Thus spoke Annette. She did not seem to notice that all were silent while she was talking.
And then Bertha and Conny arose from their seats and covered her with their caresses.
I could not move from the spot. I saw Richard rising, but he sat down again at once.
Ludwig turned to him and said: "Her mind and her exterior correspond. At first she does not impress one as wondrously beautiful; but, day by day, she grows in loveliness."
This invocation of my wife had, for the time being, invested the festival with a certain solemn impressiveness; but soon mirth burst all bounds, and the young couple again became the centre of joy.
Rontheim was so happy that he drank fellowship with the Major, with Ludwig, and with Richard. A blissful feeling of brotherly affection seemed to unite all.
Rothfuss afforded us great amusement. He wore a bouquet in his hunter's coat, and another, with a red ribbon streaming from it, in his hat. "Colonel," he called out to Ludwig, "may I be permitted to say one word?"
"Have you made up your mind what to wish for?"
"No; this is something else. All I wish is that you shall say 'Yes,' and that will do."
"What do you mean?"