mother to her, and she was invited to visit so many distinguished families, she might have
been carried through the entire winter without spending any of her money. One aspect of the
feudal system appeared to be that most of its ruling members were bored on their estates, and
eager for visitors, provided they were of proper station. They all had bursting larders, with a
host of servants trained to put meals on tables. Do come and enjoy your share!
III
What Lanny really wanted was to spend the time with his boyhood chum. Kurt now lived
with his own family in a stone cottage on the outskirts of the village of Stubendorf, all of which
belonged to Seine Hochgeboren. Lanny met for the first time Kurt's gentle and devoted young
wife, and three little blond "Aryans" produced according to the Schicklgruber prescription.
Irma went along on the first visit as a matter of courtesy, and also of curiosity, for she had
heard how this wonderful
she had heard enough about Kurt's adventures in Paris during the Peace Conference to make him
a romantic figure.
Kurt hadn't changed much in the four years since Lanny had seen him. The war had aged
him prematurely, but from then on he seemed to stay the same: a grave and rather silent man,
who chose to speak to the world through his art. He worshiped the classic German composers,
especially the "three B's." Each of these had written a few four-hand piano compositions, and
in the course of the years others of their works had been arranged in this form, so now there
were more than a hundred such available. Lanny had ordered a complete collection from one of
the dealers in Berlin; not often can one make a Christmas present which will give so much
pleasure to a friend! The two of them wanted to sit right down and not get up even for meals.
Irma couldn't see how it was possible for human fingers to stand the strain of so much
pounding; she couldn't see how human ears could take in so many notes. She had to remind
them of an engagement at the Schloss; whereupon Kurt leaped up at once, for Seine
Hochgeboren must not be kept waiting, even for Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms.
In return for his pension and his home it was Kurt's duty to play for his patron, and to
assemble, rehearse, and conduct a small orchestra for special occasions such as this Christmas
visit. He did this with scrupulous fidelity, as the young Haydn had done for the great Prince
Esterhazy of Vienna. It wasn't an onerous job, for of late years Seine Hochgeboren came only
rarely. To his people living under the Poles he made a formal address, full of Christmas cheer,
but also of quiet unbending faith that God would somehow restore them to their Fatherland.
That was what the National Socialist movement meant to Kurt Meissner. He and his young
wife listened with eager attention while Lanny told about his meeting with Adolf Hitler; then
Herr Meissner asked to have the story told to his family, and later on the lord of the Schloss
wanted his friends to hear it. They questioned the visitor closely as to just what Adi's program
now was; and of course Lanny knew what was in their minds. Had the Ftihrer of the Nazis
really dropped that crazy Socialist stuff with which he had set out on his career? Could he be
depended upon as a bulwark against Bolshevism, a terror so real to the people on Germany's
eastern border? Would he let the landowners alone and devote himself to rearming the
country, and forcing the Allies to permit the return of Stubendorf and the other lost provinces,
the Corridor and the colonies? If the Germans in exile could be sure of these things, they
might be willing to support him, or at any rate not oppose him actively.
IV
Kurt had composed a symphony, which he called
had copied out the parts for an orchestra of twenty pieces, and Kurt had engaged musicians
from the near-by towns, of course at the Graf's expense. They had been thoroughly drilled, and
now played the new work before a distinguished company on Christmas night. This was the
high point of Lanny's visit, andindeed of his stay in Germany. In his boyhood he had taken
Kurt Meissner as his model of all things noble and inspiring; he had predicted for him a shining
future, and felt justified when he saw all the
assembled to do him honor.
During the composer's time in Bienvenu his work had been full of bitterness and revolt, but
since he had come home he had apparently managed to find courage and hope. He didn't write
program music, and Lanny didn't ask what the new work was supposed to signify; indeed, he
would rather not be told, for the military character of much of the music suggested it was meant
for the Nazis. It pictured the coming of a deliverer, it portrayed the German people arising and
