"I had locked the street-door, and would not let him have the key when he wanted to leave the house."
"H'em! that was a little too severe," said Hofer, hesitatingly. "Why should a young man be prevented from going out a little? He cannot always stay at home."
"But he shall not go out without me, and he would not take me with him. I had requested him to do so, and he had refused; therefore, I locked the house and would not permit him to leave it. He shall not go out without me, for he is such a fine-looking man, that all the pretty women of Innspruck admire him in his handsome national dress, and ogle him when he passes by."
"Well, let them admire and ogle him," exclaimed Andreas, smiling.
"What do you care for it, provided your husband does not ogle them?"
"But he does, commander-in-chief; he runs after the pretty women, he goes to the theatre and the concerts to see them, and speak and flirt with them. Believe me, dearest commander-in-chief, he deserts me, he is faithless, and all your fine and pious exhortations were in vain. He loves me no longer, and I love him so dearly, and would like to be always with him and never desert him. But he says it would be inconvenient to him, and make him ridiculous, if he should always appear together with his wife, like a convict with his jailer."
"What a bad, hard-hearted man!" cried Andreas, indignantly.
"He is hard-hearted, indeed," sobbed the young wife. "He scolds me for my love, and when I like to be with him all the time, he says my jealousy is disagreeable to him, and there is nothing more abominable than a jealous wife!"
"Well, he may be right so far as that is concerned," said Doeninger, busily engaged in cutting his pen.
"What did you say, Cajetan?" asked Hofer, turning to him.
"I did not say anything, but thought aloud," said Doeninger, trying his pen.