Death and the Maiden (5 page)

‘Thank you,’ said the woman in the blue dress.

Liebermann bowed. ‘Doctor Max Liebermann.’

‘Anna Probst – and this is my great-aunt Frau Baerbel Zollinger.’

Liebermann bowed again. ‘Frau Zollinger.’

The old woman’s expression did not soften. Anna rolled her eyes, and Liebermann, recognising that he could do no more to win Frau Zollinger’s good opinion, returned his attention to the programme notes.

In due course the auditorium filled with patrons, the house lights dimmed, and the musicians appeared on stage. After some preliminary tuning, the conductor, who was wearing a white carnation in his lapel, entered through a door to the right of the stage and mounted the platform. When the applause had subsided he raised a very large baton and the air resonated with sublime harmonies.

The first piece was Mozart’s B flat major Serenade for twelve wind instruments and double bass. Liebermann was particularly fond of the Adagio, the immaculate melodies of which floated smoothly above a pulsing accompaniment. It was music of supreme elegance. The second piece was also a Serenade, scored for a smaller wind band, by Johann Christian Brosius, a composer with whom Liebermann was completely unacquainted. The two pieces had evidently been programmed together because Brosius had incorporated several themes from
Mozart’s B flat major Serenade into his own composition. When the final movement, a charming presto assai, came to its end, Liebermann clapped loudly. In due course the conductor signalled his intention to leave the stage, the applause subsided and the audience began to disperse for the interval.

‘So, Herr doctor, it seems that you enjoyed the Brosius.’

Frau Zollinger was looking at Liebermann intently.

‘Great-aunt …’ said Anna, eager to prevent further embarrassment.

‘Yes,’ said Liebermann. ‘I enjoyed it very much.’

‘Over forty years,’ said Frau Zollinger. ‘Over forty years since I last heard that piece …’

‘I must confess that prior to this evening I knew nothing of Brosius. Not a single note.’

‘Oh, he had quite a reputation in his day. Brahms held him in very high regard.’

‘Did he?’

‘Well, that’s what he said. But I was never convinced of his sincerity. He was a difficult man, Brosius: sullen, brooding, and prone to angry outbursts.’

Liebermann looked more closely at the old woman.

‘You were acquainted with Brahms?’

‘Yes. I couldn’t stand the smell of his cigars.’

‘Great-aunt,’ said Anna, ‘it is the interval. Doctor Liebermann does not want to hear about Brahms’s cigars.’

Liebermann indicated with a gesture that he did not object to being delayed and invited Frau Zollinger to continue.

‘He used to come to my soirées,’ she declared.

‘Brahms?’

‘Yes. And Brosius. Once they came together. Of course, the real talent was his pupil …’ Liebermann wasn’t sure whether Frau Zollinger was referring to a pupil of Brahms or a pupil of Brosius.
He waited patiently. ‘Brosius was technically accomplished, but young Freimark …’ The old woman sighed. ‘His songs … so clever, such careful attention to the meaning of the words. None of them were published, except “Hope”. You must know “Hope”? His setting of Schiller’s “Hope”?’

Liebermann was aware of a well-known song of that name and even thought he might have it at home in a volume titled
Klassiker des deutschen Liedes
.

‘Yes,’ said Liebermann. ‘I believe I do know it.’

‘A tragedy that he should have died so young. And even more of a tragedy that he should be remembered now for just one song.’

‘Tuberculosis?’

‘No. A fall – from a mountain – the Schneeberg: while staying with Brosius and Brosius’s wife, Angelika.’ Frau Zollinger shook her head. ‘I never really liked her.’

Anna placed a restraining hand on her great-aunt’s arm and asked, ‘Where do you practise, Herr doctor?’

‘The general hospital.’

She was about to say something else but Frau Zollinger carried on: ‘The youngest daughter of a well-known portrait painter. She was a celebrated beauty. Brosius worshipped her. But I thought her vain and superficial. My husband used to reprimand me for being uncharitable.’

The old woman gabbled on a little more until her recollections lost coherence and eventually petered out. Seizing his moment, Liebermann excused himself and went to the foyer to smoke a Trabuco cigar. When he returned, Frau Zollinger was less talkative and he spoke instead to Fräulein Anna. It was not a very deep conversation, merely an exchange of pleasantries and some polite enquiries.

The second half of the concert was a delight: Beethoven’s E flat major Octet and a Mozart
Divertimento
.

After the encore, an arrangement of a Brahms waltz, Liebermann
helped Frau Zollinger to stand and offered to escort her from the building. Progress was slow and by the time they reached the cloakroom there was no queue, most of the audience having already gone. In the foyer Liebermann said, ‘It will be cold outside. Perhaps too cold for Frau Zollinger? Wait here and I’ll hail a cab for you.’

‘You are most kind,’ said Anna.

‘Where are you going?’ asked Liebermann.

‘The ninth district, Bergasse 21,’ Anna replied.

‘Bergasse 21 – really?’ He looked to Frau Zolliger. ‘Do you know your neighbour Professor Freud?’

‘Professor who?’ asked Frau Zollinger.

‘Freud: an esteemed colleague.’

The old woman’s head wobbled a little on her scrawny neck to express the negative.

Liebermann crossed the foyer and went out through the double doors.

One of Mozart’s melodies entered his mind, the exquisite opening theme from the
Adagio
, but not in its original form. Instead, he was hearing Brosius’s arrangement. The melody was being carried by a flute instead of an oboe and the continuous pulsing accompaniment had been replaced by dissolving harmonies. It was actually quite haunting and as the fragment repeated itself Liebermann realised that Brosius’s music had become lodged in his brain. He would probably still be hearing it in his head as he tried to get to sleep later.

A cab came rattling over the cobbles. Liebermann raised his hand and the driver pulled up.

As Liebermann was helping Frau Zollinger down some stairs, she muttered: ‘He said to me –
“She’s my muse”’

‘I beg your pardon?’ asked Liebermann.

‘Angelika. He said that without her the music would end.’

‘Brosius? Well, he must have loved her very much.’

Frau Zollinger produced a dismissive grunt. It was obvious to Liebermann that she was not really talking to him but simply voicing her thoughts, recalling conversations that had taken place in the distant past. The music had revived old memories.

Liebermann opened one of the cab’s doors and the old woman shivered as the chill air insinuated itself into her brittle bones.

‘Your transport, Frau Zollinger.’

The old woman did not thank him and once again her great-niece was forced to apologise on her behalf.

M
AYOR
L
UEGER WAS SEATED
on a large leather armchair. His two guests, Leopold Steiner and Hermann Bielohlawek, were also comfortably accommodated, and all three were smoking cigars of prodigious length while quaffing pilsner. The remains of a ravaged
apfelstrudel
were strewn across a silver serving plate on the table.

It had been rumoured for some time that the mayor was not well, yet he showed no obvious signs of sickness or infirmity: quite the contrary, in fact. He appeared robust and his cheeks were glowing. In the ancient world he might have made a very acceptable philosopher king. His thick dark hair was brushed back off a high forehead and his full grey beard was cut squarely around the jaw. Women still referred to him as ‘handsome Karl’ in spite of his age. He cultivated a dashing and debonair image with assiduous care. The pomade on his hair glistened and exuded a citrus fragrance that cut through the pungency of the tobacco smoke. His clothes were bespangled with a treasure trove of decorative accessories: an emerald tiepin, the thick gold links of a watch-chain and large ruby cufflinks.

Lueger’s eyes possessed the penetrating quality often associated with greatness, but his gaze was not as stately nor as grave as it might have been, on account of a slight flaw. One of his eyes was turned out a little, giving the impression that many of his remarks were intended to be ironic.

‘It is not a matter of choice,’ said Lueger. ‘I
must
win the municipal
council over. The construction of the second mountain-spring reservoir is of vital importance for the city. Moreover, if I succeed, I strongly suspect that it will stand as my greatest achievement in office.’

‘What about getting rid of the English Gas Company?’ said Steiner. ‘That was a fine achievement and gave me inestimable satisfaction.’

‘Or the electrification of the trams?’ ventured Bielohlawek.

‘And one cannot underestimate the importance of all the new schools,’ said Steiner.

‘Or the city brewery!’ said Bielohlawek, raising his stein. ‘A truly outstanding achievement!’

The mayor smiled indulgently at his friends who he suspected were, perhaps, a little drunk. They had been drinking for some time.

‘The existing water supply is wholly inadequate,’ Lueger persisted. ‘It not only fails to meet the basic human need but it is also insufficient to do justice to the beauty of our city. Think of our magnificent fountains. Tell me, how often do you see them working?’

‘I passed the Donnerbrunnen earlier today, as it happens,’ said Steiner.

‘Well?’

‘Dry as a bone.’

‘There you are!’ said Lueger, satisfied. ‘And when our fountains
do
produce water, they are singularly unimpressive. They spout so weakly that their ineffectual trickling makes the Männeken Pis in Brussels look like a cataract.’

‘I thought the Männeken Pis was in Geraardbergen,’ said Bielohlawek.

‘That’s a different one,’ said Lueger.

‘There are two?’

‘Yes.’

‘I didn’t know that.’

Mayor Lueger paused to sip his pilsner. ‘The council don’t want
to pay. I am ready to admit that the owner of the spring
is
asking a very high price. Even so, I will remind those dullards of the Roman king who sought to purchase nine books from the Sybil. He complained that she was asking too much and she responded by throwing three in the fire, before demanding the original sum for the remaining six books. When the king refused her, she threw another three books into the flames. The outcome was that the Roman king was forced to pay the original sum for only three books. I tell you’ – the mayor leaned forward – ‘if we don’t accept the owner’s terms of sale today then we will be creating problems for ourselves in the future. You mark my words. We will end up in a worse position than the Roman king.’

There was a knock on the door and a stocky bodyguard entered. He was dressed in the green ‘court’ uniform sported by the mayor’s inner circle: a green tailcoat with black velvet cuffs and yellow coat-of-arms buttons. He was carrying a tray loaded with yet more pilsners.

‘Ah, Anton,’ said Lueger. ‘Most thoughtful.’

The bodyguard collected the empty steins and replaced them with full ones before bowing and making his exit.

‘A good man, eh?’ said the mayor.

His companions drank to the bodyguard’s health.

Steiner wiped the froth from his upper lip with the back of his hand and said: ‘Oh, before I forget, Karl, I think you should know that I’ve received another one of those ever-so-discreet communications from the palace.’

‘About your comments?’

‘Yes.’

‘Who was it from?’

‘One of the emperor’s aides, Count Lefler. He asked me to consider whether my attack on the vivisection practices at the anatomical institutes was really wise.’

‘Did he now,’ said Lueger, adjusting his necktie.

‘It was worded politely enough but it was clearly meant as a warning. He said that certain members of the medical faculty were deeply offended. You can guess who, of course.’

‘Perhaps they’re not so stupid after all,’ said the mayor. ‘Perhaps they can see where this is going?’

‘Gentleman,’ said Bielohlawek, ‘I am a simple merchant, an honest trader. I am afraid that you will have to explain.’

‘My dear fellow,’ said the mayor, ‘it’s all very simple. If we can arouse a little public feeling, a little antipathy, then the hospitals will have to accept stricter controls. In due course, if we have more say in hospital affairs, we will be able to address the
other
problem. That is to say, the
principal
problem.’

‘Oh, I see,’ said Bielohlawek.
‘Them.’

‘How did this happen, I wonder?’ said the mayor.

Steiner became agitated. ‘The Jewish doctors tell the Jewish bankers, and the Jewish bankers tell the emperor’s mistress!’

‘Now, now, Leo,’ said Lueger, holding up a finger in mock admonition. ‘I can’t have you saying anything too disrespectful about the money-Jews. It was Rothenstein, remember, who allowed us to use all his land, at no cost, for the reservoir.’ The mayor’s errant eye did unstinting service for the cause of irony. ‘You will recall, I hope, my fulsome praise last year: one of the best and a true citizen.’