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The House of Heine Brothers By: Anthony Trollope (1815-1882) |
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THE HOUSE OF HEINE BROTHERS, IN MUNICH by Anthony Trollope
The house of Heine Brothers, in Munich, was of good repute at the
time of which I am about to tell, a time not long ago; and is so
still, I trust. It was of good repute in its own way, seeing that
no man doubted the word or solvency of Heine Brothers; but they did
not possess, as bankers, what would in England be considered a large
or profitable business. The operations of English bankers are
bewildering in their magnitude. Legions of clerks are employed.
The senior book keepers, though only salaried servants, are
themselves great men; while the real partners are inscrutable,
mysterious, opulent beyond measure, and altogether unknown to their
customers. Take any firm at random, Brown, Jones, and Cox, let us
say, the probability is that Jones has been dead these fifty years,
that Brown is a Cabinet Minister, and that Cox is master of a pack
of hounds in Leicestershire. But it was by no means so with the
house of Heine Brothers, of Munich. There they were, the two
elderly men, daily to be seen at their dingy office in the Schrannen
Platz; and if any business was to be transacted requiring the
interchange of more than a word or two, it was the younger brother
with whom the customer was, as a matter of course, brought into
contact. There were three clerks in the establishment; an old man,
namely, who sat with the elder brother and had no personal dealings
with the public; a young Englishman, of whom we shall anon hear
more; and a boy who ran messages, put the wood on to the stoves, and
swept out the bank. Truly he house of Heine Brothers was of no
great importance; but nevertheless it was of good repute. The office, I have said, was in the Schrannen Platz, or old Market
place. Munich, as every one knows, is chiefly to be noted as a new
town, so new that many of the streets and most of the palaces look
as though they had been sent home last night from the builders, and
had only just been taken out of their bandboxes It is angular,
methodical, unfinished, and palatial. But there is an old town;
and, though the old town be not of surpassing interest, it is as
dingy, crooked, intricate, and dark as other old towns in Germany.
Here, in the old Market place, up one long broad staircase, were
situated the two rooms in which was held the bank of Heine Brothers. Of the elder member of the firm we shall have something to say
before this story be completed. He was an old bachelor, and was
possessed of a bachelor's dwelling somewhere out in the suburbs of
the city. The junior brother was a married man, with a wife some
twenty years younger than himself, with two daughters, the elder of
whom was now one and twenty, and one son. His name was Ernest
Heine, whereas the senior brother was known as Uncle Hatto. Ernest
Heine and his wife inhabited a portion of one of those new palatial
residences at the further end of the Ludwigs Strasse; but not
because they thus lived must it be considered that they were
palatial people. By no means let it be so thought, as such an idea
would altogether militate against whatever truth of character
painting there may be in this tale. They were not palatial people,
but the very reverse, living in homely guise, pursuing homely
duties, and satisfied with homely pleasures. Up two pairs of
stairs, however, in that street of palaces, they lived, having there
a commodious suite of large rooms, furnished, after the manner of
the Germans, somewhat gaudily as regarded their best salon, and with
somewhat meagre comfort as regarded their other rooms. But, whether
in respect of that which was meagre, or whether in respect of that
which was gaudy, they were as well off as their neighbours; and
this, as I take it, is the point of excellence which is desirable. Ernest Heine was at this time over sixty; his wife was past forty;
and his eldest daughter, as I have said, was twenty one years of
age... Continue reading book >>
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Fiction |
Literature |
Short stories |
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