"Not a nurse, but a mother in the highest meaning of the word, equal to her task."
"Mother or housekeeper! Thank you! One can hire a housekeeper! It's easier. And then? How am I to occupy myself? I have two maids, excellent substitutes. No! I want to live...."
"Go on the stage?"
"Yes!"
"But that's out of the question!"
"I know that only too well! And it irritates me, makes me stupid ... kills me!"
"What about a literary career? It's not in such bad repute as the stage!"
"The dramatic art is, in my opinion, the highest of all arts. Come what may, I shall never cease to regret the fact that I have missed my vocation. And what have I got in exchange?... A disappointment!"
The Baron called to us, and we returned to his bedside.
"What was she talking about?" he asked me.