"That pretty girl there, with large staring eyes, is Ernst's betrothed, I presume?" said Ludwig.
I said, "Yes."
We went up the steps and entered the room. Without speaking a word, Martella offered her hand to every one of the new arrivals. She seemed absent minded and was silent.
My daughter-in-law and Wolfgang were surprised to find that we still had fires in our stoves.
A little pleasantry at once made us all feel at home with one another. I told my new daughter-in-law how happily I had lived with my wife, but that even we had been obliged to adapt ourselves to each other's ways.
From the earliest days in autumn until far into the summer, it had been our custom to have our sitting-room heated every morning and evening. At first it went hard with me, but after a while we accustomed ourselves to the same outer temperature, and the nicely warmed room at last became a great comfort to me, whenever I returned from the fields.
"I understand perfectly, and thank you for telling me of mother first of all," said my daughter-in-law.
Martella remained silent and reserved towards the newcomers, and, for the rest of the evening, we did not see her again. She remained in the kitchen and instructed one of the servants to serve the meal. With the help of the schoolmaster's wife she had prepared us a fine feast.
Wolfgang suddenly asked to see the family woods, and as it was still broad daylight, Ludwig took him out to gratify his curiosity.
I was left alone with my daughter-in-law, and when I conducted her through the house and showed her, above all things, the apartment with the plaster casts, her pure and tranquil nature became revealed to me for the first time.