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Page 94
"And its colour?" asked Cornelius, trembling.
"Oh," answered Rosa, "it is very dark!"
"Brown?"
"Darker than that."
"Darker, my good Rosa, darker? Thank you. Dark as ---- "
"Dark as the ink with which I wrote to you."
Cornelius uttered a cry of mad joy.
Then, suddenly stopping and clasping his hands, he said, --
"Oh, there is not an angel in heaven that may be compared to
you, Rosa!"
"Indeed!" said Rosa, smiling at his enthusiasm.
"Rosa, you have worked with such ardour, -- you have done so
much for me! Rosa, my tulip is about to flower, and it will
flower black! Rosa, Rosa, you are the most perfect being on
earth!"
"After the tulip, though."
"Ah! be quiet, you malicious little creature, be quiet! For
shame! Do not spoil my pleasure. But tell me, Rosa, -- as
the tulip is so far advanced, it will flower in two or three
days, at the latest?"
"To-morrow, or the day after."
"Ah! and I shall not see it," cried Cornelius, starting
back, "I shall not kiss it, as a wonderful work of the
Almighty, as I kiss your hand and your cheek, Rosa, when by
chance they are near the grating."
Rosa drew near, not by accident, but intentionally, and
Cornelius kissed her tenderly.
"Faith, I shall cull it, if you wish it."
"Oh, no, no, Rosa! when it is open, place it carefully in
the shade, and immediately send a message to Haarlem, to the
President of the Horticultural Society, that the grand black
tulip is in flower. I know well it is far to Haarlem, but
with money you will find a messenger. Have you any money,
Rosa?"
Rosa smiled.
"Oh, yes!" she said.
"Enough?" said Cornelius.
"I have three hundred guilders."
"Oh, if you have three hundred guilders, you must not send a
messenger, Rosa, but you must go to Haarlem yourself."
"But what in the meantime is to become of the flower?"
"Oh, the flower! you must take it with you. You understand
that you must not separate from it for an instant."
"But whilst I am not separating from it, I am separating
from you, Mynheer Cornelius."
"Ah! that's true, my sweet Rosa. Oh, my God! how wicked men
are! What have I done to offend them, and why have they
deprived me of my liberty? You are right, Rosa, I cannot
live without you. Well, you will send some one to Haarlem,
-- that's settled; really, the matter is wonderful enough
for the President to put himself to some trouble. He will
come himself to Loewestein to see the tulip."
Then, suddenly checking himself, he said, with a faltering
voice, --
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