DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48088#0230
200 the lacemaker.
“My brother artists Netcher, Schalken, and Mieris, who distinctly heard the promise made:
but Master Dow thinks that I should not win, if I brought an action against Lukas van Mangold.”
“If the case be exactly as you state it, Slingeland, every lawyer will tell you that Mangold
must pay the money; he carries on a business of his own, and has the full control of large
property,” continued the Burgomaster, looking for the first time almost kindly at the young man,
whom he had hitherto seemed to distain.—“You may go now, but take care that you make no
mention of what has passed here. We may perhaps be able to arrange the matter in some way
that Gescha shall have “ Reparationem honoris.”
Peter bowed, and was about to go when the Burgomaster called him back. “Stop, one
word more,” he said, “and this time it behoves you more than ever to tell the truth. Had you
ever seen my daughter before that scene took place in the church-yard?”
“Yes, several times, and yet not so very often, for on week days I work at my Master’s
studio, and on Sundays, after I have been to church with my sister, I stay at home to read the
Postille to my mother.”
.“Does there happen to be a shield and a wreath on your church?” asked the Burgomaster.
“I seldom go to the Public house,” replied Peter, “but sometimes, when my friends press,
me very much, I am obliged to yield, and to go with them.”
“There is nothing to be ashamed of in that, Mynheer Slingeland,” said the Burgomaster,
in a tone that was almost pleasant. “So you have seen Gescha often?”
“Yes, an artist could not help being struck by her appearance; but it was only when Mangold
mentioned her name as she came out of the church that I knew who the distinguished looking
lady was.”
“You never spoke to Gescha before?”
“No, never.”
“Sometimes,” said the dignitary, rapping with the ruler on his paper, “people whose lives
are not spent in hard work, but in some more agreeable pursuit—such people as poets and artists
for instance—are apt to live a good deal in their imaginations, and especially to indulge in a
passion for some lady who is not even conscious of their existence.”
“I understand what you imply, Mynheer,” said Slingeland.
“Do you? I consider that a good sign.”
“ I have never been in a humour to let my mind run on young ladies^” continued Peter. “If
any girl is often, nay constantly, in my thoughts, it is my sister Ursula.”
The Burgomaster looked him full in the face.
“I shall not be able to help thinking often of Gescha van Mangold in the future,” added
Slingeland.
“Indeed! but you may leave that alone, my friend.”
“How can I? She is associated with the most important event in my life. I should be an
ungrateful wretch if I ever forgot that Jeoflrouw Gescha was willing to do me a kindness, at a
great cost to herself. Lukas van Mangold may have made use of me to play his cousin an ill-
natured trick, but the guilt of his intention cannot be imparted to me. I told the lady honourably
and truly of the power which Providence, rather than an insolent whim had placed in her hands,
of influencing the future to myself and my relations, and, viewing the matter in this light, it
would have been no disgrace to the wife of the Stattholder herself, to have acted as did Gescha
van Mangold.”
“My brother artists Netcher, Schalken, and Mieris, who distinctly heard the promise made:
but Master Dow thinks that I should not win, if I brought an action against Lukas van Mangold.”
“If the case be exactly as you state it, Slingeland, every lawyer will tell you that Mangold
must pay the money; he carries on a business of his own, and has the full control of large
property,” continued the Burgomaster, looking for the first time almost kindly at the young man,
whom he had hitherto seemed to distain.—“You may go now, but take care that you make no
mention of what has passed here. We may perhaps be able to arrange the matter in some way
that Gescha shall have “ Reparationem honoris.”
Peter bowed, and was about to go when the Burgomaster called him back. “Stop, one
word more,” he said, “and this time it behoves you more than ever to tell the truth. Had you
ever seen my daughter before that scene took place in the church-yard?”
“Yes, several times, and yet not so very often, for on week days I work at my Master’s
studio, and on Sundays, after I have been to church with my sister, I stay at home to read the
Postille to my mother.”
.“Does there happen to be a shield and a wreath on your church?” asked the Burgomaster.
“I seldom go to the Public house,” replied Peter, “but sometimes, when my friends press,
me very much, I am obliged to yield, and to go with them.”
“There is nothing to be ashamed of in that, Mynheer Slingeland,” said the Burgomaster,
in a tone that was almost pleasant. “So you have seen Gescha often?”
“Yes, an artist could not help being struck by her appearance; but it was only when Mangold
mentioned her name as she came out of the church that I knew who the distinguished looking
lady was.”
“You never spoke to Gescha before?”
“No, never.”
“Sometimes,” said the dignitary, rapping with the ruler on his paper, “people whose lives
are not spent in hard work, but in some more agreeable pursuit—such people as poets and artists
for instance—are apt to live a good deal in their imaginations, and especially to indulge in a
passion for some lady who is not even conscious of their existence.”
“I understand what you imply, Mynheer,” said Slingeland.
“Do you? I consider that a good sign.”
“ I have never been in a humour to let my mind run on young ladies^” continued Peter. “If
any girl is often, nay constantly, in my thoughts, it is my sister Ursula.”
The Burgomaster looked him full in the face.
“I shall not be able to help thinking often of Gescha van Mangold in the future,” added
Slingeland.
“Indeed! but you may leave that alone, my friend.”
“How can I? She is associated with the most important event in my life. I should be an
ungrateful wretch if I ever forgot that Jeoflrouw Gescha was willing to do me a kindness, at a
great cost to herself. Lukas van Mangold may have made use of me to play his cousin an ill-
natured trick, but the guilt of his intention cannot be imparted to me. I told the lady honourably
and truly of the power which Providence, rather than an insolent whim had placed in her hands,
of influencing the future to myself and my relations, and, viewing the matter in this light, it
would have been no disgrace to the wife of the Stattholder herself, to have acted as did Gescha
van Mangold.”