"Is it necessary?"
"On your honor, Gotthold, did he tell you so?"
"No, but--"
"And suppose he did love me, for all that, and--I loved him? How can you dare speak to me as you have spoken? How can you dare give me the lie by your silence, humiliate me so deeply in my own eyes! Is this your boasted friendship?"
Gotthold bent his head and turned away. Gretchen came to meet him.
"Where are you going, Uncle Gotthold?"
He raised the child in his arms, kissed her, put her on the ground, and went on.
"Why is Uncle Gotthold crying, mamma?" asked Gretchen, pulling her mother's dress. "Papa can't cry, can he, mamma?"
Cecilia made no reply; her wide tearless eyes were fixed on the spot where Gotthold had disappeared between the beeches.
"Forever," she murmured, "forever!"