, that his son-in-law might possess and preserve it,
distinguished as it would thus become, after his death: for he dreaded
the thought of this excellent collection being some time or other again
dispersed, perhaps even sold at an under-price, and thrown away on men
in whose hands, from want of judgment, the pictures might go to ruin.
His passion for painting was so great, that he would at all events have
bought his friend's pictures at a very high price, had not the purchase
of a considerable estate and a large garden, which he wished to leave
to his daughter, prevented him, and rendered any outlay, but especially
to such an amount, impracticable. As he was writing his letters these
thoughts were continually diverting his attention. He then bethought
himself of the young painter Dietrich, a handsome light-haired youth;
and though his style of practising his art was as little to his taste
as that of his dress, he would still have been glad to embrace him as
his son-in-law, because he was convinced that the young man would
cherish the highest reverence for his intended bequest. Old Eulenboeck
could not enter into his thoughts with a view to his plans; but since
the day before he had viewed the stranger connoisseur with an eye of
paternal affection, and hence the petulant answer in which his daughter
had expressed herself about him gave him so much dissatisfaction. He
would not own it to himself, but his thoughts, when he looked into
futurity, were bent much more towards the preservation of his gallery
than the happiness of his child. Even young Von Eisenschlicht, the son
of an usurer, would have been acceptable to him as a son-in-law, for
the young man's taste had been tolerably cultivated in his travels; and
as he possessed at the same time his father's propensities, there was
good ground to expect that he would, from every consideration, treat so
valuable a collection with respect.

Thus passed the forenoon, and the guests dropped in one after the
other. First of all the youngest, Dietrich, in what is called the old
German costume, his flaxen hair flowing down his shoulders, and with a
short light beard which did not disfigure his ruddy transparent face.
He immediately made anxious inquiry after the daughter, and she
appeared, in a dress of green silk, which gave a surprising relief to
the brilliance of the face and neck. The young man, with a manner at
once embarrassed and pressing, immediately began a conversation wit