wo girls, so
unlike, and to wonder whether the high-necked, gray woollen dress and
the dainty little silk gown would ever live side by side, without having
to make mutual concessions.

"Klaus talked to Susanna, who sat opposite him. He touched upon the
subject of her deceased father, but gave it up at once when he saw the
great eyes fill with tears, which she bravely tried to swallow with the
strange buckwheat groats. A fresh egg, afterward, seemed to taste better
to her, but with a timorous smile she refused a glass of foaming brown
beer, and I am convinced that she rose unsatisfied from the table.

"The candles were lighted in the sitting-room, and at the master's place
lay a plate of tobacco and a matchbox beside the newspaper. At Anna
Maria's place lay her knitting-work, and at mine spectacles and
Pompadour, just as Brockelmann arranged them every evening, except that
in winter Anna Maria had her spinning-wheel instead of her knitting.
To-night Klaus did not take his pipe from the shelf in the corner;
Susanna Mattoni's delicate form sank into his comfortable easy-chair,
and her small head nestled back in the cushions; but Klaus, like a true
cavalier, with a chivalry that became him admirably, sat on a stool
opposite her.

"The conversation, in which Anna Maria joined but little, turned upon
Berlin. Susanna was well informed about her native city, and now
chattered charmingly and without embarrassment; her eyes shone, her
cheeks grew red, and a roguish dimple displayed itself every instant.
Now she was in the opera-house or theatre, in the Thiergarten or in
Charlottenburg; now she related anecdotes of the royal family. All this
came out in a confused jumble, and Klaus did not grow tired of asking
questions. The newspaper lay disregarded, and his pipe did not receive a
glance.

"Anna Maria sat silent, and knit. At nine o'clock she broke into the
conversation. 'I think you must be tired, Fraeulein Mattoni,' she said;
and one could perceive what an effort she made to speak kindly. 'We
usually retire about ten, but you need an extra hour's sleep to-night.'
And as Brockelmann appeared, in answer to the bell, the little thing,
with a certain astonishment in her eyes, said 'Good-night,' like an
obedient child. She turned around at the door, and asked, with a sweet,
imploring expression on her little face: 'May Isa sleep in my room?'

"'A bed has been made up in another room for your companion,' replied
Anna Maria; 'yo