Heretofore her severity and harshness had always been tempered by a
certain winning cheerfulness, but that was gone now. She had not
yielded, but--she had suffered. She was estranged, perhaps forever, from
her only son, who was the idol of her mother's heart.

"I have nothing against you, Moritz," she said heartily. "I knew you
would be true to the old friendship in spite of all that you and your
daughter were made to suffer; but of course it is very painful for me to
go to Fuerstenstein; you must see that."

"On account of the broken engagement? Well you can console yourself
about that. You saw and heard at the time how good naturedly Toni took
the matter. She played the _role_ of guardian angel much better than
that of sweetheart, and she wrote you several times that she had no
regrets and so did I. But, I am sorry to say, our assurances have
amounted to nothing."

"No, but I know how to appreciate your rare generosity."

"Rare generosity!" repeated her brother-in-law laughing. "Well, perhaps
a jilted bride and her father do not always want to speak a good word
for a recreant lover, but that is not the case this time, and who knows
but we may be able to persuade the mother to see as we do. Toni and I
have both remarked that Will never was a man until now, and
that--forgive me, Regine, but I must say it--he owes his manhood to
little Marietta."

Frau von Eschenhagen's brow darkened at this remark; she did not see fit
to answer it though, but showed that she wanted to avoid further
discussion by asking, in a changed tone:

"Has Toni come back yet? I heard from Adelheid that she had been
visiting in the city, but was expected any day."

Herr von Schoenau, who in the meantime had ensconced himself in a
comfortable chair, answered:

"Yes, she came home yesterday--and with an escort, too. She brought a
young man with her who was to be her future husband, she declared, and
as he declared so too, with great positiveness, there was nothing left
me but to say, yes and Amen."

"What's that? Toni engaged again?" exclaimed Frau Regine in surprise.

"Yes, this time she did it all herself. I knew nothing of it. But you
see, she took it into her head that she must be loved to distraction;
nothing less romantic would do for her. Well, Herr von Walldorf seems to
answer all her requirements. He related to me with the greatest
satisfaction how he fell on his knees and assured her he could not live
without her, and how she g