"Ah! so her highness Countess Wildenort is your friend, and the pastor--"
"Doctor, I'd like to speak a word with you," said Walpurga, interrupting him. "Come, as quickly as you can."
She had learned one lesson at court: viz., that a firm yet polite manner enables one to check or avert many an ill-natured remark. There was a certain grandeur in her manner when she told the doctor that, in her house, she would allow no one to speak ill of Countess Irma, just as she would allow no one to say anything against the doctor. That would be just as false as what was said about the countess, who, while she was merry enough to be his comrade, was just as good as he was. Walpurga added that she hoped he would not grieve her by speaking ill of the countess.
The doctor looked at Walpurga in astonishment. When he came back into the room, he said to Hansei:
"You've got a great wife; one whose friendship is an honor to any one."
Walpurga went to her room and wrote:
"My Dearly Beloved Countess:
"I take this opportunity to write to you. Our pastor is going to the city, and has promised to be kind enough to take the letter with him and deliver it to you. I don't know what else he wishes to do, but rest assured that whatever he wants is all right. He's very kind to me, and particularly so since I've come home again. And now I'd like to write you how things are going with me. I couldn't ask God to make them better. To have one's husband, mother, child, and one's daily work besides! We've already made our hay, but not make-believe, as it used to be with us on the lawn at the summer palace. Don't you remember?
"Dear me! I say with us, and who knows whether any one at the palace still thinks of me?
"Yes, I am sure you do, my good countess; and my child, I mean the prince, and the queen and Mademoiselle Kramer and her father too.