The Uhlan and The Phoenix by Roy Snelling

Author:Roy Snelling [Stevenson, James]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Spiritual Genesis Books
Published: 2012-06-08T00:00:00+00:00

‘Onkel Rupert, Vater tells me that you have recently come back from a tour of England. What is the Country like?’ asked Walter.

‘Well, I visited mostly industrial towns in the North and Midlands, places like Sheffield, Stoke on Trent and Birmingham. I had already studied the works of the English Economist Adam Smith before I went. I was interested to examine their latest industrial processes. Their Industrial revolution is more advanced than ours. But we are catching up fast.’

‘Did you learn anything that you can use in your factories?’ Otto’s father, Herr von Bornstätter, had walked across the room to join them.

‘Yes, I was interested in how they produce alloys in the foundries in Birmingham, and the rifling of canon barrels.’

‘I hear that you have bought an interest in our own manufacturer of canons, Alfred Krupp.’

‘Where did you hear that from Helmut? It was supposed to be confidential.’

‘Oh . contacts in Berlin.’

‘You mean that . ’ He looked round to see if anyone was listening . that so-called club that you belong to. Bloody cheek. I heard however that you were made Senior Warden two weeks ago.’

‘How did you know that?’

Both men looked at Walter, then each other, then uttered noises like ‘err . hum . well . ’ and changed the subject. Helmut then looked at his pocket watch and clapped his hands to get everyone’s attention.

‘Dammen und Herren!’ he called out in a loud voice ‘We have with us this afternoon a little concert for you to be played by the ‘Enlightenment Quartet’ from Potsdam. The concert will consist of works by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, Robert Schumann, Franz Schubert and Joseph Haydn. The concert will be in this drawing room. The servants will re-arrange the seating accordingly so your co-operation is requested. While you are enjoying the concert the servants will be clearing the dining room where we will later have some dancing, accompanied by the Quartet. We will then retire to the drawing room again for cocktails whilst the servants prepare the dining room for our evening Weinachtsfest.’

Walter, his sister Elizabeth, his close friend Otto von Bornstätter, Otto’s sister Luise and two children from another family sat together during the concert. After a piano piece by Schumann Otto let out a loud yawn. Walter and Luise turned towards him with ‘shhhhhhhhh’. Other adults in the vicinity turned with disapproving looks towards all the young people. Otto then sat bolt upright in his chair with an expression on his face as if to say:

‘What have I supposed to have done?’

The dream then seemed to blur, then become clear again, by which time it seemed as if it were later in the afternoon. During dancing in the dining room Ralph, or was it Walter, strode up to where Luise was sitting, clicked his heels, bowed quickly and stiffly from the waist, and said:’

May I have the pleasure of this dance gnädige Fräuline?’

Luise was two years younger than Walter, but was already an accomplished dancer, particularly with the Viennese waltz, which she danced with considerable grace.

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