"No, father, that was quite another thing. Father, I'm afraid you are not entirely satisfied with Thoma."
"It's true, I'm not in love with her, as you are."
"No, but that's not all."
"There's nothing else, but for me she is almost too----"
"Too rich, you mean."
"I didn't mean that. No girl is too rich for an honest lad. I only meant she is too beautiful. Yes, laugh if you choose; but a wife as beautiful as she, is a troublesome possession. I think, however, it will come out all right; she certainly seems more like her mother than like Landolin. To be sure, she has some of his pride, but I hope not his ungovernable temper. In old stories we read of wicked giants; Landolin might have been one of them. It's well that we live in other times."
"But, father, you make too much of this; my Thoma----"
"Yes, yes, she has her mother's good disposition. I have been thinking it over, and I believe that, all told, I have been fifteen times at Rotterdam. There are no such violent men as Landolin in Holland."
"Father, perhaps it's because they have no mountain streams in Holland, only quiet canals."
"Well, well! Is there anything that the young people nowadays do not know all about? However, I did not mean to say anything bad of Thoma."