"Why did you send me word that she was ill, and call me out in the middle of the night on that account?"
"I beg your pardon; you know that there are sick people who do not go to bed."
The Professorin understood how matters were.
When she entered, Frau Ceres, with her face still turned to the mirror, exclaimed:—
"Ah, that's good! It was gracious in you to come, my dear Professorin, very friendly—very kind. I am a good friend of yours, too."
She then turned round and held out her hand to the new-comer.
The Professorin did not congratulate her, nor did she call her Frau Baroness.
Frau Ceres now wished to know what her husband—but she corrected herself quickly and said: "I should say the Baron now; well—what has the Baron to do in town; must he pass a Knight's examination, and will he be knighted before the assembled multitude?"
The Professorin replied that there was nothing of the kind now, there would be simply a parchment patent delivered to him.
"Parchment—parchment?" repeated Frau Ceres several times to herself. "What is parchment?"