With this letter she went to Aunt Thekla. The old lady was still in bed, but wide awake. She, too, had been unable to sleep from anxiety.
"My child, what does this mean?" she asked, when she saw Johanna appear in her travelling-dress.
Johanna handed her the telegram, told her that she was going instantly to Hanover, and begged her to take charge of the letter for Otto.
"Drive off! without my brother's consent!" Aunt Thekla said, possessed by a foreboding of evil. "How can you? You will come back again soon?"
Johanna turned away. "Do not make my heart heavier than it is," she begged.
Aunt Thekla burst into tears. "You must not go!" she cried, clasping Johanna's hands tightly. "I will not let you go!"
The young girl gently extricated herself. "I must, dear aunt; I must go to Lisbeth," she said.
"But Otto will follow you; will bring you back again."
Johanna shook her head. "He will see that we must part," she whispered. "But do not let me be exiled and quite forgotten; write to me——"
The maid appeared: "Fräulein Johanna, the carriage is waiting."