Frau Ceres considered it her place not to leave the stranger wholly neglected, and therefore she asked him in English if his parents were still living.
Assuming a patronising tone, Pranken went into an account of Eric's father and mother; he did it with marked friendliness of manner, and dwelt with special emphasis upon the fact that Eric's mother belonged to the nobility.
"Are you a Frenchman, as your name indicates?" Fräulein Perini inquired.
Eric once more repeated that his ancestors had immigrated into Germany two hundred years before; that he felt himself to be purely a German, and rejoiced to be descended from the Huguenots.
"Huguenots?—ah, yes! they sing that," Frau Ceres said, taking a childish delight in this knowledge.
Every one at the table was obliged to restrain himself from laughing aloud.
"Why was the name Huguenots given to them?" asked Roland, and Eric replied,
"Some people think that the name originated in the circumstance of their holding their secret religious assemblies at Tours, only by night, when the ghost of King Hugo appeared; but I am of the opinion of those who consider it a German word, originally Eidgenosse, meaning associates, and changed by the French into Huguenot."
Pranken nodded to Eric in a very friendly manner, as if he would give him a testimonial of his excellent qualifications as a tutor.
"You take pride, then, in your descent from the Huguenots?" asked Sonnenkamp.