"It is probably not so much so now," said Ottilie; "besides, you must not ask me for any particulars, for Emil's story was very--what shall I say--very general--for reasons I hinted to you this morning, and I--from the same cause--did not venture to ask him for any farther details. We must always respect all such old German favors, and seem to think them true and genuine."
"Old German favors?" asked Alma in astonishment.
Ottilie laughed. "That's what I call our husbands' reminiscences of their old love affairs, which they treasure with such ludicrous emotion, and, so to speak, always wear secretly under their coats, in order not to shame us by their brilliancy, for we are really good, excellent wives; but how could we bear any comparison with these heroines? In this case, to be sure--"
"Excuse me for interrupting you, dear Ottilie, but you were going to tell me how Gotthold got his fortune."
"It is all closely connected," replied Ottilie; "the German favor, I mean my good Emil's old flame and Gotthold's mother, is one and the same person; but to be sure Emil declares I always begin my stories at the end, so now by way of exception I'll commence at the beginning. But how am I to do it?"
"Perhaps by stating who the lady you have mentioned really was."
"You always hit the nail on the head! Certainly, who was she? The only child of her parents; her father was Reginald Lenz, a rich merchant in Stettin--I have forgotten her mother's name; but she must have been a dear, sweet creature, and loved her husband passionately, too passionately perhaps. He was probably a very attractive man--he always went by the name of 'handsome Lenz,' and such people are spoiled: the merry bachelor life is continued after marriage; a few unlucky speculations may have happened also; in a word, Herr Lenz failed at the end of a few years, or stood on the verge of bankruptcy, and the books did not balance as they ought; he would not survive the disgrace, and--it is terrible to think of--he took a cheerful farewell of his young wife to go out hunting, and clear his head after reckoning so many figures, as he said, and in the evening they brought him home with his brains dashed out. Was it not terrible?"
"Go on," said Alma.
"Ah! the rest is almost as bad. The young wife, who had had no suspicion of her husband's situation--or she would not have let him leave her--saw the body without the slightest preparation. An hour after--the unhappy woman was daily expecting the birth of another child--she was attacked by a violent fever, and in a few days was a corpse."
"How imprudent," said Alma.