And, notwithstanding, how full of promises and evangelical consolation were his pronouncements! To hear him was like listening to a lullaby one sings to a crying infant.
A miracle was to happen! In truth, a miracle must come to pass, for in it his only chance of redemption lay. He had been on the watch for a miracle, and now one was prophesied. What more could he desire?
Meanwhile the little flaxen-haired daughter had come in from the next room, and now leaning against her father's knee she whispered something in his ear.
He looked at the clock, smacked his dry lips, as if he were on the point of saying "even," and shook his head smiling. Then a bright idea seemed to strike him. He turned to Leo.
"It would be doing us a great honour if you would drink a cup of coffee with us quietly?"
It might have been interpreted as a slight if he had declined the invitation, and two minutes later the small daughter, biting her lips in anxiety lest she should spill anything, carried in a china tea-tray, from which the fragrance of coffee, which had hitherto faintly filled the air, streamed in full strength. A woman's hand, with a polished wedding-ring on it, was visible for a moment at the latch of the door, but, having done its duty, was about to be withdrawn, when the superintendent said--
"Come in, dear wife, and let me present you to our distinguished guest."
A female figure, clad in black, appeared on the threshold. Spare, yet dignified; serious, yet friendly; severe, and yet kindhearted, this lady seemed admirably adapted to preside unostentatiously at Women's Unions and Mother's Meetings, and to take the place of honour with quiet self-possession beside the wives of the landed gentry. On her head she wore a black cap, scarcely larger than half a crown. Two wide ribbons floated over her ears to her shoulders, heightening the impression her personality made, of unassuming solemnity.
The superintendent introduced her to Leo. The hand she offered him was grey and bony, as a labouring woman's, and the fingers ploughed with needle-pricks. It was reported that this hand had scattered blessings for miles round.
"You are welcome, Herr von Sellenthin," she said, with a stiff bow, and then turning to her husband she added, in a low voice, "Shall I send in the honey-slabs?"