The delegation in Gerhard’s study had not particularly referred to Gita whilst relating the litany of sins to Elke’s account although their disapproval was indirectly inferred in their general criticism of the failing standards of decorum in the Handler household. Mostly, however, they focussed upon Elke’s misconduct since she was perceived to fall directly under Gerhard’s responsibility. There was something of a tacit agreement that Gerhard could hardly be taken to task for his mother in law’s behaviour and, other than throw her out of the house, little he could do about it.

They were, on the other hand, insistent that Gerhard take measures to ensure that there would be no repetition of Elke’s disgraceful display. Burgomeister Baumgarten had delivered a most condemnatory speech to this effect. Gerhard, he had pointed out, was his own protégé; a young man whose rise in local government he had championed and who he personally endorsed. It was unthinkable, Herr Baumgarten had insisted, that the wife of an upcoming member of the municipal council should behave in this way and doubly so when that young man was perceived to be linked with the Burgomeister. It reflected not only on Gerhard, Herr Baumgarten had continued, but also on his own judgement. Elke’s behaviour undermined the moral authority and dignity of the office which Gerhard held within the council and, by association, the municipality itself. Before Herr Baumgarten could further be expected to promote Gerhard’s cause, he would require firm assurances that Gerhard would take steps to ensure that such an occurrence was not repeated. He had concluded his speech by declaring that Gerhard’s father, God rest his soul, would never have allowed his wife to behave in this manner.

Gerhard had cringed at this last observation and his discomfort had been amplified when Grafin Mathilda had weighed in with her pennyworth. Her own late husband, she had remarked haughtily, would have been equally intolerant of such misconduct. While she had personally given little cause to her husband for disapproval, the Count had been well known, during his lifetime, for his insistence upon his household setting an example of impeccable morality and dignified behaviour. Even the domestic staff at the castle were expected to uphold these standards and to bring no disgrace upon the family name. Why he would have had even the lowliest scullery maid whipped for half of the things that Gerhard’s wife was guilty of.

Father Joseph had added to the discussion with a pompous sermon upon a woman’s due position as the wife of her husband interspersed with Biblical condemnations of licentious behaviour and unnatural lust. It was certainly Gerhard’s Christian responsibility to correct his wife’s behaviour he had maintained. Gerhard was under obligation to remind his wife of her marital duty and he had quoted Ephesians chapter five, verse twenty two that adjured “Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord.” and reinforced it with a quotation from the First Epistle of Peter, “Likewise, wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some do not obey the word, they may be won without a word by the conduct of their wives.” He had concluded his sermon by taking another slice of cake and reminding Gerhard that if his wife was insufficiently trained in her moral duty then it was Gerhard’s duty to rectify that lack of training forthwith.

Faced with this unyielding wall of stern censure, Gerhard had had no choice but to despatch Anna in search of his wife and to summons her to his study to answer for her behaviour before their guests. It had not taken Anna long to locate Elke for she’d been hovering about in close and fearful proximity to Gerhard’s study in an attempt to discern what was passing within; the significance of the official delegation not lost on her. Joining her in this guilty vigil had been her mother and the two women had been in nervous trepidation as to what was being said beyond the door to the study. Elke had, therefore, appeared quickly to the summons and, tripping at her heels, had been her mother to lend moral support in what promised to be an uncomfortable interview. Once she had presented herself before her husband, Gerhard had not permitted her to take a seat but, instead, had kept her standing in front of his desk while he repeated the list of accusations to her account. Elke had squirmed in deep humiliation while their guests had nodded grimly, and Gita had hovered fearfully in the background.

Once he had finally finished recounting the sorry tale of Elke’s misdemeanours, Gerhard glared at his wife, shuffling uncomfortably and wringing her hands in anxiety. “Well Madam?” he demanded, “What do you have to say for yourself?”

Elke bit her lip nervously. She was fully aware that she had not emerged from the Schloss Fest with any great credit to her name. Indeed, to give her her due, she was deeply ashamed of herself. She had rather been hoping, however, to sweep the affair under the carpet; relegate it to those shameful incidents in one’s life when one has drunk too much and would rather forget about. For several days after the festival, Gerhard had been seemingly oblivious to worst of her conduct. She’d been well aware that some of her misbehaviour might yet come to his attention but, as the days passed, she had begun to hope that her worst excesses were buried and behind her. The arrival of the distinguished visitors regarding the matter had shaken her badly, therefore, and now, hearing her misdeeds so comprehensively described in such detail, she could only cringe in abject penitence. “I... I’m sorry Gerhard...” she murmured pitifully.

“Sorry?” Gerhard exploded, “You are sorry? Is that all you have to say for your disgraceful behaviour? You see fit to conduct yourself as a drunken slut, bring shame and dishonour on this family and all you can say is sorry?”

Elke winced visibly. “I… I just drank a little too much Gerhard. I… I am sorry… truly I am. It… it won’t happen again.”

“I seem to have heard that promise of better behaviour before and, since it has apparently proved worthless, I find it less than credible now. I would furthermore give greater credence to your contrition and repentance had you thought fit to make a full confession of your misbehaviour to me instead of my having to learn of it from our guests here. Had you truly regretted your conduct you would have admitted it to me personally. Rather than do that, however, you preferred to conceal your wanton depravity, presumably in the hope that nobody would bring it to my attention. Only now, when you are at last confronted with the full extent of your shameful conduct, do you profess to be “sorry”. It is not good enough Madam.”

Gita had been listening to the exchange in some trepidation. At last she stepped in to aid her daughter. “Oh don’t be angry with her Gerhard. It’s mostly my fault. I should never have let her drink so much.”

Gerhard regarded Gita coldly. “If you will excuse me Frau Schreiber...I am addressing my wife and I will thank you not to interfere. I will have more to say about your contribution to this affair in due course. In the meantime I would be grateful if you would hold your peace and allow me to conduct this interview with my wife without further interruption.”

Gita blushed at the rebuke and retreated into sullen silence as Gerhard turn once more to his wife. “Well Madam. I am waiting. Do you have anything to say for yourself in mitigation of this outrageous catalogue of ignominy?”

Elke bowed her head abjectly. “N… no Gerhard.”

Gerhard raised an eyebrow. “Under the circumstances, since you are in disgrace, I think it more appropriate to dispense with familiarity and afford me a formal title Madam. You will therefore refer to me as “Sir”. Do I make myself clear?”

“Y... yes.”

“Yes what?”

“Yes Sir.”

“Very well. Let me then ask the question again so that you may answer with due respect. Have you or have you not anything whatsoever to say that will, in any way, excuse or mitigate your despicable conduct at the Schloss Fest?”

“N… no Sir.”

“I see. Do I take it, therefore, that you are fully aware of the gravity of your misconduct and of the shame you have brought upon yourself and me through that misconduct?”

“Y... yes Sir.”

“I am deeply disappointed Elke. You know full well that a person in my position cannot afford to allow any scandal to taint his private life and that you, as my wife, are duty bound to conduct yourself in a manner befitting our family’s station in the community. You have abjectly failed in that duty; so much so that our distinguished guests here have felt it their responsibility to come here in person today to remind you of it. You have let yourself down, you have let me down and you have let down the good name of this family, bringing it into disrepute.”

Elke’s bottom lip was quivering, and she looked close to tears. “I... I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“So you keep saying. However, I seem to recall that you made that exact same promise to me not three months ago yet here we are again. Do you recall the conversation we had on that occasion?”

Elke nodded miserably. “Y… yes Sir.”

“And you will therefore also recall that which we agreed upon in the course of that discussion?”

“Y... yes Sir.”

At this point Burgomeister Baumgarten interjected. “Excuse me Gerhard. Forgive me for interrupting, but am I to understand that this is not the first time that something of this nature has occurred?”

Gerhard nodded gravely. “I’m afraid so Mein Herr. Three months ago my wife became intoxicated at an event she attended in Stuttgart and made an exhibition of herself.”

“I see. And did you not take her to task at the time?”

“I did Herr Baumgarten. I had serious words with her and I issued stern warnings against any repetition of the misbehaviour in future.” Gerhard turned back to his wife. “Perhaps you would care to inform our guests of the gist of that conversation and of what we agreed upon should there be any recurrence of the misconduct for which I admonished you.”

Elke blushed. “I… I promised to behave with… with more decorum in future...”

“And if you did not…. what did we agree upon?”

Elke swallowed and wrung her hands together. “That…. that there would be consequences Sir.”

“Perhaps you might care to inform our guests just what those consequences were that we agreed upon.” Elke shuffled uncomfortably and mumbled something inaudibly. Gerhard raised an eyebrow and tapped on his desk. “Speak up Elke and tell our guests exactly what it was that we agreed upon should there be any repetition of your misconduct.”

Elke lowered her head shamefully with her lower lip quivering. “That… that it was to be… to be the cane Sir.”