"Oh, that is fatal!" lamented the judge. He was silent, for just then the full, deep girl's voice came up from the garden:
"Du hast mir viel gegeben, Du schenktest mir dein Herz, Du nahmst mir Alles wieder, Und liessest mir den Schmerz."
"It must be very hard, Frank," murmured his friend after a few moments of deep silence. "Very hard--I mean, to go the right way to work with a woman. How will you act? With sternness, or with gentleness? Will you write her a harsh letter, or will you send her some verses? In such an evening as this, I think I could almost write poetry myself. I say, Frank, light the lamp and let us read the paper."
"Richard," said the young man as he rose, "if you will give me your advice in regard to this affair of Wolff's, I shall be grateful to you, but leave my wife out of the question altogether; that is my affair alone."
Mrs. Baumhagen had conquered her aversion to "Waldruhe" and had come to see her youngest daughter. Something must be done--at any rate she could not any longer endure the sympathetic inquiries for the health of the young Mrs. Linden. Something _must_ be done.
Gertrude was sitting at the window reading in her cool dusky room, at least she held a book in her hand; at her feet lay Linden's dog. She started in dismay as she heard footsteps in the corridor and for one moment a deep flush spread over her face.
"Ah, mamma," she said, wearily, as Mrs. Baumhagen rustled in in a light gray toilet, her hat lavishly adorned with violets as being appropriate to half-mourning, the round face more deeply flushed than usual with the heat of the spring sun and her excitement.
"This can't go on any longer, child," she began, kissing her daughter tenderly on the forehead. "How you look, and how cold it is here! Jenny sent her love; she went to Paris this morning to meet Arthur. Why didn't you go too, as I proposed?"
"I did not feel well enough," replied Gertrude.
"You look pale, and it is no wonder. I never could bear such want of consideration, either."
Gertrude sat down again in her old place.
"Has Uncle Henry been here?" inquired Mrs. Baumhagen.
"Well, then, you know that Linden has forbidden him any interference with Wolff?"
"And that this Mr. Wolff has been at the point of death for three days? His death would be the best thing that could happen, for of course everything would come to an end then. I don't know whether the people in the city have any idea of the true state of the case, but they suspect something and they overwhelm me with inquiries about you."