But ah! the faithful pray to her in vain!
No more her godlike face to bend she deigns,
Prefers eternal calmness to maintain!
Oswald put down the pencil and looked up at Melitta. His glance met hers. For a few moments their eyes rested upon each other as if they wished to read in each other's souls.
Then old Baumann appeared in the door leading to the adjoining room, from which the clinking of plates and glasses had been heard for some time; he had a napkin on his arm, and said, as solemnly as the statue in Don Giovanni:
"Ma'am, dinner is ready!"
"Quick, come before our porridge is cold," called out Melitta.
"Let me only look at these few leaves," said Oswald. "I see there are but a few more."
"There is nothing worth looking at there," said Melitta, almost impatiently.
"Why, here is the Park at Grenwitz," exclaimed Oswald, as he turned over the last leaf in the act of rising. "The lawn behind the château. Here the Flora, there Bruno in full career----"