ll fall so deeply
in love with Manna,--oh, so deeply in love,--so dead in love. Will you
promise me something?"

"What, for instance?"

"That you will tell me the very first day when you fall in love."

"But if I should fall in love with you, what then?"

"Come, don't talk so. I am much too stupid for you. I should have been
smart enough for Herr von Pranken, but I am engaged, and out of the
question. Hasn't Manna told you anything about me?"

Eric said she had not, and Lina continued:--

"Yes, do this, do it out of regard for me, and snatch Manna away from
Baron von Pranken. I beg of you, do it for my sake."

"What are you laughing at so merrily?" said Manna, coming up to them.
"I have begun to laugh to-day, and now I should like to keep you
company."

"Tell her," said Lina with a nod. As Eric was silent, she continued:--

"He can tell you, but he is awfully reserved and profound. Don't let
him have any peace, Manna, until he has told you. Herr Captain, if you
don't tell at once, then I'll tell."

"I have that confidence in your sense of propriety," said Eric very
seriously, "that I do not believe you would wantonly turn a joke into
sober earnest."

Lina's whole mien changed, and she said:

"Ah, Manna, he is so awfully learned! My father says so too, and he
sees people through and through. Don't you sometimes feel afraid of
him?"

Without making any reply, Manna took Lina's arm and went with her
through the garden, Lina chatting, joking, and singing incessantly,
like a nightingale in the shrubbery.

After Manna had gone to her room, it seemed to her there that the
pictures on the wall looked at her and asked: Who can this be? She shut
out the dumb pictures by closing her eyes, threw herself upon her
knees, and a voice within her seemed to say: It must be thus; thou art
to become acquainted with the world, and all the vain delights of life,
in order to gain the victory over them. Yet she felt down-hearted, for
in the midst of her contrite prayer she seemed to hear the lively
waltzes sounding in her ears, and she heard a burst of laughter. Could
it have been she herself who had so laughed?

The next day she had to enter into fresh gaieties.

In the afternoon they drove to the castle, and there the Architect
contrived a new delight. He was a genuine priest of the May-bowl, and
with a sort of solemnity he mixed the various ingredients of the
fragrant beverage. The whole company sat upon a projecting wa