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Updated: June 27, 2025
She rose from her chair and took one step towards him; then paused. A tense moment of silence passed, and Truda Schottelius sighed. "How did you know?" she asked, in a matter-of-fact tone. The big young man smiled. "How did I know that you, too, were a Jew is that what you mean?" Truda nodded.
Years of feeling the public pulse through the box-office had not stripped him of a certain shrewd perception of what was fine and what was mean in drama; and he chuckled and wagged his head in the wings as minute by minute the spell of Truda's genius strengthened, till there came that tenseness of silence in the great theatre which few actors live to know, and Truda, vibrant, taut- nerved, and superb, plucked at men's hearts as if they had been harp- strings.
The street was in darkness and resounded with violence. Standing in his stirrups and peering ahead, the Prince realized that he might ride Truda down without ever seeing her. He leaned back and caught his aide-de-camp by the arm. "We must have light," he shouted. "Dismount a dozen men and fire a house."
Truda's lips parted, but she said nothing. "Ah, perhaps your Excellency does not understand?" suggested the man. The cynical humor in his face had no resemblance to mirth. "They were Jews, you see Jews." "Judenhetze?" asked Truda. She had heard of old of that strange fever that seizes certain peoples and inflames them with a rabid lust for Jewish blood. "Yes," answered the Jew.
Monsieur Vaucher bowed complaisantly. "Your discretion is frequently perfect," he said. "And if I suggest that here is an occasion for a particular discretion, it is only because I have Madame's interests at heart. Now, the chief matters of dispute here are " Truda interrupted him. "Please!" she said. "It does not matter at all. And think! Politics before breakfast.
"I do not know," answered Truda again. "It will be claimed," he said, biting his nails. "These Jews are never short of relatives." "If it is claimed by a relative, that will be the end of the matter," replied Truda. "If not we shall see." "Then let us hope it will be claimed," he said quickly. He gazed absently at the child, and shook his head.
"It is surprising that Madame should not have found one before," she said. Those two days were placid and full of peace, quiet with the lull of emptiness. But in them Truda did not forget. She was realizing herself, and her capacity to deal with a situation that would not be devised to show her talents.
Truda loosened her cloak and let it fall about her feet, and stood up alone, vivid in the dancing light of the burning house, in saffron and white. She moved deliberate hands over her hair and patted a loose strand into its place. Another rending crash; she set her hand on her hip and stood still. The door yielded and sprang back. There was a raw yell, and the mob was in.
At her coming forth, the square was thick with people under the lights, and those nearest the stage-door cheered her as she passed to her carriage. But Truda was learned in the moods of crowds, and in her reception she detected a perfunctory note, as though the people who waved and shouted had turned from graver matters to notice her.
"But you are the Governor, are you not? You are aloof, far above thrills. Why, it was only last night, while I was driving home, that I found a dead woman in the street." "I know," he said. "And a live baby; I heard all about it. If you had been an hour later they would have been cleaned away. I am sorry if you were shocked." "Shocked?" repeated Truda. "I was not thinking of that."
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