Madam von Stork beamed approval.
She opened her lips to impress the importance of sewing upon Marianne, but the young girl was too quick for her.
"Frau Rat, father, says that our Queen reads both Goethe and Schiller always."
Before Madame von Stork could answer, the maid appeared with wine and cake, and, when all were settled, Marianne had told more stories about Goethe's mother and what a fine old lady she was, but so amusing in her great turban, with its red, white and blue feathers, or great decoration of sunflowers, with her hair all arranged and plaited with ribbons, her face rouged, her embroidered kid gloves, her rings, and her famous speech:
"I am the mother of Goethe!"
When Marianne told all this she altered her voice and put on what her brothers called her "Goethe manner," and, turning to Herr Brandt, she exclaimed:
"Oh, Uncle Ludwig, the Frau Rat showed me her son's playthings and the dresses he wore as a child. Oh, think of my touching, my handling what his noble hands have rested upon! Oh, how it thrilled, how it over-powered me!"
The boys burst into a roar, but her father with a glance quieted them.
"And what is Frau Rat like, Marianne?" he asked.
Delighted to talk on her favorite topic, Marianne told how, when the Frau Rat announced, "I am the mother of Goethe," her voice rang out like a trumpet.