"A few shining drops ran down the cheeks of the bridegroom, while Susanna, like a child, listened with wide-open eyes to the clergyman's words, evidently painfully affected by the seriousness which he imparted to the situation.
"Then the affair came quickly to an end; the rings were exchanged, the solemn decisive 'Yes' died away--Susanna Mattoni was Klaus's wife. The servants withdrew, the doors of the hall were closed, Pastor Grüne spoke a few more affecting words to Susanna, and Klaus silently pressed my hands.
"Brockelmann served a cold lunch and presented a glass of champagne; Isa brought in furs and cloak; the young couple intended to start in half an hour. Then the clergyman went away, Brockelmann and Isa had already left the room, and I was alone with Klaus and Susanna. He had drawn the smiling young wife to him. 'Susanna,' I heard him whisper, 'let us go to her, tell her that you forgive her; let us part in peace from Anna Maria, my sister.'
"The smile vanished, she stood there defiantly looking down to the floor, a deep blush on her face, and gradually her eyes filled with shining tears.
"'My first request, Susanna,' he repeated beseechingly. She remained silent, but rising on tip-toe, flung her arms about his neck; with infinite grace her head was slightly thrown back, and she looked up to him with her sweet eyes moist with tears. Impetuously he drew her to him and kissed the red lips and the little red scar on her forehead again and again.
"I stole softly out. The word of peace remained unspoken!
"An hour later the candles in the hall were extinguished, the house lay dark and silent."
"Anna Maria did not become ill, as we expected; hers was too firm, too strong a nature; but she had grown bitter and gloomy. She did not belong to that class of people whom a great sorrow makes tender.
"Joyless times followed that wedding--days and weeks, empty and cold. At first I had besought her to write to Klaus, not to let the breach become wider. She had answered me with a cold smile, and torn in two a letter from her brother after the first glance. I saved the pieces and found an effusion of honeymoon bliss, and nothing different could have been expected. Anna Maria had probably not observed the short business announcement that he had advantageously sold the estate in Silesia, and now thought of going to Paris with Susanna.