"Therese Golowski ..." repeated George. "I seem to know the name."
"Of course you know it," said Anna. "You know Therese herself. She was just leaving the house when you called the last time."
"Oh yes," said George, "one of your friends."
"I wouldn't go so far as to call her a friend; that seems to imply a certain mental sympathy that doesn't quite exist."
"You certainly don't mean to repudiate Therese," said Doctor Berthold smiling, but dryly.
"Oh no," answered Anna quickly. "I really never thought of doing that. I even admire her; as a matter of fact I admire all people who are able to risk so much for something that doesn't really concern them at all. And when a young girl does that, a pretty young girl like Therese"—she was addressing herself to George who was listening attentively—"I am all the more impressed. You know of course that Therese is one of the leaders of the Social Democratic Party?"
"And do you know what I took her for?" said George. "For a budding actress."
"You're quite a judge of character, Herr Baron," said Berthold.
"She really did mean to go on the stage once," corroborated Frau Rosner coldly.
"But just consider, Frau Rosner," said Berthold. "What young girl is there with any imagination, especially if she lives in cramped surroundings into the bargain, who has not at some time or other in her life at any rate coquetted with such an idea."