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Teaching English
ONE TO ONE
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Teaching English One to One 2nd Edition
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I’d like to thank Helen Mattacott for giving me the opportunity to write this book in the first place.
A big thank you to all my colleagues at Regent London, not only for giving me ideas and suggestions for different aspects of this book, but also for their tolerance. I am particularly grateful to Bette Bowling for her ideas about teaching teenagers, to Brendan Maye and Danny Norrington-Davies for information about homestay teaching and to Michael Bundy and Gemma Smith. The various forms used throughout the text are based on those used at Regent London, for which also many thanks.
I greatly appreciated the time, help and enthusiasm of all the homestay teachers working for Regent who talked to me in the preparation of this book. Thank you also to Stephen Cutler of London Life English, Inspiral Learning, for his contribution to my understanding of homestay teaching.
Betka Zamoyska and Genny Claret gave me very useful tips for teaching teenagers. Thank you.
And finally I am completely indebted to James Schofield and Janette Schofield for their help, useful comments, patience and tact.
Introduction
One-to-one teaching often affords the teacher a satisfaction that can be difficult to achieve when teaching a group: the student obviously learns from you, but you can also gain a great deal from your interactions with him or her. Given the right kind of student, the time you spend in the classroom can be extremely enjoyable and you may have the privilege of teaching exceptional human beings. There is also the satisfaction of helping your student to progress very quickly, since this individual approach allows you to target the student’s exact linguistic requirements and to focus upon these in a manner that is not possible in the group classroom.
The ideal one-to-one language learner would be courteous, open-minded, creative, dynamic, an original thinker, and so on. But of course, there is no such thing as the perfect language learner, and the ‘nightmare’ student can be even more of a nightmare in a one-to-one scenario! In short, one-to-one teaching can encompass the best and the worst aspects of teaching. With the right teaching techniques and approach, though, we can minimise the difficulties and turn the experience into a positive and enjoyable challenge. We may even find that the ‘nightmare’ student turns out to be charming to teach, once we get to know the individual and understand what teaching methods he or she will respond to.
This book contains many tried and tested suggestions for managing your students and your teaching time, on both a personal and a pedagogical level, so that even when the circumstances are less than ideal you can make the one-to-one teaching experience a rewarding and productive one.
Chapter 1 Getting Started
In this chapter we will discuss:
■ the main difference between teaching one-to-one in the past and nowadays;
■ the differences between one-to-one and group tuition;
■ how to be successful at teaching one-to-one (including creating a good first impression).
circa 1990…
I booked a course in English for logistics management. I was told that I’d be taught by somebody experienced in that field!
I booked a course in English for logistics management. I was told that I’d be taught by somebody experienced in that field.
nowadays…
(Gulp) I’m very sorry, Dirk, but I’m afraid… I’ll see what I can do… I can’t promise anything…
Whose fault is it this time? The marketing department’s? The agent’s? I can’t believe what they’ve done!
No problem, Dirk. I’m not an expert, but let me do some research before the next lesson, and I’m sure I can cover what you want. Now, just tell me in a little more detail exactly what areas of logistics management you’re interested in…
Until a few years ago, teaching one-to-one could be a nightmare for the teacher. Many students who sign up for one-to-one classes have very specific needs, which in the past were often impossible for the teacher to fulfil, or required a great deal of time and effort. This used to be one of the most difficult aspects of one-to-one teaching. Since the 1990s, the internet has revolutionised teachers’ lives with material from the web, designed for both language students and the wider public, readily available for classroom use. But the internet has been even more of a godsend for one-to-one teachers, particularly teachers dealing with executive students. (See Definition of Terms.) Today, all the teacher needs to do is enter the key words into a search engine and there, by magic, is a mass of information.
Now that one of the principal barriers – lack of materials – has been removed, the teacher is free to concentrate on the heart of one-to-one teaching, namely building the relationship between teacher and student.
Definition of Terms
Executive student: In this book ‘executive student’ refers to a business English student who already has job experience.
Differences in teaching groups and oneto-one
The main difference between group and one-to-one teaching is that in the latter you can devote 100% of your attention to every aspect of a single student’s requirements; all elements of the course depend upon this individual. More specific ways in which one-to-one instruction differs from teaching groups are discussed in this section.
The teacher/student relationship
Two students in a class is a group, albeit a tiny one, and most group classes are far bigger than that. But even in a group of two, the student only gets 50% of the teacher’s attention. Although learning a language one-to-one can be extremely tiring, students usually bask in the teacher’s undivided attention. Individuals who like constant attention may not function well
in a group, but often find one-to-one lessons very satisfying. Students who are difficult in a group situation can be charming when they no longer have to share the teacher. This means that the teacher has a good start when teaching one-to-one in that students normally have a positive attitude to the classes (unless they are being forced to take the lessons or have had negative experiences in the past).
Being in a tête-a-tête situation allows you to build a close relationship with your student; this relationship is often less ‘artificial’ than that of the group classroom, as you will sometimes need to step out of the role of teacher (e.g. by acting as confidant(e), sounding board, or ‘sparring partner’ in discussions). (See page 19), Roles of the teacher.)
GROUP ONE TO ONE
This can be either a prescribed course, or a course based on a negotiated syllabus that takes all the students’ needs into account.
One-to-one students expect a tailormade programme. They may have very specialised needs.
The student is the syllabus.
Once the programme is written, you can change it at any time to suit requirements of the student.
Course content
Basing a course around your students’ individual needs and circumstances can be difficult when teaching a group, but is the whole purpose of a one-toone course. It can be done, for example, by:
■ using the student’s interests and experiences as the focus of lessons;
■ using any documentation that the student has brought with him or her (e.g. company reports);
■ practising business skills within the context of the student’s job.
These individual requirements dictate the course content (course programme), and once the programme is written you can change it at any time to suit new or evolving requirements on the part of the student. You are also free to alter the course programme to respond to the student’s mood on a particular day or during a particular lesson.
Materials
It is unlikely that any course will be able to cover the specific needs of each individual in a group. Although a teacher may need to find material for groups with highly targeted needs (for in-company courses, for example), group classes often don’t require the teacher to use specialised materials. In a one-to-one situation you may be more dependent on authentic materials in order to meet the student’s specific wants and needs, for example:
■ a teenager who wants to study the lyrics of her favourite bands; an executive student wishing to work with his company’s annual report;
■ a supermarket buyer who wants to improve her vocabulary for discussing frozen fish;
■ university student who is planning to become a surfboard designer. You can write or adapt materials with the student’s specific needs in mind.
The student as resource
In a one-to-one class, the experience and knowledge which students bring to the classroom can more easily be exploited for both input and output activities, meaning less work for the teacher. You can also learn a great deal from the student; the business knowledge that you accumulate in teaching executive students, for example, can help you in your teaching of other business English students.
Feedback and specific areas of difficulty
It is easier to give personalised feedback after output activities in a one-toone lesson, and one-to-one classes can address specific areas of linguistic difficulty much more effectively.
Speed of progress
Progress in a one-to-one class is often more rapid than can be achieved in the group classroom, so this method of learning often represents a better investment of time and money.
Less intimidating for new teachers
Less experienced teachers can feel intimidated teaching groups; the one-toone environment is more intimate, with none of the complexities of group teaching. Similarly, it is reassuring for students who are shy or need ‘handholding’ during their learning.
Variety
Because students have specific needs and interests, one-to-one teaching means varied teaching.
Addresses the student’s specific needs
In this sense, all one-to-one students are ESP (English for Specific Purposes) students, although the term ESP is normally used for describing courses which address a specific usage of language – e.g. Legal English; English for the banking sector; English for hairdressing; academic English.
Autonomy
Students learning in a group have limited control over classroom activities, but you can give the one-to-one student a great deal of control over his or her own learning process.
Flexibility
The teacher in a group situation can be flexible, but is unlikely to be in a position to change a lesson plan completely if an activity does not suit one or two members of the group. The teacher in a one-to-one class, on the other hand, can be completely flexible; if a prepared activity doesn’t suit the student for some reason, the teacher can modify or junk that activity and move on to something different.
One-to-one lessons also offer flexibility of location in that they can take place anywhere: at a school, in a coffee shop, in the student’s office, at the student’s home, at the teacher’s home. Some classes take place without student and teacher ever meeting face-to-face: by telephone, by email, or over the internet.
Ability
Students’ ability levels and prior learning experiences may vary within a group, and this can present a problem for the teacher. In a one-to-one class, though, it is easy to tailor all activities to the abilities/learning experiences of your one student.
Timings and pace
In a group class, more able students can become frustrated if they feel that the weaker students in the group are slowing down the progress of the course, whereas less able students will feel demotivated if the pace of the lessons is too fast for them to keep up. In a one-to-one class you can work to the individual’s pace and allow him or her to control the timings of activities (although you will need to discuss this with the student and make it explicit).
Interesting discussions
Discussion classes can be very stimulating if you have a student with interesting or opposing views. You can also participate if the discussion needs to be interactive.
External activities
It is easier to arrange external activities such as sightseeing or shopping in a one-to-one situation, as you do not have to take anybody else’s wishes into consideration (although note that for Health and Safety reasons, organisations such as language schools need to know if you and your student are going to be out of the building).
Learning styles
Individuals within a group may have very diverse learning styles, and the teacher has the task of providing a teaching style which will fit the overall
group. In a one-to-one scenario, you only have to tailor your approach to fit one individual’s learning style.
The teacher as participant
In a group scenario, you can act as observer or monitor while the students work in pairs or small groups. This allows you to focus on how the students are using the language rather than what they are saying. One drawback of teaching one-to-one, however, is that you are the only person with whom the student can interact – so you need to focus on the content of the conversation, as well as the language used, in order to maintain a meaningful discussion or role play (see Definition of Terms below) – thus having no opportunity to monitor the proceedings as a dispassionate observer. It can be very tricky to play a role (particularly if the role play is complex, e.g. a negotiation) and concentrate on the student’s linguistic performance at the same time.
Definitions of Terms
Role play Drama-like classroom activity in which students assume the roles of different participants in a given situation and act out what might typically happen in that situation (Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching and Applied Linguistics, p.460).
Enactment The student enacts the situations that they actually meet in their jobs (e.g. a meeting in which they have previously participated, or a negotiation in which they will be involved in the future).
For the purposes of this book I am using the term ‘role play’ very loosely to mean any output activity (role play or enactment whereby the student needs to practise a skill through acting out a given scenario (‘learning by doing’)).
Teaching techniques
You cannot use some teaching techniques, such as pair/group and peer correction, in a one-to-one situation.
Psychological factors
If you have a personality clash with a member of a group, it shouldn’t have a dramatic effect. It may be difficult for you to teach a one-to-one class, however, if there is a personality clash between you and the student.
Cost/value for money
Taking individual lessons is a comparatively costly way of learning a language, but this does not mean that students taking such lessons are necessarily well-off.
Executive students normally have the course paid for them by their employers, and some students may be independently wealthy, but others may have saved for a long time for the experience of one-to-one tuition. Having decided to make such a large financial investment in the course, students sometimes have very high expectations and can be demanding. On the other hand, because the student gets 100% of the teacher’s time and attention, one-to-one tuition is a very cost-effective way of learning a language if the teacher gets it right.
Expectations
If the student feels that the course has not been sufficiently tailored to his or her needs (which may be highly specialised), this can be a source of frustration. When the student has a specific need, the teacher normally wants to meet that need as far as possible. This can mean research and preparation of materials specially designed for the individual student: in short, a lot of extra work. There can be a great deal of pressure on teachers delivering one-to-one courses, but it is important that you don’t promise anything that the course cannot provide. It may be necessary to lower the student’s expectations from the outset if they are too high.
Intensity
Students learning in a group have the opportunity to ‘switch off ’ occasionally if they feel tired. The individual in a one-to-one lesson, on the other hand, needs to concentrate all the time. One-to-one classes can therefore be extremely tiring, especially on intensive courses, so are less suitable for beginners and low-level students.
From the teacher’s point of view, too, the intensity of one-to-one teaching can be draining; whereas in group teaching there are usually opportunities to ‘escape’ from the classroom (mentally or even physically!) for a few moments, one-to-one tuition presents no such opportunities. Linguistic quirks on the
student’s part, which tire or irritate the average listener, can exhaust the one-to-one teacher.
Personality and learning style of the student
The personality of the student is all-important in one-to-one teaching. In an ideal world, our students would all be extrovert, imaginative, flexible – and talkative! In reality, we could find ourselves with a taciturn, demanding or less than creative individual, or with that which many one-to-one teachers dread most – the boring student. In fact, one of the problems with individual classes is that there is no pressure on the student to be interesting, whereas students in group classes can feel the obligation to be creative and engaging because they are scared of boring the others!
Social aspects
The atmosphere in the group classroom is sociable, and students can interact outside of lessons if they wish. The one-to-one student, on the other hand, can feel isolated with no classmates to exchange ideas with, to learn from or to socialise with after lessons. Very extrovert students who enjoy working with others can find one-to-one lessons confining. In a one-to-one environment some teachers, too, miss the sociability of the group and the interaction between group members. The absence of fellow students to interact with also has pedagogic implications; whilst students in a group can bounce ideas off each other, learn from each other and provide mutual motivation and support, the one-to-one student has only the teacher for motivation and to share ideas with. One-to-one learning also has drawbacks for students who want to practise group activities such as socialising and business meetings.
Combination courses – part group, part one-to-one – are an ideal way of getting the best of both worlds and are a less expensive solution.
Movement within the classroom
Group teaching can be tiring because the teacher usually needs to move round the classroom. Teaching one-to-one can be tiring for exactly the opposite reason; both teacher and student are very static – particularly if the classroom is small, as one-to-one classrooms generally are.
Exposure to other cultures
In a multi-national group, students benefit from exposure to other cultures and different accents. The one-to-one student misses out on this exposure.
How to be successful at teaching one-to-one
Good ‘people skills’ are essential for all teaching, but because one-to-one instruction so depends on understanding the psychology of the student and working out the best way to respond to him or her, the teacher’s interpersonal skills become paramount. Establishing a good rapport with the student is the key to successful one-to-one teaching. Apart from helping the lessons go more smoothly from a pedagogical point of view, a good relationship means that you can talk to the student openly about any problems they experience in class. But you will also need to be discreet, as when the student wants to talk about company secrets or his or her marital problems! Normally both parties work hard at building a relationship, but in this case the onus is very much on the teacher to create the rapport.
Aah! Two weeks with her?! What a witch! I’ll never survive!
Oh no! He looks a complete bore!
We could include the following in a definition of ‘people skills’:
■ patience;
■ empathy;
■ discretion;
■ ability to communicate (and awareness of your abilities in this area);
■ social skills;
■ ability to motivate;
■ sensitivity to cultural issues;
■ sensitivity to the student’s state of mind;
■ ability to evaluate the student’s mood and energy levels;
■ awareness of non-verbal clues of communication such as facial expressions, body language, gesture and tone of voice;
■ good listening skills;
■ an interest in other people.
It’s easy to understand that students normally prefer cheerful, easy-going, unflappable teachers, although this is not always easy for less confident teachers to achieve.
Given the choice, most students would probably prefer an enthusiastic, motivating, inexperienced teacher, who has a genuine interest in them, to the experienced teacher who plans the perfect lesson for the student’s needs but who lacks the motivation to genuinely engage with him or her. Students will forgive mistakes in technique – even inefficiencies – if they like and believe in you.
Roles of the teacher
When teaching groups you take on other roles from time to time, but fundamentally you remain the teacher. With a one-to-one student you may find yourself taking on any or all of these roles:
■ Teacher: instructing the student; helping the student learn.
■ Interlocutor: the person with whom the student communicates his or her ideas.
■ Therapist: sympathetic listener to the student’s concerns and occasional ‘destresser’.
■ Mother/father figure: with younger students the teacher represents a temporary parent substitute.
■ Friend and confidant(e): someone with whom the student shares his or her intimacies.
First impressions
A warm, cheerful welcome is crucial; even if your world is collapsing around you, you need to make sure you create a good impression. Remember: the student is more terrified of not liking you than you are of him or her. After all, he or she is paying a lot of money to spend time with you. So you need to do whatever you can to make the first couple of lessons enjoyable and relaxing. After that, the hard work of creating a rapport (genuine or not) has been done, and the relationship should develop more easily.
One student occupied a very senior position in a European company which had an alliance with a company in the USA. He took one week out of his busy schedule to do an English course.
At the beginning of the week he talked about a colleague who had decided to give up his job and go to Australia.
By mid-week the student had his head in his hands (after long telephone calls from the office), saying he wanted to pack it all in and go to Australia. The course programme was abandoned while he talked about his job, colleagues and American boss who needed no sleep, had no interests outside work and terrorised everyone.
By the middle of the week the teacher had moved beyond playing the sympathetic listener to suggesting that the student downsize his commitments, re-evaluate his life and get a less well-paid but also less stressful job.
By Friday, however, the student decided that going to Australia wasn’t really viable: although his wife had a well-paid job, his children expected a certain life-style….
Clothing plays a part in creating the initial impression. If you have an executive student, dress smartly for the first couple of lessons; once they know that you are a professional, well-organised teacher, then you can become more casual. Teenagers and younger children, on the other hand, could be put off by a teacher in a formal outfit – so the basic rule is to dress according to the student.
Conclusion
The relationship between the student and teacher is at the heart of oneto-one teaching, and it is your responsibility to make it work. The teacher needs to focus as much on the interpersonal side of the relationship as the pedagogical aspects.
Chapter 2 Pre-course Preparation
Often, you will not get an opportunity to meet your one-to-one student before the course actually begins; however there is still a lot you can do to prepare and to obtain some background information on your student. In this chapter we will discuss what we can do to prepare both teacher and student for the course before it starts.
Before the start of a one-to-one course, ideally we would know the following about our student:
■ the exact level of English needed;
■ past learning background;
■ comments on the student’s performance by current or previous teacher(s);
■ Current activity (e.g. in work, studying);
■ why the student wants to take the course;
■ student’s objectives for the course;
■ current use of English;
■ predicted use of English in the future;
■ likes and dislikes in language learning;
■ interests and hobbies.
For an executive student we would also have details of his or her company, job, need for and use of English in the workplace.
What we can do before the course starts
1. Meet the student if possible.
2. Contact the agent or training manager.
3. Conduct a telephone or online video interview.
4. Test language skills.
5. Email or post needs analysis form(s) to the student.
6. Email or post pre-course questionnaire(s) to the student.
7. Do some background research (e.g. visit the website of the company that the student works for).
8. Establish email contact with the student.
9. Ask the student to prepare a short piece of writing.
10. Direct the student to the website of the organisation providing his or her one-to-one lessons.
11. Ask the student to bring appropriate resource material along to the first lesson.
12. Talk to the student’s current or previous teachers.
1 Meet the student if possible.
The best course of action is to meet the student face-to-face before the start of the classes and carry out language tests, an in-depth interview and a needs analysis. However, this depends on you being reasonably close to the student geographically. Contacting the student directly by phone or email is the next best way, but you may be dependent on an intermediary to put you in touch with him or her.
2 Contact the agent or training manager.
Language schools often do not have direct access to a student, but rely on agents and training managers to provide information about him or her. Sometimes it can be difficult to find out much about the student from these intermediaries, and any information they give you about ability levels may
be unreliable. It is far more useful, therefore, to obtain the student’s contact details and get in touch directly.
3 Conduct a telephone or online video interview.
If we cannot meet the student face-to-face before the course, the telephone or online video interview is often the next best thing. The Director of Studies, if there is one, can contact the student to find out when would be a suitable time for him or her to be called for a telephone or online video interview. These interviews, either by the Director of Studies or by the teacher, are very useful for evaluating the approximate level of the student and his or her speaking and listening skills. But you do need to be cautious in your assessment:
■ It is always more difficult to speak in a foreign language on the telephone or in an online call than face-to-face.
■ A phone call or an online video call is ‘abrupt’, giving the student little time to warm up. (Pre-arranging a time for the call can help with this.)
■ Some students dislike talking on the phone or in an online video call even in their own language.
Telephone/Online Video Interviews
Personal details (name, nationality, etc.)............................................................................................
Key questions:
You can develop questions along the following lines:
■ Language learning history
■ Current activity
■ Current language use
■ Hobbies and interests
Alternatively you can develop themes such as:
■ The student’s most recent holiday
■ A typical day in their working life; what they like and dislike about their jobs
■ A recent film or book that they have seen or read
Consequently, when you talk to a student on the phone or via an online video call, it’s wise to bear in mind that his or her English may be better than it seems. You can prepare a specific form to structure your telephone/ online video interviews; an example is shown on the previous page (Telephone or Online Video Interviews).
4 Test language skills.
Some organisations have grammar, vocabulary and listening tests on their websites, which the student can complete before the start of the course. Alternatively, you can fax or email any existing in-house tests. However, you need to consider:
■ Is the test reliable and valid in the first place?
■ Has the student used external sources of help to complete the test? (Asking the student not to consult friends and family, or use reference books, can fall on deaf ears!)
Even when an internationally recognised standard is used, does the information mean anything to you? When you find out that ‘Mr Claret is at x level on the TOEFL scale/CEFR scale’, are you familiar enough with the TOEFL/CEFR scale to get a feel for the student’s ability level? ‘Ms Giocanti is a level 3.5/B1 on the company scale’ will be meaningless to the teacher without access to the data regarding the company’s assessment scales. And even if you are au fait with these different scales, they don’t necessarily represent the student’s level of spoken English.
5 Send needs analysis form(s) to the student.
It can be difficult for a student to complete a needs analysis form alone, without the guidance of a teacher; good needs analysis depends on the skill of the teacher and the questions that they ask to elicit information from the student, and upon the student having a clear idea of what he or she wants to do during the course. For this reason, it is best for you to complete the needs analysis form face-to-face with the student.
6 Send pre-course questionnaire(s) to the student.
As one would expect, pre-course questionnaires are based around the themes of the student’s learning history, learning preferences, current activity, expectations and objectives for the course. The questionnaire overleaf, designed for students in jobs, elicits a basic amount of information and asks the student to self-assess his or her level of English.
Pre-course questionnaire
Please complete this questionnaire and send it back to us so that we can plan your course.
Name:
Company:
Course date:
Job title:
How often do you speak English at work?
What is your basic level of English?
How important are these skills for you?:
How important are these business skills for you? (5=essential, 1=not important) [....] Meetings [....] Negotiations [....] Presentations [....] Telephoning [....] Socialising [....] Business reading [....] Business writing
Please give details of any other business skills or topics you want to include in your course – for example, job-related vocabulary:
Important! Please bring along any company literature that we could use in class. Please bring examples of any emails, letters, reports or presentations you have written in English. Thank you!
However, these pre-course questionnaires should be administered with caution. For example, one response from an executive student (i.e. someone we would have expected to have specific aims for his or her language course) to the question Why do you want to take a language course? was To improve my English. In fact, such a short questionnaire administered in isolation can do more harm than good. For example, one student, in a senior position in a European Ministry of Finance, said she had a good level of English with no special needs; she also assigned the same level of importance to all the business skills. However, it turned out that she was an advanced speaker with extremely specific requirements for financial English, and with a need to practise her writing skills. (In fact, her financial English needs were so specific that the only way she could have got the information she wanted would have been to set up meetings at the financial institutions she was interested in!) In this case the pre-course questionnaire was counterproductive, whilst a telephone/online video call, or a detailed needs analysis form sent to the student before the course, would probably have picked up on her special requirements. It would also have allowed the Director of Studies to make it clear to her what the school could and could not do for her. In conclusion, therefore, care must be taken not to rely too heavily upon a pre-course questionnaire; whilst it can be a useful means of eliciting student requirements, it may not provide all the information the teacher needs.
7 Do some background research.
■ Executive students
Checking the website of your student’s workplace works creates a good impression and can often provide a wealth of material for use in the classroom. You can also look in newspapers (or on their websites) for articles about the company.
■ Information on the student’s home country and interests
If you are not familiar with the student’s home country, you can do some research.
■ Information on the student’s interests
You can prepare some materials based on the student’s interests for the first couple of classes.
8 Establish email contact with the student.
Being able to correspond with your student before the start of the course is very handy. It allows you to establish a relationship with the student and can give you an indication of his or her writing skills. It can also be a tool for finding out, in an informal way, the student’s interests and his or her language learning likes and dislikes, needs and wants (although it should not replace the formal needs analysis that you do with the student).
9 Ask students to prepare a short piece of writing.
This can give you an idea of the student’s general writing skills and grammatical accuracy, use of vocabulary, and understanding of style and register – although it won’t, of course, tell you anything about his or her speaking or listening skills.
10 Direct the student to the website of the organisation providing his or her one-to-one lessons.
This will allow students to obtain information and to see what they are letting themselves in for! It should also give them some indication of whether their expectations are likely to be met.
11 Ask the student to bring appropriate resource material along to the first lesson.
In the case of students who are in jobs and want to learn English for work purposes, always ask them if there is any written material they can bring in. This could include:
■ emails or reports that the student has written;
Another random document with no related content on Scribd:
in all the splendour of his white hussar uniform was a revelation to her.
“I did not know you were so nearly handsome,” she said fondly, kissing his forehead. “But I never before saw you in the guise of a gentleman.”
“Oh, my mother,” cried Gavin, “after I had left you and knew something of the world, I wondered how you, alone and forsaken in a strange country, ever continued to live at all! And to feed and clothe me—what a burden I must have been to you!”
“No burden, but my only joy and hope. Tell me, therefore, my son, have you so lived since we parted that I can still have joy and hope in you? Look me in the face and tell me if you have led a clean life and an upright life, for I know you cannot deceive my eyes, even if you would.”
Gavin looked at her honestly, clearly, unflinchingly.
“I have not been perfect, mother,” he replied. “No one is that, you have always told me; but there is not one hour of my life since we parted that you cannot know all about, if you wish to hear it. Remember, the ways and talk of private soldiers, of whom I was one for two years, are not the ways and talk in which you bred me; but these soldiers were honest, brave fellows, if they were uncouth and coarse. I have felt, however, much more at home in the company which St. Arnaud made possible to me than I ever did among the soldiers; and in one thing, at least, I obeyed your commands”—here Gavin laughed—“I was often ragged and always cold and hungry, but I never was a moment without a piece of soap, a comb, and a razor.”
At which Lady Hamilton smiled and said:
“You are my own true boy. My father and my brothers were always clean and well-shaven, as becomes gentlemen. I don’t know how I should feel toward a son who neglected those things.”
Gavin grew serious enough the next moment, for he said:
“And do you know that my—that Sir Gavin Hamilton is in Vienna?”
A deep flush rose instantly in Lady Hamilton’s pale face. Gavin went on and described his adventure with Sir Gavin Hamilton at the imperial palace and everything connected with him, and especially the possibility that he and Lady Hamilton might meet if Lady Hamilton went to the Empress Queen’s levee, which she, no doubt, would.
“And after her Majesty receives you, mother,” cried Gavin exultingly, “Sir Gavin can no longer insult you by saying you were not his wife.”
“But will her Majesty receive me?”
“Undoubtedly; so Prince Kaunitz has promised St. Arnaud. And I have privately told St. Arnaud that if by any accident or intrigue it is refused, or even delayed, I will resign my commission at once and enlist again as a private soldier. But St. Arnaud will manage it. St. Arnaud has a great family connection in Paris. The Chancellor, Kaunitz, knows all about him—so trust St. Arnaud to do for you what he has done for me. He is the best friend with whom mortal man was ever blessed.”
“I long to see him again. When I arrived I was so overcome and agitated that I scarcely knew what I was saying; but I loved him before I ever saw him. And I love that good Madame Ziska—ah, Gavin, Gavin, how much good there is in the world!”
“Come,” cried Gavin, jumping up. “I hear the carriage at the door —Madame Ziska has returned from the opera-house—and where is St. Arnaud?”
Gavin ran in the other rooms of the apartment, shouting:
“St. Arnaud! Where are you? Come and see my mother;” but St. Arnaud was nowhere to be found. Gavin then escorted his mother to the floor below to meet Madame Ziska and her husband. In all the terrible privations, humiliations, and struggles of twenty years, Lady
Hamilton had never lost the best part of her birthright—the air and manner of the high-bred Englishwoman. Her black gown was shabby and her slim hands roughened by the actual toil she had been compelled to do, but she was everywhere at ease, with that serene and graceful unconsciousness which is the mark of a person born to consideration. Madame Ziska, although born and bred in a far humbler position in life than the English gentlewoman, had been gifted with a natural refinement and good sense that was equal to all the advantages of birth and early education; so the two women, on meeting, had every reason to be mutually satisfied with the other.
Gavin very proudly introduced his mother as “Lady Ameeltone”— for he had not yet learned the true pronunciation of his own name— to Madame Ziska and Count Kalenga. Lady Hamilton took both of Madame Ziska’s hands in hers and said earnestly:
“How can I thank you enough for what you have done for my son?”
To which Madame Ziska replied in her more emotional and demonstrative way:
“Oh, madam, he is such a nice lad! And when I saw those two admirable young men that freezing night when we first met, my heart went out to them. At first they did not know whether I was married or a widow. I believe they thought at first I was a widow, they paid me so many gallant compliments, and all the time I was laughing to myself, thinking how their tone would change if they knew I had a husband and four big children snugly tucked away at home.”
“True,” cried Gavin with a grin. “We were sure that Madame Ziska was a young widow, she was so charming, and we felt quite flat when we found she regarded us merely as a couple of schoolboys to be helped out of a predicament.”
Kalenga then joined in the conversation, and the children were brought in and presented, Freda especially, a pretty, quaint child of thirteen, who had already made friends with Lady Hamilton. When
Madame Ziska addressed her as Lady Hamilton, she smiled sadly and said:
“A title has often seemed a mockery to me, when I have been in so great poverty and obscurity for so many years. But it is a part of my son’s heritage, and that is why I hold to it.”
Madame Ziska, the soul of hospitality, proposed that they should all sup together.
“And how vexatious it will be of St. Arnaud if he is not here,” she said. “He must be detained somewhere. As I do not dance to-night, we can put off our supper until eight o’clock, and by that time he will probably be here.”
The afternoon passed only too quickly, Lady Hamilton listening to the adventures of Gavin, and every moment feeling a deeper thankfulness for the man he had become. She herself, accustomed in her youth to the most refined society, had formerly noted with regret many little things in Gavin which it was inevitable that he should acquire from the humble associates of his childhood and boyhood. But all these small faults of manners and language seemed to have disappeared. In two short months Gavin had become perfectly fitted for the society to which he was born and entitled.
Eight o’clock came, and Kalenga’s chair had just been wheeled up to the comfortable supper-table, when St. Arnaud appeared. Madame Ziska covered him with reproaches for deserting them on that, of all afternoons.
“Wait, madam,” mysteriously said St. Arnaud. “I have not been forgetful of Lady Hamilton, though I presume she thought I vanished into thin air when I disappeared so suddenly. I have been to see Prince Kaunitz at the Chancellery. The Chancellor has been to see the Empress Queen, and has just given me this.”
St. Arnaud drew from his pocket an elaborately sealed letter, with the imperial arms, addressed to “The Lady Hamilton.” It was a letter from the Court Chamberlain commanding the attendance of Lady
Hamilton at the next weekly levee of the Empress Queen, on the following Tuesday evening.
Gavin jumped up, snapped his fingers, danced, laughed, embraced St. Arnaud a dozen times.
“Now,” he cried, “we will see what Sir Garvan Ameeltone”—with infinite contempt—“will do when her Majesty receives Lady Ameeltone!”
Lady Hamilton, more accustomed than Gavin to the society of the great, was deeply gratified, but not, like him, highly elated; and when he spoke of his father in a tone that indicated so much hatred and contempt, she flashed him a look that reduced him to silence at once. Nevertheless, there was no mistaking the earnest gratitude of the few words, straight from her heart, with which she thanked St. Arnaud. It was, indeed, a long step toward her rights to be received by a great and virtuous sovereign in the very presence, as it were, of the man who had vainly tried to repudiate her.
It was an evening of great happiness to them all. Madame Ziska and Kalenga had become so attached to Gavin and St. Arnaud that whatever made them happy, the husband and wife shared thoroughly. Lady Hamilton found in Kalenga so much patience under misfortune, and so much affection and appreciation of his wife, that she honoured him with all her heart. When she saw their mutual devotion, she could not but think with vain regret: “Had Sir Gavin Hamilton so treated me, I should have been the happiest woman in the world.”
Next morning a very great and important subject came up, of which only Lady Hamilton and Madame Ziska realized the true significance. This was the gown that Lady Hamilton was to wear to the imperial levee. Gavin tried to settle it at once by saying:
“Go to the shops and buy the handsomest gown you can find. I can pay for a part of it, and St. Arnaud will lend me the rest.”
“Thank you, no,” replied his mother, smiling. “It would not be in good taste that I should appear handsomely dressed, even if you
had the money, which you have not. It is much better that my dress should be as simple as circumstances will allow. Therefore, I shall wear a plain black satin gown. When I was presented, in my girlhood, to the King and Queen of England, I wore a very simple gown, for my parents were not rich people for their station in life. I think I cannot do better than follow their plan now, although they have long since been taken from me.”
The days could not go fast enough for Gavin between then and Tuesday. The only thing that marred his happiness was the possibility that Sir Gavin Hamilton would not be present to witness the triumph of the woman he had so ill used and insulted. True, Sir Gavin did not mean to be at the levee, for he heard in due time of the arrival of his wife, and knew that the Empress Queen would receive her. But he had no notion of being driven from Vienna by her presence, and sardonically concluded that Lady Hamilton would be as anxious to avoid him as he would be to avoid her.
Tuesday evening came, and Gavin and St. Arnaud, dressed in their court uniforms, awaited Lady Hamilton’s appearance from her room. With only little Freda to assist her, Lady Hamilton was making her toilet. Presently the door opened, and Freda, with a candle in each hand, came out, looking solemn beyond expression, and putting the candlesticks on the table, gazed with grave admiration at Lady Hamilton, who followed her.
Gavin caught his breath with admiration when his mother came full into the circle of light. He had never thought of her as a beautiful woman, only as the dearest woman in the world. He had seen only in her large, dark eyes the mother love shining for him. He had only felt in her rare smiles the sympathy with him that made her smile sometimes in the midst of her hard lot. And he had never seen her dressed except in the plainest and, often, in the shabbiest manner.
But to-night she wore her simple black satin robe with the air of a princess. For the first time in twenty years her beautiful white neck and handsome arms were bared to view. Her hair, silver and black mingled, was still abundant, and arranged with singular grace and
becomingness. At night the lines of care in her face were not visible; pleasure, from which she had long since parted, had again come to her, and had brought to her cheek a flush like the glow of youth. She wore no jewels—she had none to wear—but her majestic and highbred beauty needed no ornaments.
Gavin’s first gasp of admiration over, he was strangely silent, while St. Arnaud, with the polished grace of a man of the world, complimented Lady Hamilton upon her distinguished appearance. No woman ever loses her appreciation of a pretty compliment, and as for Gavin, Lady Hamilton was more touched than she would have acknowledged by his admiration. She had asked herself while dressing: “Will he like me in this guise?” as a young girl questions of her lover. There was no doubt that Gavin liked her in that guise; but when his mother turned to him once more his eyes were full of tears.
“Oh, my mother,” he cried. “To think what youth and beauty were yours when sorrow came to you! To think that I, your child, never before saw you except in the clothes of work and poverty! I feel now as I never felt before the terrible hardship of your lot.”
“But the worst is over,” replied Lady Hamilton; “and remember, I always had you.”
“Yes, to feed and clothe; to eat up all you could earn; to wear out the poor garments you could afford to buy me.”
“At least, all you had was honestly earned. Let us be thankful that you lived at no man’s grudging table and wore no one’s cast-offs. That is why, after so many years of work and poverty, we are still able to take our stand among our equals.”
As Lady Hamilton spoke with so much spirit and dignity, it occurred to St. Arnaud that the man who could desert such a woman must be very perverse or very bad.
St. Arnaud handed Lady Hamilton into the hired carriage that was to take her and Gavin to the palace, saying he would follow them as soon as he could dispose of some letters he must have ready for the next post to Paris.
As Lady Hamilton and Gavin walked together through the splendid saloons of the Imperial Court none there showed more dignity and composure. Lady Hamilton was the only woman present who wore no jewels, and this absence of ornament made her conspicuous. She was, however, well fitted by her splendid dignity and the calm and unruffled manner of an English gentlewoman to stand the scrutiny of the hundreds of eyes levelled at her. The universal verdict was the same as St. Arnaud’s in respect to Sir Gavin Hamilton. Gavin, resplendent in his gorgeous, white uniform, looked about him with sparkling eyes of triumph, which said plainly to all: “This is my mother. Have I not a right to be proud of her?” Many persons stopped and spoke with them while they were finding their place in line. Among them was Prince Kaunitz. The Chancellor ever had an eye to grace and dignity in a woman, and within a few minutes of being presented to Lady Hamilton he whispered to her and Gavin:
“Will you do me the honour to sup at my house after the levee?”
Lady Hamilton accepted with politeness, and Gavin with a frank delight he could not conceal. These little supper parties at the Chancellor’s house were among the most agreeable and distinguished parties in Vienna. Only a small number of persons, more eminent for talents than rank, and the best among the foreign visitors at Vienna, were asked to them. To be invited once gave the entrée to any of them. Gavin had never been bidden before, and he knew very well that he was indebted to his mother’s personal charm for being invited at all.
When their turn came to be ushered into the presence of the Empress Queen, Lady Hamilton showed to great advantage. Unabashed by Maria Theresa’s splendid presence, she, nevertheless, did homage to so much greatness united with all the attractions of a charming and lovable woman. The Empress Queen’s first remark was to say, with slight but unmistakable emphasis on the words, “Lady Hamilton”:
“I hope, Lady Hamilton, you are pleased with what we have been able to do for your son.”
“More than pleased, your Majesty,” replied Lady Hamilton. “I am deeply and eternally grateful both to yourself and to the Emperor. And if my son ever comes into his inheritance as an English gentleman there will be one Englishman who can never speak or think of your Majesty except with the liveliest gratitude.”
“I and the Emperor were peculiarly gratified at the refusal of your son and Captain St. Arnaud to accept of their parole when offered it by the King of Prussia. And the marvellous escape they made gave us as much pleasure as it did chagrin to the King of Prussia. These incidents of personal daring are of great value in keeping up the spirits of men engaged in defending us against the perpetual assaults of Prussia.”
Lady Hamilton bowed deeply, and passed on.
It was Gavin’s turn next, and to him Maria Theresa made one of those tactful speeches which, coming from a sincere heart, never failed to win the hearts of others.
“I have had great pleasure in meeting Lady Hamilton. You are fortunate in having such a mother.”
Gavin’s eyes shone so brightly and his face coloured so deeply with pleasure that he was on the point of forgetting what little court etiquette he had learned by dropping on his knee and seizing the Empress Queen’s hands and kissing them violently. Some remnant of self-control saved him, but his air and manner indicated so much joy, pride, and gratitude that a smile went around the whole circle of onlookers, not even excepting the Empress Queen and Emperor.
Lady Hamilton had thought that years of poverty and obscurity would give her a dislike for the brilliant scenes of a court levee. On the contrary, she found herself taking pleasure in a society for which her birth and education originally fitted her She was haunted, however, by a horror of Sir Gavin Hamilton’s appearance. Great as had been his offences toward her, he was still enough of an object of
interest to her to make her dread a possible meeting with him. She once had loved him well, and however deep the resentment she felt toward him, she could never regard him as an object of indifference. Gavin, manlike, could not understand this. He did not seek the places where he would find his father, but he certainly did not avoid him. As he had never known affection for his father, he could well be indifferent to meeting him.
But to Lady Hamilton’s intense relief, Sir Gavin did not appear at the levee that evening. This was not from want of courage, but Sir Gavin realized that he would be at a hopeless disadvantage. The sympathies of the court and society were with his wife and son, and, besides, he felt perfectly certain that no place or person would restrain Gavin if Sir Gavin failed in respect to Lady Hamilton; so Sir Gavin wisely went somewhere else for the early part of the evening.
Eleven o’clock was the hour when the specially favoured were to assemble at the Chancellor’s splendid house. It had just struck the hour when Gavin escorted his mother up the broad marble stairs of the Chancellery and into a cosy little drawing-room, where a choice company were assembled. St. Arnaud was there before them, and in a moment more Prince Kaunitz came in, with profuse apologies for being later than his guests.
“But I really believe,” he complained, “that the Empress Queen can work twenty-four hours in the day, and she wishes me to do the same. Will you believe it, in the middle of the levee she sent me word that I must look over a batch of dispatches, awaiting me in her closet, and I actually fell asleep over them, as I had been at work since six this morning. After the levee her Majesty came into the closet and shook me with her own hand until I waked. And, confidentially, I may say I did not open my eyes as soon as I might. Then she said in the briskest tone you can imagine: ‘Come, let us to work. We must earn our bread.’ ‘Thank you, madam,’ I replied, ‘I cannot speak for your Majesty, but I know the Emperor and myself have earned at least a month’s bread by the work we have done this day.’ ‘Well,’ said her Majesty, ‘I have spent more hours than either of
you in state affairs to-day, and I have likewise given, as I always do, all the attention necessary to the education and training of my ten children.’ ‘The good God has spared me the ten children, madam, but I believe if your Majesty had twenty children to look after, you would still do more work than the Emperor and myself—and we are two of the most persistently industrious men living.’ This made her Majesty laugh, and she said: ‘Poor, good Kaunitz, go home. I have sent the Emperor to bed, and I alone will work at these dispatches.’ I would have stayed at that, but she sent me away after a little. So here I am, late, but glad to get here on any terms.”
The great Chancellor was a charming host, and when they gathered around the supper-table, a small company of the brightest wits in Vienna, he infected every one present with his own gayety and charm. He distinguished Lady Hamilton by his attentions, and it was a small but cherished triumph for Gavin, who counted that among the happiest evenings of his life.
Supper was not over nor the guests ready to depart until some time after midnight. Others had come in, and the party grew merrier as the hours flew by As the final move was made to go, Prince Kaunitz stood up, with a glass of champagne in his hand, and said:
“Before parting, pledge with me the health of a lady who has only lately come to adorn Vienna, but who, we hope, will long remain with us.”
The Prince fixed his smiling glance upon Lady Hamilton, who sat opposite to him. She rose, too, but the smile froze on her lips and she turned deadly pale at the noiseless entrance of a person by a door directly facing her and behind Prince Kaunitz. The Chancellor, not hearing the new arrival, continued with much grace: “The lady whose health I propose is Lady Gavin Hamilton.”
Lady Hamilton’s sudden pallor and agitation had not escaped notice, and a slight movement on the part of the newcomer had attracted every eye to him. The Chancellor, still unhearing, happened to glance into a tall mirror over the fireplace, opposite him, and in it
he saw Sir Gavin Hamilton, standing perfectly cool and composed, his hand on his dress sword, and looking Lady Hamilton full in the eye. She, blanched and trembling, yet undauntedly returned his gaze as she stood. The only change of attitude she made was to lay her hand lightly upon the shoulder of Gavin, who sat next her. But the action was eloquent. It was as if she said, “Here is my charge and my protector in one.”
Gavin’s face had turned scarlet as his mother’s grew white. He sat quite motionless, for once not knowing what to say or do. Many times he had wondered what he should do when his mother and father met, as they were likely to do at any moment after Lady Hamilton’s arrival in Vienna, and he had never yet hit upon any course of action. But he had vauntingly said to himself, “When the time comes I shall do the right thing.” The time had come, and he sat silent and disconcerted and feeling nothing but a furious anger and helplessness.
Lady Hamilton continued to look Sir Gavin calmly in the eye, and the pause grew momentous. A clock ticking in the room seemed a loud noise, so utter was the stillness. Seconds passed, which seemed minutes, and as Lady Hamilton’s glance remained fixed on Sir Gavin, they seemed to change places. She grew courageous, and the crimson returned to her face; while the fresh colour left his cheeks, and he, this man of iron composure, grew tremulous. The Chancellor, who watched it all, and who enjoyed it from the bottom of his heart—for Kaunitz had an elfish spirit which made him delight in awkward contretemps for others—suddenly spoke in a very cool, soft voice: “Give Sir Gavin Hamilton a glass,” he said to a servant. “He will join us, no doubt, in our homage to Lady Hamilton.”
All there fully expected to see Sir Gavin touch his sword as he replied to Prince Kaunitz. So, indeed, he wished to do; but Lady Hamilton’s steady glance held him as if by mesmeric power. Mechanically and against his own volition he raised the glass handed him by the servant to his lips and drank as the others did. Then, quickly recovering himself, he threw the costly glass on the
floor, where it crashed into a hundred pieces, and, turning his back, walked quickly out.
Whatever Lady Hamilton felt, she had managed to retain her selfpossession perfectly. Not so Gavin. He felt dazed and disconcerted, and but for St. Arnaud’s tactful manner of getting him out of the room would have showed the confusion which reigned in his soul. Prince Kaunitz himself put Lady Hamilton into the carriage. Gavin entered after her, and St. Arnaud, saying he wished a breath of air before going to bed, followed on foot.
Once alone in the carriage with his mother, Gavin clasped her in his arms, saying, “How proud I was of you! And how superior did you appear to the wretch—”
“Hush,” replied Lady Hamilton in a strained voice; and suddenly bursting into tears, she cried: “He was not always like this. I cannot, cannot think that he was always bad. He was a gallant man and a gentleman when I married him.”
Gavin remained silent, amazed and confounded at this revelation of a woman’s secret tenderness, which could survive twenty years of neglect, persecution, and unspeakable humiliation.
CHAPTER VIII
T next morning, before nine o’clock, a messenger came from the Empress Queen to St. Arnaud, commanding his immediate presence at the imperial palace.
St. Arnaud reappeared at dusk in the evening. Gavin was sitting by the window, listening with amusement to the stories Lady Hamilton was telling, in her soft, pleasant voice, to the two little girls, Freda and Gretchen.
“Make ready,” said St. Arnaud to Gavin as he came in, “to start for Breslau with me to-morrow, at midnight, with a flag of truce to the King of Prussia. I was sent for by the Empress Queen for that purpose. All is settled. I was allowed to choose a brother officer to accompany me, and I chose you.”
“A thousand, thousand thanks,” cried Gavin, who realized the advantages of being sent upon such an expedition.
“I warn you, though,” continued St. Arnaud, warming himself by the fire, as the little girls lighted the candles and Lady Hamilton and Gavin hung breathless upon his words, “our mission will fail. The King of Prussia has never been celebrated for his kindness to the unfortunate, whether prisoners, whom he generally browbeats, no matter how humble or how exalted their station, or officers of his own who do not prove always equal to victory. The Prince of Severn, who was taken prisoner while reconnoitring near Breslau last October, wishes a letter conveyed to the King of Prussia, in winter quarters at Breslau. The Prince, you must know, being an ally of Frederick’s, fully expected steps to be taken at once to secure his release on parole. But so far the King of Prussia has not written him a line, or shown the slightest interest in the fate of one of his best friends and generals. The poor Prince, tired with waiting, declares there must be
some misapprehension on the King’s part, and solicited the Empress Queen to allow him to send a letter to the King at Breslau. She at once agreed, for she is as kind to prisoners and considerate of their feelings as Frederick is to the contrary. She, therefore, from the goodness of her heart, consented to transmit the letter, but, as it often is, there is sound political wisdom as well as generosity in her action; because, if Frederick wishes to befriend his ally, the Prince can be exchanged for a large number of Austrian prisoners, and if his neglect is intentional, it will place Maria Theresa’s conduct in shining contrast to her great enemy’s. The Emperor and Prince Kaunitz saw this when they agreed to her generous proposal. The Prince intimated a wish that I might be the officer sent—I was able to show him a trifling kindness once some years ago—and the Empress Queen assented with the utmost alacrity. Great and magnanimous as she is, she is woman enough to be willing to let the King of Prussia see us, his two prisoners, free and in good case. All arrangements are made. I have letters and money and horses, and we start on the stroke of midnight to-morrow. We shall probably be gone two weeks, but if we are caught by the spring floods, we shall be detained until they subside, for the Empress Queen and the King of Prussia between them have scarcely left a bridge standing in Silesia.”
Gavin was overjoyed at the prospect of an expedition of so much interest; and his mother showed her sympathy with him by at once beginning to talk over preparations. Gavin ran downstairs to Madame Ziska, who was just arranging the lamp and fire, and placing Kalenga with a book for the evening, before going to the opera.
“I am charmed,” she cried, “although we shall be lonely without you and Captain St. Arnaud. But you will have so much to tell us when you get back! We shall be glad to take care of Lady Hamilton while you are away. Luckily, I do not dance to-morrow night, so we can spend the evening together.”
The Empress Queen, with her usual liberality, which sometimes exceeded her means, having provided them with a considerable sum of money, next day they made comfortable arrangements for the journey. Prince Kaunitz offered them a small but excellent travelling chaise, which, being brought to the house, Lady Hamilton and Madame Ziska proceeded to stock with comforts not likely to be found on the road. By eight o’clock their preparations were complete, and they sat down to a merry supper in Madame Ziska’s apartment.
“I shall miss you both more than I can say,” said Lady Hamilton, “and I shall not go to the palace or accept any invitations until you return. But that I will not mind. I shall amuse myself, if Madame Ziska will permit, by teaching Freda and Gretchen English, and so the weeks will pass more quickly.”
“I shall be only too grateful,” quickly replied Madame Ziska, who saw the advantage of her two young daughters having the training of a woman so highly educated and well bred as Lady Hamilton.
“And pray,” she continued, laughing, as they drew up to the table, “to make my most respectful compliments to the King of Prussia, and to tell him that his snuff-box was treated with the highest respect wherever I showed it, and often got me accommodations at inns and post-houses when it would have been otherwise impossible. Likewise say to him, that I think my dancing has improved—the Emperor has been pleased to say that the ballerina of the Queen of the Naiads is the best thing yet done at the opera.”
St. Arnaud and Gavin faithfully promised all.
The evening sped rapidly away, all, even Kalenga, being in the highest spirits. When the clock struck twelve, and the chaise was at the door, Kalenga, raising himself in his wheeled chair, proposed the health of the two departing ones, which was drank with enthusiasm. Then followed affectionate farewells, Gavin running back from the door for a last embrace from his mother, and soon they were clattering off over the frozen roadway toward the gates of the city.
As soon as they had passed the gates, and got into the open country beyond, St. Arnaud, who was an experienced traveller, settled himself to sleep; but Gavin, who had never made a journey in a chaise before, was too excited to sleep. He compared his lot then —an officer with a recognized position as a gentleman, regular, though small pay, his mother with him, her position recognized, a powerful friend in St. Arnaud, and other true friends in Madame Ziska and her husband, the protection of a great and generous sovereign like Maria Theresa—and the contemplation of these things caused a wave of reverential gratitude to overwhelm his soul. A year before he had been a private soldier, with all the hardships of a private soldier’s lot in those times. He had been ragged and cold and hungry; his fellow-soldiers, brave, honest fellows though they might be, were rude and ignorant men, of coarse manners, and rarely could any of them read or write. He recalled that he had not been really unhappy during the time that he had trudged along, carrying a musket—in fact, it gave him something like a shock to remember that he had begun to like the life, and felt less and less the ambition to rise to something better Perhaps he would have risen in any event, but, surely, the finding himself alone with St. Arnaud in a freezing desert after Rosbach was the most fortunate circumstance of his whole life. These thoughts crowded upon his mind, but after a while the steady motion of the chaise made him drowsy, and he slept.
Seven days were they on the journey, although they travelled as fast as the state of the country would permit, and at noon on the seventh day they came within sight of the towers and steeples of Breslau, and met the Prussian outposts.
St. Arnaud, tying his white handkerchief to the point of his sword, got out of the chaise, as did Gavin, and advanced toward the Prussian sentinel. The officer of the guard was at once sent for, and after a very short delay they were blindfolded and driven inside the walls and fortifications.
It was a tedious drive to the quarters courteously provided for them, and both St. Arnaud and Gavin suspected that they were being driven in a roundabout manner, to confuse their sense of locality. Arrived at their quarters, the Prussian officer, Lieutenant Bohlen, led them, into a room, and exacting the usual promises from them that they would not leave the house without permission and an escort, removed the handkerchiefs from their eyes. He then left, to report their arrival at headquarters, after ordering dinner to be sent them. The dinner was very good, and they were still at it when Lieutenant Bohlen returned.
“The King will see you to-night after he has supped, and meanwhile desires that you be made comfortable.”
Gavin spent a good part of the afternoon making a toilet for the King of Prussia. He bathed and shaved, and put on clean linen from top to toe, and his handsome white uniform and varnished boots.
“And I think,” he complacently remarked to St. Arnaud, “the King will find me a different person from the great gaby he hauled out of the closet. Oh, I shall never forgive myself for not knocking him down —I could have done it so easily.”
St. Arnaud, too, had made an elaborate toilet, and as he surveyed himself and Gavin, he rather wounded Gavin’s self-love by saying:
“You and I are obliged to dress well. The King of Prussia is shabbier than any captain in his army—but—he is the King of Prussia, and he can afford to be shabby.”
About eight o’clock in the evening, another officer, Major Count von Armfeld, appeared, and politely introducing himself as aide-decamp to his Majesty, requested them to go with him.
It was a beautiful moonlight night as the party emerged into one of the quaintest and oldest streets of Breslau. They were near a splendid bridge across the Oder, and the moon shone brightly on the placid bosom of the river. Everywhere were the signs of military occupation. Churches had been turned into barracks, public
buildings into arsenals, and nearly every house had officers billeted in it.
After crossing the bridge, they entered a handsome street, at the end of which was a large and splendid mansion. A couple of sentinels were pacing before the door.
“That is where his Majesty lives,” said Von Armfeld. “It is called the King’s House. It has a garden to it, in which the King takes exercise.”
Von Armfeld giving the countersign, they entered the mansion, and ascended a handsome staircase. The house seemed to be buzzing like a beehive, all the rooms being lighted up, and officers at work in them. At the end of a long corridor was a small door, before which they stopped. Von Armfeld gave four peculiar raps on the door; a voice said, “Come”—and St. Arnaud and Gavin found themselves in the presence of the great Frederick. He was sitting by the fire and was wrapped in an old military cape. His face was cadaverous, his eyes sunken, and his whole appearance so changed by ill health, that St. Arnaud and Gavin would have had difficulty in recognizing him. But if they found recognition of the King difficult, the King found recognition of them impossible. He looked at them as if he had never seen them before, and motioning them to sit, consulted a little memorandum before him.
“Captain St. Arnaud of Major-General Loudon’s corps and companion, Sublieutenant Hamilton. I knew General Loudon. I might have had his services when he returned from Russia, but I frankly admit I saw not the man of genius under his unpromising exterior. At the blockade of Prague, his patent as Major-General, sent him by the Empress Queen, fell into the hands of some of my hussars. I had it returned to him, and was pleased to serve so gallant an officer.”
St. Arnaud bowed at these praises of his commander, and after a pause Frederick said negligently:
“Have you the Prince of Bevern’s letter?”
St. Arnaud rose, and taking the Prince of Bevern’s letter from his breast, handed it to Frederick, with another bow. It was a long letter, and both St. Arnaud and Gavin watched the King closely as he read. He had a speaking face, and as he read page after page of the letter his countenance grew more sinister. St. Arnaud gave Gavin a slight glance, which said plainly: “The Prince will get no help.”
After reading it over carefully, Frederick laid it down, and began to speak on the topic, apparently, the farthest off, in more ways than one, from Bevern’s letter that could be imagined.
“Did you ever study astronomy, Captain St. Arnaud?”
“Considerably, your Majesty. When I was at the College of St. Omer’s in France—for I had some education before I joined the army —I was much interested in it, and spent many nights at the telescope.”
“I confess, I knew very little about the science. There is a garden communicating with the one we have here, and in it is an observatory with a fine telescope. I have been troubled with sleeplessness this winter, and I have spent many hours, in consequence, studying the planets. I have found it singularly soothing. Nothing so reconciles one to the chances and changes of this life as looking through a telescope. There one sees the infinite smallness of triumphs; the utter nothingness of misfortunes.”
“True, your Majesty,” replied St. Arnaud, as composedly as if he had come all the way from Vienna to discuss astronomy “Of course, the uppermost thought in every mind is whether those infinite worlds are inhabited or not.”
“It is a thought too staggering to pursue very far. The first conception of space is noble and exhilarating beyond expression. But I believe that the strongest mind, fixed perpetually on the vast possibilities of the solar system, would become unbalanced. Astronomers do not become so, because they pursue the science with exactness, and do not let imagination into the matter at all. But for persons like you and me, who look at the myriads of worlds with
