Klingemann, however, seized her by the hand.
"Stop," he whispered, gazing at the ground.
Bertha opened her eyes wide; she could not understand.
Suddenly Klingemann looked up from the ground and fixed his eyes on Bertha's.
"I love you, you see," he said.
Bertha uttered a low cry.
Klingemann let go her hand, and added in quite an easy conversational tone:
"Perhaps that strikes you as rather odd."
"It is unheard of!—unheard of!"
Once more she sought to go, and she called Fritz.