introduce her to society as a young baroness--I, who have already had
such a hard time with one grown-up daughter, by whom I am forced to let
myself be ordered about--would be the height of the ridiculous: to say
nothing of the fact that I doubt very much whether I should ever be
able to tame this red-maned lioness. But, on the other hand, Father
Schoepf, as he now calls himself, is no longer one of the youngest men
in the world; and, aside from that, by no means a Cr[oe]sus. If the
child stays with him, who knows but what she, too, will fall into bad
hands, like her poor mother? And in case she should remain a good
girl--you know, my dear Fraeulein, that virtue as a sole dowry is not
particularly in demand nowadays. I want, therefore, to secure for my
daughter--whether she acknowledges me or not--a respectable marriage
portion; not merely a dowry--it must be known that Fraeulein Schoepf
possesses in her own right so and so much property. Now, you see, my
dear Fraeulein, only such a soft and winning voice as yours can succeed
in persuading Father Schoepf to consent to such an arrangement, which
is so greatly for the interest of the child. Now, if I should send
Schnetz to him, he would, if he had to deal with a man, fire up about
his ridiculous manly honor, and the end of the story would be that
Schnetz would likewise be shown the door. But you, if you will only
consent--and why shouldn't you consent?--may even succeed in the end in
inspiring this wild creature, my own flesh and blood, with some
human emotion; so that she will feel for her papa, who really is no
monster--but stop! the visit in the next room is over. Not a word of
this to Irene. Promise me this. May I depend on you?"

He reached her both his hands across the table with such a true-hearted
and, at the same time, comically-crushed manner, that she did not
hesitate for a moment to close the bargain. In a second his mood seemed
to have gone through a complete transformation. He sprang up, bent over
her hand, which he eagerly kissed, and began to hum a tune and to light
a cigar, talking all the while about the masked ball of the night
before. His niece, when she entered again, laughingly asked what magic
charm her beautiful friend had been using in her absence, to dispel so
completely her dear uncle's melancholy mood.

Julie smiled and answered that people ought not to laugh at the secrets
of magic, and the baron acted as though nothing at all had happened.
T