obably the man
she will marry, and not Herr Prof. Wilke and not the Jewish professor.
He would please me a great deal better. They were all so awfully smart!
Before we left a lieutenant brought in a huge bunch of roses, and the
officers gave a rose to each member of the staff, the ladies I mean.
Then something awfully funny happened. There is a girl in the Sixth who
looks quite old, as if she might be 24, and "our" lieutenant offered her
a rose too. And then she said: "No thank you, I am not one of the
staff, I'm in the Sixth." Everyone burst out laughing, and she was quite
abashed because the lieutenant had taken her for one of the staff. And
the Herr Rel. Prof. said to her: "Tschapperl, you might just as well
have taken it." But really she was quite right to refuse. I think there
must have been 20 officers at least. Of course Hella told the lieutenant
that she was a colonel's daughter. I wonder if we shall ever see him
again.

I am writing this four days after the outing. Dora told me yesterday
that when I was dancing with the lieutenant the Herr Rel. Prof. said to
the Frau Direktorin: "Do just look at that young Lainer; little rogue,
see what eyes she's making." Making eyes, forsooth! I did not make eyes,
besides, what does it mean anyhow to make eyes!! Of course I did not
shut my eyes; if I had I should probably have fallen down, and then
everyone would have laughed. And I don't like being laughed at. I hardly
saw Dora all through the outing, and she did not dance. She said very
cuttingly: "Of course not, for after all we _are_ in mourning, even if
we did wear white dresses; you are only a child, for whom that sort of
thing does not matter." _That sort of thing_, as if I had done something
dreadful! I don't love Mother any the less, and I don't forget her.
Father was quite different; the day before yesterday evening he said:
"So my little witch has made a conquest; you're beginning early. But
it's no good taking up with an officer, little witch, they're too
expensive." But I would like to have the lieutenant, I would go up
with him in an aeroplane, up, up, till we both got quite giddy. In the
religion lesson yesterday, when the Herr Prof. came in he laughed like
anything and said: "Hullo, Lainer, is the world still spinning round
you? The Herr Leutnant has not been able to sleep since." So I suppose
he knows him. Still, I'm quite sure that he has not lost his sleep on my
account, though very likely he said so. If I