I now felt satisfied that Gustava had, in all likelihood, referred to Annette. Ludwig felt sure of it; but, as if at the same time marking out his own course, he said, "Father, do not let Richard notice our feelings in this matter, or we may frighten him away."
Wolfgang's desire to become a forester met with the glad approval of his father, who said: "It will soon turn out with the American forests just as it does with the fishes of the sea. One cannot always be harvesting and preying on others; it is necessary to plant and to cultivate as well."
He requested Annette, who was very much interested in Wolfgang, and spent much time with him, not to interfere with his wonted equanimity; for she was constantly trying to discover how Wolfgang felt when he saw a church-steeple, or heard the church-bells. She had just emerged from an atmosphere which was religious to the exclusion of all other considerations, and the youth was therefore a mysterious and marvellous contrast to all that she had left behind her. He seemed to her the representative being of later centuries; and she tried to discover how things would be after our generation. She was pleased to call Wolfgang 'Emile, and reminded us of Rousseau's work of the name.
Ludwig's wife avoided Annette, who, in her impulsive way, had at once desired to cultivate intimate relations with her. Conny, who was quiet and reserved, had a dread of the restless fluttering of such a being as Annette.
CHAPTER XI.
One evening, Martella came to me, and, with a timid manner to which I was quite unused in her, asked me to allow her to return to Jaegerlies, with whom she had formerly lived. She had heard that the old woman was sick, and at the point of death. She had left her quite suddenly, and now wanted to return; and thought it would be far better if she were not to come back until our guests had left.
She extended her hand to me, and said, "I promise you that I will surely return."
Her behavior puzzled me; and when I endeavored to find out why she really wished to leave, she said that it might be a stupid feeling, but she had a constant presentiment of some great misfortune near at hand.
I tried to persuade her that there were no grounds for this uneasy feeling, as Ludwig, his wife, and Wolfgang all treated her as one of the family. She persisted in her determination; and I at last reminded her that she had promised my wife never to leave me.
"I did not think you would remind me of that," she said; "but, of course, if you fall back on that, I shall remain here even if they try to drive me away."