amental work in his
parlour, which had before been gay with nice light-blue and silver, for
he had picked up from Rettelchen that a red table, red chairs, and so
on, would be more in accordance with her taste.

When the happy decorator insisted upon seeing the young lawyer at his
wedding. Master Wacht had not offered a moment's opposition; and the
young lawyer--he was pleased to come. It may be imagined with what
feelings the two young people saw each other again, for since that
terrible moment when Jonathan had left the garden they had literally
not set eyes upon each other. The assembly was large; but not a single
person with whom they were on a friendly footing fathomed their pain.

Just as they were on the point of setting out for church. Master Wacht
received a thick letter; he had read no more than a few lines when he
became violently agitated and rushed off out of the room, not a little
to the consternation of the rest, who at once suspected some fresh
misfortune. Shortly afterwards Master Wacht called the young advocate
out. When they were alone together in the Master's own room, the
latter, vainly endeavouring to conceal his excessive agitation, began,
"I've got the most extraordinary news of your brother; here is a letter
from the governor of the prison relating fully all the circumstances of
what has taken place. As you cannot know them all, I must begin at the
beginning and tell you everything right to the end so as to make
credible to you what is incredible; but time presses." So saying,
Master Wacht fixed a keen glance upon the advocate's face, so that he
blushed and cast down his eyes in confusion. "Yes, yes," went on Master
Wacht, raising his voice, "you don't know how great a remorse took
possession of your brother a very few hours after he was put in prison;
there is hardly anybody whose heart has been more torn by it. You don't
know how his attempt at murder and theft has prostrated him. You don't
know how that in mad despair he prayed Heaven day and night either to
kill him or to save him that he might henceforth by the exercise of the
strictest virtue wash himself pure from bloodguiltiness. You don't know
how that on the occasion of building a large wing to the prison, in
which the convicts were employed as labourers, your brother so
distinguished himself as a clever and well-instructed carpenter that he
soon filled the post of foreman of the workmen, without anybody's
noticing how it came about so