When Stefeli had gone that far in her story, the door opened and her mother entered. Mr. Delrick explained that he had come to her at her husband's suggestion, but he was not sure he ought to bother her now as he had just learned from her daughter that they were having some sorrow.
"Sometimes it does us good to have to pull ourselves together and have no time to brood over our troubles," said Mrs. Lesa calmly.
"It is still better not to consider a trouble as trouble at all. That makes it easier to bear, don't you think so, Mrs. Lesa?" he asked as though he were an old friend.
"I believe I understand your meaning, though I do not know just how to reply," she answered after a little thought.
"There is no hurry about that," said Mr. Delrick pleasantly. "If you will permit me to live in your house for several months, we will have plenty of time to talk about it."
Mrs. Lesa looked at her visitor in wonder, but the happy surprise that flitted over her face at his words quickly disappeared. "That does not depend upon me alone, sir," she said in her quiet way. "I know my husband will not take strangers into the house, and that decides the matter."
"I have already come to an understanding with Mr. Lesa," explained Mr. Delrick. "He told me himself that he would be satisfied with whatever decision you make."
Mrs. Lesa did not know what to think. Just a short time ago her husband had declared no strangers would be taken in. She suggested Mr. Delrick should first look at the two rooms they could give him, to see if they would suit. If they did, she would talk the matter over with her husband and send him word at his hotel. This pleased Mr. Delrick, for he did not wish to hurry a decision, he said, as he followed her upstairs. The light, airy room with windows to the east through which shone the morning sun attracted him no less than the one to the west with the giant walnut trees to shade it, and he was so loath to leave them that she could not fail to observe it.
When Vinzenz Lesa came home that evening the first thing he said was, "Well, what did you arrange with the gentleman?"
His wife told him she had been unable to give any definite answer without knowing what he thought about the matter. "But, Vinzenz, I believe that if the gentleman comes to stay with us, he will bring us a blessing," she concluded.