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 KONTAKTE, A COMMUNICATIVE APPROACH, NINTH EDITION
Published by McGraw Hill LLC, 1325 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10121. Copyright ©2021 by McGraw Hill LLC. All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions ©2017, 2013, and 2009. No part of this publication may be reproduced or
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including, but not limited to, in any network or other form of electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.
Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States.
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 LWI 24 23 22 21 20
ISBN 978-1-260-01606-2 (bound edition)
MHID 1-260-01606-4 (bound edition)
ISBN 978-1-260-39373-6 (loose-leaf edition)
MHID 1-260-39373-9 (loose-leaf edition)
ISBN 978-1-260-39369-9 (instructor’s edition)
MHID 1-260-39369-0 (instructor’s edition)
Senior Portfolio Manager: Katie Crouch
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All credits appearing on page or at the end of the book are considered to be an extension of the copyright page.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Tschirner, Erwin P., 1956- author. | Nikolai, Brigitte, author.
Title: Kontakte : a communicative approach / Erwin Tschirner, Brigitte
Nikolai.
Description: 9th edition. | New York, NY : McGraw-Hill Education, [2021] |
Includes index. | English and German.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019025735 (print) | LCCN 2019025736 (ebook) | ISBN
9781260016062 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781260393699 (hardcover) | ISBN
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Subjects: LCSH: German language—Grammar. | German language—Textbooks for
foreign speakers—English.
Classification: LCC PF3112 .T425 2021 (print) | LCC PF3112 (ebook) | DDC
438.2/421—dc23
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The Internet addresses listed in the text were accurate at the time of publication. The inclusion of a website does not indicate an
endorsement by the authors or McGraw Hill LLC, and McGraw Hill LLC does not guarantee the accuracy of the information presented
at these sites.

mheducation.com/highered

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 8 12-06-2020 11:37:24

 Kontakte
A Communicative Approach

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 9 13-06-2020 17:53:53

 Brief Contents
Preface xxi

Einführung A 2

Einführung B 24

Kapitel 1 Wer ich bin und was ich tue 50

Kapitel 2 Besitz und Freude 80

Kapitel 3 Talente, Pläne, Pflichten 112

Kapitel 4 Ereignisse und Erinnerungen 144

Kapitel 5 Geld und Arbeit 178

Kapitel 6 Wohnen 212

Kapitel 7 Unterwegs 250

Kapitel 8 Essen und Einladen 284

Kapitel 9 Kindheit und Jugend 318

Kapitel 10 Tourismus 356

Kapitel 11 Gesundheit und Krankheit 392

Kapitel 12 Das 21. Jahrhundert 424

Appendix A Informationsspiele: 2. Teil A-1

Appendix B Rollenspiele: 2. Teil A-14

Appendix C Phonetics Summary Tables A-17

Appendix D Grammar Summary Tables A-23

Appendix E Verbs A-28

Appendix F Answers to Grammar Exercises A-32

Appendix G Top 1,000 German Words A-37

Vokabeln Deutsch-Englisch V-1

Vokabeln Englisch-Deutsch V-38

Index I-1

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 10 12-06-2020 11:37:24

 Contents

Preface xxi
To the Student xxxi

Einführung A
akg-images/SuperStock

Themen Kulturelles Strukturen

Bitten 4 Kunst: Dora Hitz (Mädchen im 1. Giving instructions: Polite
Namen 7 Mohnfeld ) 3 commands 6
Kleidung 10 KLI: Vornamen 7 2. What is your name? The verb
KLI: Farben als Symbole 12 heißen 9
Farben 11
Musikszene: „Lieblingsmensch“ 3. The German case system 9
Begrüßen und Verabschieden 15
(Namika) 16 4. Grammatical gender: Nouns
Zahlen 18
KLI: So zählt man … So schreibt and pronouns 13
Wortschatz zum Lernen 22
man … 19 5. Addressing people: Sie versus
Videoecke: Persönliche du or ihr 17
Informationen 20

Einführung B
akg-images/The Image Works

Themen Kulturelles Strukturen

Der Seminarraum 26 Kunst: Paula Modersohn-Becker 1. Definite and indefinite
Beschreibungen 29 (Zwei Kinder in der Sonne am articles 27
Wiesenzaun stehend) 25 2. Who are you? The verb
Der Körper 33
KLI: Was ist wichtig im Leben? 30 sein 31
Die Familie 36
KLI: Wetter und Klima 40 3. What do you have? The verb
Wetter und Jahreszeiten 39
Musikszene: „36 Grad“ haben 32
Geografie, Herkunft und (2raumwohnung) 41 4. Plural forms of nouns 34
Sprachen 42
KLI: Die Lage Deutschlands in 5. Personal pronouns 38
Wortschatz zum Lernen 48 Europa 43
6. Origins: Woher kommen
Videoecke: Familie 46 Sie? 44
7. Possessive determiners: mein
and dein/Ihr 45

xi

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 11 15-06-2020 11:06:24

 Kapitel 1 Themen
Freizeit 52
Wer ich bin und was Schule und Universität 60
ich tue Alltag 64
Persönliche Angaben 71
Wortschatz zum Lernen 78

Fine Art Images/Heritage Image/age fotostock

Kapitel 2 Themen
Besitz 82
Besitz und Geschenke 88
Freude Kleidung und Aussehen 94
Freude 102
Fine Art Images/age fotostock Wortschatz zum Lernen 110

Kapitel 3 Themen
Talente und Pläne 114
Talente, Pläne, Pflichten 121
Pflichten Dienste 127
Körperliche und geistige
The Picture Art Collection/Alamy
Verfassung 135
Wortschatz zum Lernen 142

xii  CONTENTS

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 12 12-06-2020 11:37:27

 Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen
Kunst: Carl Spitzweg (Der Film: Die kleine Hexe (Michael 1. The present tense 56
Kaktusliebhaber) 51 Schaerer) 66 2. Expressing likes and dislikes:
KLI: Freizeit 55 Biografie: Guten Tag, ich gern / nicht gern 58
KLI: Schule 62 heiße … 73 3. Telling time 63
Musikszene: „Gewinner“ 4. Word order in statements 68
(Clueso) 72 5. Word formation: Separable-
Videoecke: Tagesablauf 76 prefix verbs 69
6. Word order in questions 75

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Jeanne Mammen Blog Deutsch 101: Frau Schulz hat 1. The accusative case 85
(Schwester im Atelier) 81 Geburtstag 90 2. The negative article: kein,
KLI: Der Euro 83 Film: SMS für Dich (Karoline keine 86
Musikszene: „Meine beiden Herfurth) 97 3. What would you like? Ich
Schwestern“ (Wanda) 96 möchte … 92
KLI: Gefahren im Netz 104 4. Word formation: Compound
Videoecke: Hobbys 108 nouns 93
5. Possessive determiners 99
6. The present tense of stem-
vowel changing verbs 105
7. Asking people to do things: The
du-imperative 107

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Albrecht Anker Zeitungsartikel: Ringe fürs Leben 1. The modal verbs können,
(Dorfschule) 113 zu zweit 116 wollen, mögen 119
Musikszene: „Müssen nur wollen“ Film: Vincent will Meer (Ralf 2. The modal verbs müssen,
(Wir sind Helden) 122 Huettner) 129 sollen, dürfen 125
KLI: Jugendschutz 124 3. Accusative case: Personal
KLI: Chatiquette: Sternchen, pronouns 130
Abkürzungen und 4. Word formation: Feminine nouns
Akronyme 136 in -e 133
Videoecke: Fähigkeiten und 5. Word order: Dependent
Pflichten 140 clauses 138
6. Dependent clauses and
separable-prefix verbs 139

CONTENTS   xiii

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 13 12-06-2020 11:37:27

 Kapitel 4 Themen
Der Arbeitstag 146
Ereignisse und Urlaub und Freizeit 151
Erinnerungen Geburtstage und Jahrestage 157
Ereignisse 166
Wortschatz zum Lernen 176
Willibald Stojka/Photo by Célia Pernot

Kapitel 5 Themen
Dienstleistungen 180
Geld und Arbeit Berufe 188
Der Arbeitsplatz 195
In der Küche 202
Wortschatz zum Lernen 210

Hanne Holze

Kapitel 6 Themen
Haus und Wohnung 214
Wohnen In der Stadt 222
Eine Wohnung suchen 229
Haushalt 237
Wortschatz zum Lernen 248
Hundertwasser Archive, Vienna

xiv  CONTENTS

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 14 12-06-2020 11:37:29

 Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen
Kunst: Ceija Stojka (Am See) 145 Biografie: Marie Juchacz: Politikerin 1. Talking about the past: The
KLI: Universität und Studium 148 und Bürgerrechtlerin 161 perfect tense 149
Musikszene: „Superheld“ (Samy Film: Einmal Hans mit scharfer 2. Weak and strong past
Deluxe) 154 Soße (Buket Alakuş) 168 participles 155
KLI: Feiertage und Bräuche 158 3. Dates and ordinal numbers 163
Videoecke: Feste und Feiern 174 4. Prepositions of time: um, am,
im 164
5. Past participles with and
without ge- 170
6. Word formation: Feminine nouns
in -ung 173

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Hanne Holze (Koch mit Webartikel: Fünf verrückte Jobs für 1. Dative case: Articles and
Suppe) 179 Studierende 190 possessive determiners 185
KLI: Leipzig 184 Film: Toni Erdmann (Maren 2. Question pronouns: wer, wen,
Musikszene: „Stadt“ (Cassandra Ades) 204 wem 187
Steen) 196 3. Expressing change: The verb
KLI: Ausbildung und Beruf 198 werden 193
Videoecke: Studium und 4. Word formation: Masculine
Arbeit 208 nouns in -er and feminine nouns
in -in 194
5. Location: in, an, auf + dative
case 199
6. Dative case: Personal
pronouns 206

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Friedensreich Hundertwasser Sachtext: Städteranking 2018 224 1. Dative verbs 218
( [630A] Mit der Liebe warten tut Film: Willkommen bei den 2. Location vs. destination: Two-
weh, wenn die Liebe woanders Hartmanns (Simon way prepositions with the
ist) 213 Verhoeven) 241 dative or accusative case 220
KLI: Wohnen 216 3. Word order: Time before
KLI: Deutsch und Englisch als place 227
germanische Sprachen 231 4. Direction: in/auf vs. zu/
Musikszene: „Us Mänsch“ nach 227
(Bligg) 239 5. Word formation: Prefix verbs
Videoecke: Wohnen 246 with be-, ver-, and er- 233
6. The prepositions mit and
bei + dative 235
7. Separable-prefix verbs: The
present tense and the perfect
tense 243

CONTENTS   xv

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 15 12-06-2020 11:37:29

 Kapitel 7 Themen
Geografie 252
Unterwegs Verkehrsmittel 263
Die Umwelt und das Auto 267
Fine Art Images/age fotostock
Auf Reisen 274
Wortschatz zum Lernen 282

Kapitel 8 Themen
Mahlzeiten 286
Essen und Einladen Einkaufen und Kochen 293
Einladungen und
Veranstaltungen 301
Das liebe Geld 307
akg-images/The Image Works
Wortschatz zum Lernen 316

Kapitel 9 Themen
Kindheit 320
Kindheit und Jugend Jugend 327
Geschichten 334
Märchen 341
Wortschatz zum Lernen 354
© Irene Brandt

xvi  CONTENTS

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 16 12-06-2020 11:37:31

 Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen
Kunst: Erika Giovanna Klien Gedicht: Die Stadt (Theodor 1. Relative clauses 257
(Lokomotive) 251 Storm) 254 2. Making comparisons: The
Musikszene: „Eine Welt, eine Reiseführer: Husum 255 comparative and superlative
Heimat“ (Adel Tawil) 265 Film: Tschick (Fatih Akin) 268 forms of adjectives and
KLI: Volkswagen 271 adverbs 259
KLI: Die Schweiz 276 3. Word formation: Feminine nouns
in -heit and -keit 266
Videoecke: Ausflüge und
Verkehrsmittel 280 4. Referring to and asking about
things and ideas: da-compounds
and wo-compounds 272
5. The simple past tense of haben
and sein 277
6. The perfect tense (review) 278

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Georg Flegel (Stillleben mit Film: Bella Martha (Sandra 1. Adjectives: An overview 290
Obst und Krebsen) 285 Nettelbeck) 295 2. Attributive adjectives in the
KLI: Brot 289 Sachtext: Stichwort Fabel 296 nominative and accusative
KLI: Österreich 303 Fabel: Die gebratene Ameise (Paul cases 291
Musikszene: „Meine Frau“ Scheerbart) 297 3. Adjectives in the dative
(Amanda) 309 case 298
Videoecke: Essen 314 4. Word formation: Participles used
as adjectives and adjectives
used as nouns 299
5. Talking about the future: The
present and future tenses 305
6. The genitive case 310

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Irene Brandt (Sonntag am Film: Nordwand (Philipp 1. The conjunction als with
Strand ) 319 Stölzl) 336 dependent-clause word
KLI: Gebrüder Grimm 322 Märchen: Rotkäppchen – Ein order 324
Musikszene: „Wenn sie tanzt“ (Max Märchen der Gebrüder 2. Word formation: Compound
Giesinger) 323 Grimm 345 nouns (part two) 325
KLI: 1989 328 3. The simple past tense of
werden, wissen, and the modal
Videoecke: Schule 352
verbs 330
4. Time: als, wenn, wann 332
5. The simple past tense of weak
and strong verbs (receptive) 338
6. Sequencing events in past
narration: Past perfect tense
and the conjunction nachdem
(receptive) 350

CONTENTS   xvii

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 17 15-06-2020 11:06:43

 Kapitel 10 Themen
Urlaub 358
Tourismus Nach dem Weg fragen 365
Am Strand und im Hotel 374
Tiere 381
Wortschatz zum Lernen 390

World History Archive/Alamy

Kapitel 11 Themen
Krankheit 394
Gesundheit und Körperpflege 400
Krankheit Arzt, Apotheke, Krankenhaus 407
Unfälle 412
Wortschatz zum Lernen 422
Historical Views/age fotostock

Kapitel 12 Themen
Klima 426
Das 21. Jahrhundert Diversität 435
Politik 442
Kunst und Literatur 448
Wortschatz zum Lernen 457

© Ferhat Yeter

xviii  CONTENTS

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 18 12-06-2020 11:37:33

 Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen
Kunst: Franz Marc (Turm der blauen Kurzgeschichte: „Vater im Baum“ 1. Dative prepositions 362
Pferde) 357 (Margret Steenfatt) 368 2. Requests and instructions: The
KLI: Universitätsstadt Film: Ich bin dann mal weg (Julia imperative (summary
Göttingen 360 von Heinz) 384 review) 371
KLI: Die deutsche Einwanderung in 3. Word formation: Verbs with
die USA 376 hin- and her- 372
Musikszene: „Religion“ (Celina 4. Being polite: The subjunctive
Bostic) 377 form of modal verbs 378
Videoecke: Urlaub 388 5. Accusative prepositions 380
6. Focusing on the action: The
passive voice 386

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Anna Marie Wirth (Blick in Film: Das Leben der Anderen 1. Accusative reflexive
eine Apotheke) 393 (Florian Henckel von pronouns 398
KLI: Hausmittel 396 Donnersmarck) 402 2. Dative reflexive pronouns 405
Musikszene: „Liebe auf Distanz“ Kurzgeschichte: 10-Jähriger vom 3. Word order of accusative and
(Revolverheld und Antje PKW erfasst 414 dative objects 406
Schomaker) 404 4. Wortbildung: Verbs with ab, an,
KLI: Geschichte der auf, aus, and ein 410
Psychiatrie 408 5. Indirect questions: Wissen Sie,
Videoecke: Krankheiten 420 wo …? 417
6. Coordinating and subordinating
conjunctions (summary
review) 418

Kulturelles Lektüren Strukturen

Kunst: Hanefi Yeter (Analphabeten Ballade: „Die Brückʼ am Tay“ 1. Allowing or causing something
in zwei Sprachen) 425 (Theodor Fontane) 428 to be done: The verb
KLI: Geschlechtergerechte Film: Vor der Morgenröte (Maria lassen 431
Sprache 437 Schrader) 450 2. Word formation: Adjectives with
Musikszene: „Liebe verbreiten“ -ig, -isch, -lich, and un- 433
(Leila Akinyi) 439 3. Infinitive clauses with zu and
KLI: Politische Parteien 443 um ... zu 440
Videoecke: Medien und 4. Expressing possibility: würde,
Finanzen 455 hätte, and wäre 446
5. Principles of case (summary
review) 452

CONTENTS   xix

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 19 12-06-2020 11:37:33

 APPENDIX A Informationsspiele: 2. Teil A-1
APPENDIX B Rollenspiele: 2. Teil A-14
APPENDIX C Phonetics Summary Tables A-17
APPENDIX D Grammar Summary Tables A-23
APPENDIX E Verbs A-28
APPENDIX F Answers to Grammar Exercises A-32
APPENDIX G Top 1,000 German Words A-37
VOKABELN DEUTSCH-ENGLISCH V-1
VOKABELN ENGLISCH-DEUTSCH V-38
INDEX I-1

xx  CONTENTS

tsc16064_fm_i-xxxii_1.indd 20 12-06-2020 11:37:33

 Preface
Kontakte continues to offer a truly communicative approach that bolsters
functional proficiency, supported by the full suite of digital tools available
in Connect. This proven introductory German program maintains its
commitment to meaningful communicative practice as well as extensive
coverage of the ACTFL Proficiency Guidelines and World-Readiness
Standards for Learning Languages (5 C’s) as well as the NCSSFL-ACTFL
Can-Do Statements: Proficiency Benchmarks. Thanks to extensive
reviewer feedback, the ninth edition includes substantial changes across
the program that will enhance the user experience and bring the
program solidly up to date. Here are the biggest changes you’ll want
to know about:

• The vocabulary program in Kontakte has been completely overhauled

based on word frequency studies, so that virtually all of the 1,000 most-
used German words are presented.
• More new vocabulary is introduced in readings than in previous
editions.
• The entire program has been revised with an eye toward cultural
inclusion and broader diversity across its representation of regional origin,
religion, race, sexual orientation, and gender.
• The number of readings has been expanded to include over seventy
texts of various lengths, genres, and styles.
• New grammar topics present word formation patterns such as derivation
and compounding.
• Roughly 80% of the characters have been renamed to reflect a new
generation of young people of various backgrounds.
• The grammar content of each chapter (Strukturen) has been relocated
so that it now appears adjacent to the topical activities sections
(Situationen)—no more flipping back and forth!
For a complete list of what’s new in the ninth edition, go to page xxv.

Communication in Meaningful Contexts

Throughout the Kontakte program, students have the opportunity to
communicate in German in meaningful ways. Students read and listen to
comprehensible German and are provided with ample opportunities to
use it in interview, information-gap, role-play, autograph, writing, and other
personalized activities that are theme-based, not grammar-driven. The video
segments—Perspektiven and Interviews—were filmed specifically for
Kontakte and feature interviews with a variety of speakers that allow
students to hear authentic German in context. They provide models for
talking about topics using authentic language, guiding students to
communicate with one another.

xxi

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in his own slim and fragile little body.
As for Bram, he seemed to be past the stage of acute feeling of any
sort. He was benumbed with the great blow that had fallen upon him;
overwhelmed, in spite of the foreshadowings which had of late
broken his peace. With the fall of his ideal there seemed to have
crumbled away all that was best in his life, leaving only a cold
automaton to do his daily work of head and hand. He was
astonished himself, if the pale feeling could be called astonishment,
to find that he could laugh at the antics of his companion; not openly,
of course, but with secret and bitter gibes at the careless, selfish
father, and the frantic gestures by which he sought to impress his
companion.
When Theodore’s energies were exhausted they walked on in
silence. And then Theodore felt hurt at Bram’s blunt, stolid apathy.
“I thought I should find you more sympathetic, Elshaw,” he said in an
offended tone. “You always pretended to think so much of my
daughter!”
“It wasn’t pretence,” said Bram shortly. “But I’m thinking, Mr. Biron,
though I don’t like to say it now, that she must have been very
unhappy before she went away like that.”
Quite suddenly his voice broke. Mr. Biron, surprised in the midst of
his theatrical display of emotion into a momentary pang of real
compunction and of real remorse, was for a few moments entirely
silent. Then he said in a quiet voice, more dignified and more
touching than any of his loud outbursts—
“It’s true, I’ve not been a good father to her. But she was such a
good girl—I never guessed it would come to this.”
Bram said nothing. He felt as hard as nails. Theodore was really
suffering now; but it served him right. What had the poor little
creature’s life been but a long and terrible struggle between
temptation on the one side, worry and difficulty on the other? She
had held out long and bravely. She had struggled with a bright face,
bearing her father’s burdens for him, and her own as well. What
wonder that human nature had been too weak to hold out forever?
Bram’s heart was like a great open sore. He dared not look within
himself, he dared not think, he dared not even feel. He tried to
stupefy himself to the work of the moment, to stifle all sense but that
of sight, and to fix his eyes upon Joan’s cottage, which they were
now approaching, as if upon the mere reaching of it all his hopes
depended.
But if Theodore had found Bram unsympathetic, what must he have
thought of Joan? She heard his inquiries with coldness, and after
saying that Claire had not been with her since she left the farmhouse
on the previous evening, she asked shortly whether she had gone
away.
“I—I am afraid so. Oh, my child, my poor child!” cried Theodore.
Joan grew very red, and clapping her hands on her hips, nodded
with compressed lips.
“You’ve got no one but yourself to thank for this, Mr. Biron,” she said.
“T’ poor young lady’s had a cruel time these many months through
yer wicked ways! God help her, poor little lady!”
And the good woman turned sharply away from him, and slamming
the door in his face, disappeared, sobbing bitterly.
Theodore was very white; he trembled from head to foot, and was
even for a little while too angry and too much perturbed to speak.
At last, when Bram had put a hand within his arm to lead him away,
he stammered out—
“You heard that, Elshaw! You heard the woman! That’s what these
—— North country —— are like; they haven’t a scrap of feeling,
even for the sacred grief of a father! But I don’t care a hang for the
whole ---- lot of them! I’ll go up to the Park, and I’ll tell Mr
Cornthwaite, the purse-proud old humbug, who thinks money can
buy anything—I’ll tell him what I think of him and his scoundrel of a
son! And then I’ll go up to town, and I’ll find him out, I’ll hunt out
Christian himself, and I’ll avenge my child.”
Bram said nothing.
“And I’ll make him provide for her. I’ll bring out an action against him,
and make him shell out, him and his skinflint of a father. Chris is
nothing but a chip off the old block, and I’ll make them suffer
together, in the only way they can suffer—through the money-bags.”
Bram was disgusted, sickened. He scented through this new turn of
Mr. Biron’s thoughts that feeling for the main chance which was such
a prominent feature of that gentleman’s character. And quite
unexpectedly he stopped short, and said bluntly—
“That may comfort you, Mr. Biron, but it will never do aught for her! If
—if,” he had to clear his throat to make himself heard at all, “if she—
comes back, she’ll never touch their money! Poor, poor child!”
“You think she’ll come back?” asked Theodore almost wistfully.
But Bram could not answer. He did not know what to think, what to
wish. He shrugged his shoulders without speaking, and with a
gesture of abrupt farewell turned from his companion, who had now
nearly reached his own door, and walked rapidly back in the direction
of his lodging.
He could not bear to come near the farm, the place which had been
hallowed in his eyes by thoughts of her who had been his idol.
Theodore called out to him.
“You’ll give me a look in to-night, won’t you, when you come back
from the office? Think how lonely I shall be.”
Bram, without turning round, made a gesture of assent. He felt with
surprise to himself that he was half-drawn to this contemptible
creature by the fact that, underneath all his theatrical demonstrations
of regret and grief, there was some very strong and genuine feeling.
It was chiefly a selfish feeling, as Bram knew; indeed, a resentful
feeling, that Claire had treated him shabbily and ungratefully in
leaving him to shift for himself without any warning, after so many
years of patient slavery, of tender care for him.
But still Bram felt that he had at last some emotion in common with
this man, whom he had so far only despised. Theodore even felt the
disgrace, the moral shame of this awful disaster to his daughter
more keenly than any one would have given him credit for.
As for Bram himself, he went home, he ate his breakfast, he started
for the town almost in his usual manner. No one who passed him
detected any sign in his look or in his manner of the blow which had
fallen upon him. But, for all that, he was suffering so keenly, so
bitterly, that the very intensity of his pain had a numbing effect,
reducing him to the level of a brute which can see, and hear, and
taste, and smell, but in which all sense of anything higher is dead
and cold.
It was not until he had nearly passed the garden of the farm, keeping
his eyes carefully turned in the opposite direction, that a bend in the
road caught his eye, where not many evenings before he had seen
Claire standing with a letter in her hand, waiting for some one to
pass who would take it to the post for her.
And his face twitched; from between his closed teeth there came a
sort of strangled sob, the sound which in Theodore had roused his
contempt. He remembered the smile which had come into her eyes
when he came by, the word of thanks with which she had slipped the
letter into his hand, and run indoors. He remembered that a scent of
lavender had come to him as she passed, that he had felt a thrill at
the sound, the sight of her flying skirts as she fled into the house.
Oh! it was not possible that she could have done this thing, she who
was so proud, so pure, so tender to her friends!
And Bram stopped in the middle of the road, with an upward bound
of the heart, and told himself that the thing was a lie.
What a base wretch he was to have harbored such a thought of her!
She was gone; but what proof had they but their own mean and base
suspicions that she had not gone alone?
And Bram by a strong effort threw off the dark cloud which was
pressing down upon his soul, or at least lifted one corner of it, and
strode down towards the office resolved to trust, to hope, in spite of
everything.
At the office everything was reassuringly normal in the daily routine.
And, by a great and unceasing effort, Bram had really got himself to
hold his opinions on the one great subject in suspense, when a
carriage drove up to the door, and a few minutes later young Mrs.
Christian, with a face which betrayed that she was suffering from
acute distress, came into the office.
As soon as she saw Bram, she stopped on her way through.
“No,” she said quickly to the clerk who was leading her through to
the private office of Mr. Cornthwaite, “it is Mr. Elshaw I want to see.
Please, can I speak to you?”
Bram felt the heavy weight settling at once on his heart again. He
followed her in silence into the office. Mr. Cornthwaite had not yet
arrived.
As soon as the door was shut, and they were alone, she broke out in
a tremulous voice, not free from pettishness—
“Mr. Elshaw, I wanted to see you because I feel sure you will not
deceive me. And all the rest try to. Mr. and Mrs. Cornthwaite, and my
sister-in-law, and my own people, and everybody. You live near
Duke’s Farm? Tell me, is Miss Claire Biron at home with her father,
or—or has she gone away?”
“I believe, Mrs. Christian, she has gone away.”
The young wife did not cry; she frowned.
“I knew it!” she said sharply. “They pretended they did not know; but I
knew it, I felt sure of it. Mr. Elshaw, she has gone away with my
husband!”
“Oh, but how can you be sure? How——”
“Mr. Elshaw, don’t trifle with me. You know the truth as well as I do.
Not one day has passed since our marriage without Christian’s
flaunting this girl and her perfections in my face; not one day has
passed since our return from abroad without his either seeing her or
making an effort to see her. Oh, I daresay you will say it was mean;
but I have had him watched, and he has been at the farm at Hessel
every day!”
“But what of that? He is her cousin, you know. He has always been
used to see a great deal of her and of her father.”
“Oh, I know all about her father!” snapped Minnie. “And I know how
likely any of the family are to go out to Hessel to see him! Don’t
prevaricate, Mr. Elshaw. I had understood you never did anything of
the kind. Can you pretend to doubt that they have gone away
together?”
Bram was silent. He hung his head as if he had been the guilty
person.
“Of course, you cannot,” went on the lady triumphantly. “Where has
she got to go to? What friends has she to stay with? Who would she
leave her father for except Christian? It seems she has never had
the decency to hide that she was fond of him!”
“Don’t say that,” protested Bram gently. “Why should she hide it in
the old days before he was married? There was no reason why she
should. They were cousins; they were believed to be engaged. They
would have been married if Mr. Cornthwaite had allowed it. Didn’t
you know that?”
“Not in the way I’ve known it since, of course,” said Minnie bitterly.
“Everything was kept from me. I heard of a boy-and-girl affection;
that was all. The whole family are deceitful and untrustworthy. And
Christian is the worst of them all. He doesn’t care for me a bit; he
never, never did!”
And here at last she broke down, and began to cry piteously.
Bram, usually so tender-hearted, felt as if his heart was scorched up
within him. He looked at her; he tried to speak kindly, tried to say
reassuring things, to express a doubt, a hope, which he did not feel.
But she stopped him imperiously, snappishly.
“Don’t talk nonsense, Mr. Elshaw, please. And don’t say you are
sorry. For I know you are sorry for nobody but her. Miss Biron is one
of those persons who attract sympathy; I am not. But you can spare
yourself the trouble of pretending.” She drew herself up, and hastily
wiped her eyes. “I know what to do. I shall go back to my father’s
house, and I shall have nothing more to do with him. I am not going
to break my heart over an unprincipled man, or over a creature like
this Claire Biron.”
Bram offered no remonstrance. He knew that he ought to be sorry
for this poor little woman, whose only and most venial fault had been
a conviction that she possessed the power to “reform” the man she
married. Unhappily, it was true, as she said, that she was not one of
those persons who attract sympathy. Her hard, dry, snappish
manner, the shrewish light in her blue eyes, repelled him as they had
repelled Christian himself. And Bram, though far from excusing or
forgiving Christian, felt that he understood how impossible it would
have been for a man of his easy, genial temperament to be even
fairly, conventionally happy with a nature so antipathetic to his own.
In silence, in sorrow, he withdrew, with an added burden to bear, the
burden of what was near to absolute certainty, of extinguished hope.
 CHAPTER XVI.
THE PANGS OF DESPISED LOVE.

The farmhouse looked desolate in the dusk of the November

evening when Bram, in fulfilment of his promise to Theodore,
crossed the farmyard to the back door and tapped at it lightly.
It was opened by Joan, who looked as if she had been interrupted in
the middle of “a good cry.”
“Ay, coom in, sir,” said she, “coom in. But you’ll find no company here
now.”
“Isn’t Mr. Biron back yet?”
“No, sir,” she answered with a sudden change to aggressive
sullenness, “and he’s welcome to stay away, he is! If it hadn’t been
for that miserable auld rascal, poor Miss Claire ’ud never been took
away from us. Ah wouldn’t have on my conscience what yon chap
has, no, not for a kingdom.”
Bram, sombre and stern, sat down by the fire, staring at the little
wooden stool on which he had so often seen Claire sitting in the
opposite corner, with her sewing in her hand. The big chimney-
corner which they had both loved—how bare it looked without her!
Joan, alone of all the people he had met that day, seemed to
understand what had taken place in him, to realize the sudden
death, the total, irremediable decay, of what had been the joy of his
life. She put down the plate she had been wiping, and she came
over to look at him in the firelight. There was no other light in the
room.
“Poor lad! Poor chap!” she murmured in accents so tender, so
motherly, that her rough voice sounded like most sweet, most
touching music in his dull ears.
For the first time since the horrible shock he had received that
morning his features quivered, became convulsed, and a look of
desperate anguish came into his calm gray eyes.
Her strong right hand came down upon his shoulder with a blow
which was meant to be inspiriting in its violent energy.
“Well, lad, ye must bear oop; ye must forget her! Ay, there’s no two
ways about it. It’s a sad business, an’ Ah’m broken oop abaht it
mysen, but she’s chosen to go, an’ there’s no help for it, an’ no
grieving can mend it! It was only you, an’ her liking for you, that
stopped her from going before, I reckon. Look at yon auld spend-t’-
brass and the life she’s led wi’ him, always having to beg, beg, beg
for him from folks as didn’t pity her as they should!”
Bram moved impatiently.
“Yes, that’s what I cannot forgive him!” growled he.
Joan stared at him in the dusk.
“Have you heard,” said she, peering mysteriously into his face, “if
anything ’as happened while you were away?”
Bram shook his head.
“Well, summat did happen. Mr. Biron got money from some one, an’
began to spend it loike one o’clock. You must have heard o’ that?”
Bram nodded, remembering the new hunter and Theodore’s smart
appearance.
“Well,” went on Joan, leaning forward, and dropping her voice, “it
was summat to do wi’ that as broke oop poor Miss Claire. Ay, lad,
don’t shiver an’ start; it’s best you should know all, and forget all if
you can. Well, it was after that, after t’ auld man had gotten t’ brass,
that I saw a change coom over her. She went abaht loike one as
warn’t right, an’ she says to ’im one day—Ah were in t’ kitchen
yonder an’ Ah heard her—‘Papa,’ says she, ‘Ah can never look Bram
Elshaw in t’ face again.’ That’s what she said, my lad; Ah heard her.”
Bram got up, and began to pace up and down the tiled floor without
a word. Joan went on, quickening her pace, a little anxious to get the
story over and done with.
“You know his way. But there was summat in her voice told me it
were no laughin’ matter wi’ her. An’,” went on the good woman in a
voice lower still, “when Mr. Christian coom that evening, says she,
says Miss Claire—‘Ah mun see ’im to-neght.’ An’ he came in, an’
they went in through to the best parlor, and they had a long talk
together. That were t’ day before yesterday. She must have gone last
neght, as soon as Ah left t’ house.”
Still Bram said nothing, pacing up and down, up and down, on the
red tiles which he had trodden so often with something like ecstasy
in his heart.
Joan was shrewd enough and sympathetic enough to understand
why he did not speak. She finished her plate-washing, disappeared
silently into the outhouse, and presently returned with her bonnet on.
“Are ye going to stay here, sir?” she asked, as she laid her hands on
the door to go out.
“Yes; I promised I’d look in.”
“Friendly loike? You aren’t going for to do him any hurt?”
“No, oh, no.”
“Well,” said Joan, as she turned the handle and took her portly
person slowly round the door, “if so be you had, you might ha’ done it
an’ welcome! Ah wouldn’t have stopped ye. Good-neght, sir.”
“Good-night, Joan.”
She went out, and Bram was left alone. The sound of her footsteps
died away, until he felt as if he was the only living thing about the
farm. Even the noises that usually came across from the sheds and
the stables where the animals were kept seemed to be hushed that
evening. No sound reached his ears but the moaning of the rising
wind, and the scratching of the mice in the old wainscotting.
Never before had he felt so utterly, hopelessly miserable and
castdown. In the old days, when he had lived one of a wretched,
poverty-stricken family in a squalid mean way, ill-kept, half-starved,
he had had his daydreams, his vague ambitions, to gild the sorry
present. Now, on the very high-road to the fulfilment of those
ambitions, he was suddenly left without a ray of hope, without a rag
of comfort, to bear the most unutterable wretchedness, that of
shattered ideals.
Not Claire alone, but Chris also had fallen from the place each had
held in his imagination, in his heart, and Bram, who hid a spirit-world
of his own under a matter-of-fact manner and a blunt directness of
speech, suffered untold anguish.
While he watched the embers of the fire in profound melancholy, with
his hands on his knees, and his eyes staring dully into the red heart
of the dying fire, he heard something moving outside. He raised his
head, expecting to hear the sound of Mr. Biron’s voice.
But a shadow passed before the window in the faint daylight that
was left; and with a wild hope Bram sat up, his heart seeming to
cease to beat.
The shadow, the step were those of a woman.
The next moment the door was softly, stealthily opened, and away
like a dream went joy and hope again.
The woman was not Claire.
He could see that the visitor was tall, broad-shouldered, of well-
developed figure, and that she was of the class that wear shawls
round their heads, and clogs on their feet in the daytime.
She stood in the room, just inside the door, and seemed to listen.
Then she said in a voice which was coarse and uncultivated, but
which was purposely subdued to a pitch of insincere civility, as Bram
instantly felt sure—
“Miss Biron! Is Miss Claire Biron here?”
Now, Bram had never, as far as he knew, met this girl before; he did
not even know her name. But, with his sense of hearing made
sharper, perhaps, by the darkness, he guessed at once something
which was very near the truth. He knew that this woman came with
hostile intent of some kind or other.
He at once rose from his seat, and said—“No; Miss Biron is not in.”
And he put his hand up to the high chimney-piece, found a box of
matches, and lit a candle which was beside it. Meanwhile the visitor
stood motionless, and was so standing when the light had grown
bright enough for him to see her by. She was a handsome girl, black-
haired, blacked-eyed, with cheeks which ought to have been red, but
which were now pale and thin, showing a sharp outline of rather high
cheek-bone and big jaw. Bram recognized her as a girl whom he had
often seen about Hessel, and who lived at a little farm about a mile
and a half away. Her name was Meg Tyzack. She was neatly
dressed, without any of the flaunting, shabby finery which the factory
girls usually affect when they leave their shawl and clogs. Her lips
were tightly closed, and in her eyes there was an expression of
ferocious sullenness which confirmed the idea Bram had conceived
at the first sound of her voice. Her black cloth jacket was buttoned
only at the throat, and her right hand was thrust underneath it as if
she was hiding something.
“Not in, eh?” she asked scoffingly, as she measured Bram from head
to foot with a look of ineffable scorn. Then, with a sudden, sharp
change of tone to one of passionate anxiety, she asked, “Where’s
she gone to then?”
Bram hesitated. This woman’s appearance at the farm, her look, her
manner, betrayed to him within a few seconds a fact he had not
guessed before, though now a dozen circumstances flashed into his
mind to confirm it. This was one of the many girls with whom Chris
had had relations of a more or less questionable character. Bram
had seen her with him in the lane leading to her home, and on the
hill above Holme Park; had seen her waiting about in the town near
the works. But to see Chris talking to a good-looking girl was too
common a thing for Bram to have given this particular young woman
much attention. Now, however, he divined in an instant that it was
jealousy which had brought her to the farmhouse, and a feeling of
sickening repulsion came over him at the thought of the words which
he might have to hear directed by this virago at Claire. If the idol was
broken, it was an idol still.
As he did not reply at once, Meg Tyzack stepped quickly across the
floor, and glared into his eyes with a look terrible in its fierce
eagerness, its deadly anxiety.
“Where has she gone? Ye can’t keep t’ truth from me.” Then, as he
was still silent, she burst out with an overwhelming torrent of
passion. “Ah know what they say! Ah know they say he’s taken her
away wi’ him, Mr. Christian of t’ works, Cornthwaite’s works. But it’s a
lie. Ah know it’s a lie. He’d never take her wi’ him; he’d never dare
take any one but me. He care for her? Not enoof for that! She’s here,
Ah know she is; only she’s afraid to coom out, afraid to meet me! But
Ah’ll find her; Ah’ll have her aht. What ’ud you be doin’ here if she
wasn’t here? Oh, Ah know who Christian was jealous of; Ah know
she was artful enough to keep the two of ye on. Ah know it was her
fault he used to coom here and——” Her eyes flashed, and her voice
suddenly dropped to a fierce whisper. “Ah mean to have her aht.”
As she suddenly swung round and made for the inner door leading
into the hall, Bram saw that she held under her jacket a bottle. There
was mischief in the woman’s eyes, worse mischief even than was
boded by her tongue. For one moment, as he sprang after her, Bram
felt glad that Claire was not there. Meg laughed hoarsely in his face
as she eluded him, and disappeared into the hall, slamming the door.
Bram did not follow her. Claire being gone, she could do little harm.
He opened the outer door, and went out into the farmyard. In a few
minutes he saw a light flickering in room after room upstairs. Meg
Tyzack was searching, hunting in every nook and every corner,
searching for her rival with savage, despairing eagerness. Bram
shivered. It was a relief to him when he heard footsteps approaching
the farm, and a few moments later the voice of Theodore calling to
him.
“Yes, Mr. Biron, it’s me.”
“Then who’s that in the house? Is it Joan?” asked Theodore fretfully,
testily.
He was dispirited, dejected; evidently he had met with neither
comfort nor sympathy at Holme Park. He had been trying to comfort
himself on the way back, as Bram discovered by his unsteady gait
and husky utterance.
“It’s a girl, Meg Tyzack,” answered Bram.
Mr. Biron started.
“That vixen!” cried he. “That horrible virago! Why did you let her get
in?”
“I couldn’t help it,” replied Bram simply.
“What is she up to?”
“She’s looking for Miss Claire,” said Bram in a low voice.
Theodore made no answer. But he shuddered, and leaning against
the wall of the farmyard began to cry.
“Come, Mr. Biron,” said Bram impatiently, “it’s no use giving way like
that. It’s just something to be thankful for that this mad woman can’t
get hold of her.”
Mr. Biron did not answer. A moment later, attracted probably by the
voices, Meg came rushing out of the house like a fury, and made
straight for the two men.
“Ah!” cried she shrilly, when she made out who the newcomer was,
thrusting her angry face close to his in the gloom. “So it’s you, is it?
You, the father of that——”
“Hold your tongue.”
“Hush!” cried Bram, seizing her arm.
There was a sound so impressive in his voice, short and blunt as his
speech was, that the woman turned upon him sharply, but for a
moment was silent. Then she said with coarse bravado—
“And who are you to talk to me? Why, t’ very mon as ought to take
my part, if you had any spirit? But you leave it to me to pay out t’ pair
on ’em. An’ Ah’ll do it. Ah’ll made ’em both smart for it, if Ah swing for
it! Ah’ll show him the price he has to pay for treatin’ a woman like me
the way he’s done. When Ah loved him so! Ay, ten times more’n than
that little hussy could! Oh, my God, my God!”
Bram, child of the people that he was, was moved in the utmost
depths of his heart by the woman’s mad, passionate despair. He felt
for her as he could never feel for the cool, prim, little wife Christian
had served so ill. He would have comforted her if he could. But as no
words strong enough or suitable enough to the occasion came to his
lips, he just put a gentle hand upon the woman’s shoulder as she
bowed herself down and sobbed.
But Mr. Biron’s refinement was shocked by this scene. Seeing the
woman less ferocious, now that she was more absorbed in her grief,
he ventured to come a little nearer, and to say snappishly—
“But, my good woman, though we may be sorry for you, you have no
right to force yourself into my house. Nor have you any right to speak
in such terms of my daughter.”
Meg was erect in a moment, her eyes flashing, her nostrils quivering.
With a wild, ironical laugh, she faced about, pointing at his mean little
face a scornful finger.
“You!” cried she in a very passion of contempt. “You dare to speak to
me! You as would have sold your daughter a dozen times over if t’
price had been good enoof! Why, mon, your hussy of a daughter’s a
pearl to you! You’re a rat, a cur! Ah could almost forgive her when Ah
look at you! It’s you Ah’ve got to blame for it all, wi’ your black heart
an’ your mean, white face! You more’n her, more’n him!”
With a sudden impulse of indomitable rage, she stepped back, and
raising her right hand quickly, flung something at his face.
 With a sudden impulse of indomitable rage, she stepped back,
and
raising her right hand quickly, flung something at his face.—
Page 134.
Mr. Biron uttered a piercing shriek, as shrill as a woman’s.
“Fiend! She-devil! She’s killed me! Help! Oh, I’m on fire!”
Bram, who hardly knew what had happened, caught Theodore as
the latter fell shrieking into his arms. Meg, with a wild laugh, picked
up the remains of her broken bottle, and ran out of the farmyard.
 CHAPTER XVII.
BRAM SPEAKS HIS MIND.

Meg Tyzack had hardly left the farmyard before Bram knew what she
had done, and realized the full extent of the danger Claire had
escaped. The bottle Meg had carried, and which she had thrown at
the head of Theodore Biron, had contained vitriol. Luckily for Mr.
Biron, he had moved aside just in time to escape having the bottle
broken on his face, but part of the contents had fallen on his head,
on the side of his face, and on his left hand before the bottle itself
was dashed into two pieces as it fell on the ground.
Bram wiped Theodore’s face and hands as quickly as he could, but
the effeminate man had so entirely lost his self-control that he could
not keep still; and by his own restlessness he hindered the full effect
of Bram’s good offices.
The young man saw that his best chance with the hysterical creature
was to get him into the house as quickly as he could. But Theodore
objected to this. He wanted Bram to go in pursuit of the woman, to
bring her back, to have her taken up. And as his cries had by this
time caused a little crowd to assemble from the cottages round
about, he began to harangue them on the subject of his wrongs, and
to try to stir them up to resent the outrage to which he had been
subjected.
It is needless to say that his efforts were ineffectual. Mr. Biron had
succeeded in establishing a thoroughly bad reputation among his
neighbors, who knew all about his selfish treatment of his daughter.
He found not one sympathizer, and at last he was fain to allow
himself to be led indoors by Bram, who was very urgent in his
persuasions, being indeed afraid that Theodore’s curses upon the
bystanders for their supineness would bring upon him some further
chastisement. He prevailed upon a lad in the crowd to go for a
doctor, assuring him that it was the pain from which the gentleman
was suffering that made him so irritable.
Once inside the house, Bram found that his difficulties with his
unsympathetic patient had only just begun. Mr. Biron was not used to
pain, and had no idea of suffering in silence. He raved and he
moaned, he cursed and he swore, and Bram was amazed and
disgusted to find that this little, well-preserved, middle-aged
gentleman was quite as much concerned by the injury which he
should suffer in appearance as by the pain he had to bear.
“Do you think, Elshaw, that the marks will ever go away? Oh, good
heavens, I know they won’t,” he cried, as with his uninjured eye he
surveyed himself in the glass over the dining-room sideboard by the
light of a couple of candles. “Oh, oh, the wretch! The hag! I’ll get her
six months for this!”
And the little man, trembling with rage, shook his fist and gnashed
his teeth, presenting in his anger and disfigurement a hideous
spectacle.
The left side of his face was already one long patch of inflammation.
His left eye was shut up; the hair on that side of his head had
already begun to come away in tufts from the burnt skin.
Bram was disgusted. Mr. Biron’s grief over the loss of his daughter,
keen as it had been, could not be compared to that which he felt now
at the loss of his remaining good looks. There was a note of absolute
sincerity in his every lament which had been conspicuously lacking
in his grief of the morning. The young man could scarcely listen to
him with patience. He tried, however, out of humanity, to remain
silent, since he could give no comfort. But silence would not do for
his garrulous companion, who insisted on having an answer.
“Do you think, Elshaw, that I shall be disfigured for life?” he asked
with tremulous anxiety.
“I’m afraid so,” answered Bram rather gruffly. “But I don’t think I’d
worry about that when you have worse things than that to trouble
you.”