The bridegroom-elect, who was now an officer of the customs, had come in his uniform, and was quite condescending in his manner, as if he intended, with every word, to say, "I am superior to you all, for I am a Frenchman." And yet, in spite of this, he had the very German name of Kräutle.
Annette did him the favor to speak French with him. He was quite delighted, and Annette asserted that he and his bride were ashamed of the Alsatian language; when speaking French, they evidently felt that they appeared at their best, and to ask them to forego that pleasure would be much the same as requiring one never to wear his Sunday clothes.
Annette was embroidering a silk ribbon; and Richard picked up the end of it and held it in his hands. But she generally managed to spoil the effect of her pretty speeches, and added that people could talk French without having ideas; but that, when speaking German, they noticed the absence of costume, and were ashamed thereat. When she uttered these last words, Richard dropped the ribbon he had been holding, and walked away.
Annette was happy whenever she could express her pleasure with any one, and Ludwig was not wrong in saying:
"She will be one of the best of wives when she is once a mother. Now she is fluttering about, hither and thither; is herself restless, and disturbs others."
With every hour, new guests arrived, and Martella said: "It was stupid of me to have wanted to go away; I am needed here, where there are so many strangers--no, not strangers--O dear Lord, so many beings who belong to one! If mother were only living yet, she could help me love them. O dear father, when we step over into eternity, and meet all the beings who belong to us--so many! so many! Indeed, father, you are now experiencing a part of eternity."
And it was so.
But I felt that age was coming on me. I could not walk about much, and was obliged almost constantly to remain seated in my room, where they all came to me. To see Wolfgang and Victor together, was to me joy unutterable. My sister asserted that, when a child, I had looked just as these two now did. I cannot imagine that I ever looked so elegant and distinguished-looking.
After the Major joined us, the customs officer became much quieter in his manner; for the Major had come in full uniform.
Johanna, who, since Ludwig's arrival, had become even more reserved and austere, seemed to find the meeting with her son, the vicar, a pleasant change. Nothing daunted by my presence, she complained to him that, with a sister-in-law who had only been married by a civil magistrate, and with a nephew who had not even been christened, she felt as if living among heathens.