"Oh, oh! That is romantic. Almost piquant. Then let her come, but in the clothing that belongs to her, if you please."
"And the monkey, Mama? Will the monkey come, too?" asked Olga, the elder.
"Oh, lovely, lovely!" cried Frieda, clapping her hands.
"No, children; it is not to be thought of. Of course, you understand, Johannes, that the monkey cannot come with you. He would have a very bad influence. Would he not, Van Lieverlee?"
Van Lieverlee nodded his head emphatically, and, with an expressive gesture of refusal, said: "It would simply nullify all the higher influences. We must exclude carefully all low and impure fluids. The monkey, Johannes, has in general a very low and unfavorable aura, or inimical sphere, as you may always perceive from his fatal odor."
"It would make me ill," said the countess, putting her handkerchief to her face at the very thought of it.
So Johannes walked home that evening, proud and happy, with his head full of brilliant fancies; but at the same time burdened with a charge—a message to Marjon—which grew more and more heavy as the distance between him and the grand hotel increased, and the distance between him and the small lodging-house lessened.
XVII
You will be sure to think matters went hard that night, in the rank little room, and that there was a scene between Marjon and Johannes, involving many tears. If so, this time you have made a mistake.