send the right people together
and place them correctly too. In Germany you have to know as hostess
who is to sit on the sofa; and your decision may be complicated by the
absurd titles of your guests. For instance, one Frau Direktor may be
the wife of a post office official who had a university education, and
in Germany a university education counts; while another Frau Direktor,
though she can afford better clothes, is merely the wife of the man
who manages the factory in the next village. I have heard a story of a
Frau Kreisrichter and a Frau Actuar that ended in a life-long feud,
and it all turned on a _Kaffee Klatsch_ and the wrong woman on the
sofa. It is not easy to know what to do about these ridiculous titles
in Germany, because some people insist on them and some laugh at them
as much as we do. I once asked a lady who had the best right to know,
about using military titles instead of names: Herr Lieutenant, Herr
Major, and so on. She was quite explicit. "_Mir ist es ein Greuel_,"
she said, and went on to tell me that it was only done as one might
expect by people who did not know better, and of course by servants.
All the same, it is well to be careful and study the individual case.
I know of an American who addressed his professor as Professor Lachs.

"Where are your manners, mein Herr?" said the professor in a fury, "I
am Herr Professor Dr. Lachs to every student in this laboratory."

But when it comes to Mrs. Tax-Collector and Mrs. Organist and Mrs.
Head Master, and it does come to this quite seriously, it is difficult
for the foreigner to appraise values. The length of the titles, too,
is a stumbling-block. You may marry a harmless Herr Braun, and in
course of time become Frau Wirklichergeheimerober regierungsrath. In
this case I don't think your friends would use the whole of your title
every time they addressed you; but you would undoubtedly have a seat
on the sofa before all the small fry.

On the table in front of the sofa there used always to be a heavy
coloured cloth, and then put diamond-wise a light embroidered or lace
one. A vase of artificial or real flowers, according to taste, stood
exactly in the middle, and a few books in ornamental bindings on
either side. There would be very few ornaments, but these few would be
good of their kind, though probably hideous. Luckily the family did
not assemble here on State occasions. For every-day use there was a
_Wohnzimmer_ soberly furnished with solid wel