Wegen was in a most cheerful mood; he sang and leaped, and described Cäcilie's advantages to his friend with inexhaustible loquacity.
Olga was obliged to retire far into the background; her ponderous nature, her Turkish beauty, the sensual expression of her lips and eyes--how could she compare with that graceful figure, with the mental activity and refinement of her sister?
And when Blanden suggested that Cäcilie loved Dr. Kuhl, Wegen broke out into triumphant laughter.
"No fear of that, my dear friend! She may like him for the sake of his strange ideas, but she thinks, like Homunculus, he only loves the fair sex in the plural; she prefers the singular, and all girls must vote for that! I do not remember now what sort of a part Homunculus played--."
"He lives in the bottle," said Blanden, "and that is a new point of resemblance to Dr. Kuhl."
"All the same," replied Wegen, "I use that term of mockery for him now, and I do not fear him."
"He who offers his heart and hand to a girl, has an advantage over the lover who goes out in search of casual adventures. Cäcilie knows that my intentions are honest; I am certainly not so intellectual as the Doctor, but a few acres of good soil are worth more than a whole orbis pictus of genius that floats up aloft in the air--girls are more practical than we think."
"You may be right," replied Blanden, "many only make use of the throbs of their hearts to enable them to learn addition; but there are many exceptions, brilliant exceptions: there are girlish hearts which live and die in their love."
With this last melancholy turn the conversation was interrupted for some time.
Blanden thought of his Eva, and of the pain of seeing her again, and Wegen would not disturb his friend in such gloomy dreams.