At the foot he again turned to Eva and told her to send for him if her mother should grow worse, for these entertainments at the Vorchtels usually lasted a long time.
"Will the Eysvogels be there too?" asked the girl.
"Who knows," replied her father. "I shall be glad if Wolff comes."
The tone in which he uttered the name of his future son-in-law distinctly showed how little he desired to meet any other member of the family, and Eva said sympathisingly, "Then I hope you will have an opportunity to remember me to Wolff."
"Shall I say nothing to Ursel?" asked the father, pressing a good-night kiss upon the young girl's forehead.
"She would not care for it," was the reply. "It cannot be easy to forget a man like Wolff."
"I wish he had stuck to Ursel, and let Els alone," her father answered angrily. "It would have been better for both."
"Why, father," interrupted Eva reproachfully, "do not our lovers seem really created for each other?"
"If the Eysvogels were only of the same opinion," exclaimed Ernst Ortlieb, shrugging his shoulders with a faint sigh. "Whoever marries, child, weds not only a man or a woman; all their kindred, unhappily, must be taken into the bargain. However, Els did not lack earnest warning. When your time comes, girl, your father will be more careful."
Smiling tenderly, he passed his hand over the little cap which covered her thick, fair hair, and went out.