"Drums and fifes
Martial sounds--"
thus he courted Lori's favour, remembering Göethe's lines--
"Maidens and castles
Then must they yield,
Bold is the struggle
For glorious reward."
The shrill whistle was answered by a ringing mocking laugh from every portion of the house. The humiliation, the disgrace were too great.
Giulia fainted, the curtain fell, the performance could proceed no farther.
The crowd dispersed noisily, some persons crowded round the ticket box to demand their entrance money. Lori looked on very triumphantly, her eyes flashed, and Dr. Sperner was permitted to accompany her home. Kuhl had hastened on to the stage; Giulia had been taken into the drawing-room, where she soon recovered consciousness.
Blanden was her first thought; she implored Kuhl not to communicate the theatrical riot to him, he should beseech all their friends to be silent about it; she should take care that the newspapers containing the report should not fall into his hands, it might excite him, and be injurious to his health, if the news reached him.
Kuhl promised to preserve the secret.
"Really, it is not so bad," added he consolingly, "a little more or less noise does not matter. The dear public itself is a great scandal, a thousand-headed crime against good taste, a million-fold want of sense. What is most wretched pleases it, and yet it is really sincere when its honest displeasure has been roused, if indeed it is possible to transform this sleepy mass into fire and flame. To be sure it only burns like plum-pudding when spirits have been poured over it and ignited, when the spirits are exhausted then the phlegm remains behind."
Giulia thanked the Doctor for his friendly intentions, and for the slight comfort which she could extract from such daring views. Arrived at home, she sat a long time talking to Beate; she gave her companion money for the journey, and on the following day Beate prepared for her departure to the Orta lake.