The Doll - Bolesaw Prus [336]
‘I fail to understand you.’
‘You will in a moment,’ the doctor declared, growing more excited. ‘Take the Łęcki family — what have they done? They squandered a fortune; it was squandered by the grandfather, father and the son, who was left with thirty thousand saved by Wokulski — and a beautiful daughter, to serve as security. But what have the Szlangbaums been doing in the meanwhile? Making money. The grandfather made money, so did the father, so is the son today, although until recently he was but a modest clerk, but within a year he’ll give our commerce a shake-up. And they know this, for old Szlangbaum wrote a charade last January: “The first in German stands for serpent, the second a plant: together — they climb,” and he told me the answer was “Szlangbaum”. A poor charade, but a good piece of work,’ the doctor added, smiling.
Rzecki looked away. Szuman went on: ‘Take the Prince, what’s he doing? He sighs over “this unhappy country”, and that’s all. Or Baron Krzeszowski. He thinks of acquiring money from his wife. Or Baron Dalski. He is withering away for fear his wife deceives him. Mr Maruszewicz hunts for loans, and when he can’t get them, he sneers; while Mr Starski sits by his dying grandmama, to get her to sign a will drawn up in his favour.’
‘Other gentlemen, both high and low, who have a premonition that all Wokulski’s business is going to pass into Szlangbaum’s hands are already paying calls on the latter. They don’t know, poor devils, that he will lower their incomes by at least five per cent … The cleverest of them, Ochocki, on the other hand, dreams of flying machines instead of exploiting the electric lamp he has invented. Bah! It seems to me he has been asking Wokulski’s advice about them for some days past. Birds of a feather: dreamers both …’
‘Surely you don’t reproach Staś for anything, doctor?’ Rzecki interrupted impatiently.
‘No, except that he has never cultivated his profession, but has always chased after illusions. As a clerk, he wanted to be a scholar, but once he started studying, he decided he wanted to be a hero. He made a fortune, not because he was a tradesman, but because he was insane about Miss Łęcka; and now that he’s gaining her — though that is still very uncertain — he’s already begin to take council with Ochocki. … Upon my word, I don’t understand it; what can a financier have to talk about with a man like Ochocki? … Lunatics!’
Rzecki pinched himself so as not to quarrel with the doctor: ‘Pray notice,’ he remarked after a moment, ‘I came to see you, not only about Wokulski, but about a woman … A woman, Mr Szuman, against whom even you won’t find anything to say.’
‘Your women are worth precisely as much as your men. In ten years, Wokulski might be a millionaire and a power to be reckoned with in this country, but because he has involved his destiny with Miss Łęcka, he’s selling a profitable store, abandoning a trading company no worse than the store, and will proceed to squander his fortune. Or Ochocki … Anyone else, in his shoes, would be working on electric lighting, since his invention has succeeded. Meanwhile, he gads around Warsaw with that pretty Mrs Wąsowska, to whom a good dancer means more than the greatest inventor. A Jew would act differently. If he were an electrical engineer, he’d find himself a woman who would either sit in his workshop with him, or who could sell electricity. If he were a financier like Wokulski, he wouldn’t fall blindly in love, but would choose a rich wife. Or he might marry a poor and pretty one, but then her charms would have to pay interest. She would open a drawing-room for him, attract visitors, smile at the rich, flirt with the richest — in a word, would support the interests of the firm in all ways, instead of wrecking