from twenty-six to twenty-eight."

"In fine, do you think you may rely on this young man?"

"As on myself; he would throw himself into the Waal or theMeuse if I bade him."

"Well, Rosa, this lad may be at Haarlem in ten hours; youwill give me paper and pencil, and, perhaps better still,pen and ink, and I will write, or rather, on secondthoughts, you will, for if I did, being a poor prisoner,people might, like your father, see a conspiracy in it. Youwill write to the President of the Horticultural Society,and I am sure he will come."

"But if he tarries?"

"Well, let us suppose that he tarries one day, or even two;but it is impossible. A tulip-fancier like him will nottarry one hour, not one minute, not one second, to set outto see the eighth wonder of the world. But, as I said, if hetarried one or even two days, the tulip will still be in itsfull splendour. The flower once being seen by the President,and the protocol being drawn up, all is in order; you willonly keep a duplicate of the protocol, and intrust the tulipto him. Ah! if we had been able to carry it ourselves, Rosa,it would never have left my hands but to pass into yours;but this is a dream, which we must not entertain," continuedCornelius with a sigh, "the eyes of strangers will see itflower to the last. And above all, Rosa, before thePresident has seen it, let it not be seen by any one. Alas!if any one saw the black tulip, it would be stolen."

"Oh!"

"Did you not tell me yourself of what you apprehended fromyour lover Jacob? People will steal one guilder, why not ahundred thousand?"

"I shall watch; be quiet."

"But if it opened whilst you were here?"

"The whimsical little thing would indeed be quite capable ofplaying such a trick," said Rosa.

"And if on your return you find it open?"

"Well?"

"Oh, Rosa, whenever it opens, remember that not a momentmust be lost in apprising the President."

"And in apprising you. Yes, I understand."

Rosa sighed, yet without any bitter feeling, but rather likea woman who begins to understand a foible, and to accustomherself to it.

"I return to your tulip, Mynheer van Baerle, and as soon asit opens I will give you news, which being done themessenger will set out immediately."