urse so
contrary to his inclinations. To dispose of him in any other way, in
the Meister's position, would have been simply impossible. Yes, there
had been hard times of want, when Helen had gladly come to his
assistance; and thus he had become dependent on her, in a manner that,
though she never took advantage of it, made him feel a sort of tacit
obligation to desist from any very violent opposition to her wishes.

In fact no woman had less reason to fear the despotic interference of
any man in her fate. Yet words had been spoken, that never could be
made unspoken; and they had brushed the bloom off what had been dearest
to her on earth.

She only became clearly aware of this, as she looked after his
retreating figure in the garden, and felt almost glad that she had not
met him; for the first time she might not have been able to look
straight into his eyes. She had no idea that, within the last hour, he
too had been startled out of the peace of his unsuspecting mind. She
believed that the suffering was hers alone; and in the midst of her
anxieties, she found no small comfort in the belief, that like a true
mother, she had contrived to conjure over her own devoted head, the
hostile elements that were threatening his. This helped her to recover
her composure, for in the more absorbing troubles, she had almost
forgotten the disagreeable task before her, of having definitively to
reject and mortify a man, for whom she had never felt anything worse
than indifference.

When the clock struck the dinner-hour, she entered the large
dining-room with perfect self-possession; and received the notary, who
bowed low before her, as she would have received any other guest of her
brother-in-law. The Meister had left his bed, and joined them in his
dressing-gown, in anything but a holiday trim, or holiday humour. He
now lay stretched on a sofa, at a little distance from the table. An
old neighbour, a standing guest on Sundays, stood modestly waiting with
the two apprentice boys at the windows.

Walter came in such visible perturbation that he could scarcely stammer
out the commonest forms of salutation. Nobody however seemed to notice
this, except his little mother; who, perplexed by the sudden change
in his demeanour, threw him a look of dismay, which he felt too
conscious-stricken to receive with calmness.

The Meister enquired for Peter Lars, and scolded at his delay, until
they all sat down to table without waiting for him.