"Well, then, will you hear the close, too?" resumed Fräulein Milch. All were still, and she proceeded:—
"We came hither. How I have lived here, you know. At our change of residence, Conrad expressed his wish for a formal union, but I preferred not to be called Frau Majorin; it was to me a constant penance and chastisement for my faithlessness to my parents and my desertion of all my people. Now we lived in faithfulness, in oneness, without any formal tie. Thus we have lived, and now it is fulfilled."
"I shall go with you to the wedding," cried the Professor and Weidmann.
But the latter now took Manna's hand, saying:—
"Do you know for whom is the third bridal wreath which shall be woven from this myrtle-tree?"
Manna trembled, and he went on:—
"It is for you. You have struggled and waited. Help me, Frau Dournay."
The Mother, too, took Manna's hand. The Major, hastening out, came back bringing Eric, to whom, on their way, he said a great many things mixed up in strange confusion.
The following day saw the three couples united, and no one can say who were the happiest. Manna and Eric, the Major and Fräulein Milch, or Lina and the Architect.
Rooms were fitted up in the castle, and there Manna and Eric were to pass the first days of their marriage.