ADELAIDE.
And Ida? Because you won't bear it Ida is to be made unhappy?
COLONEL.
My poor child! She has been unhappy throughout the whole affair. This half-hearted way of us men has long been a mistake. It is better to end it with one sharp pain.
ADELAIDE (seriously).
I cannot see that ending of it as yet. I shall only see it when Ida laughs once more as merrily as she used to do.
COLONEL (excitedly walking about, exclaiming).
Well then, I'll give him my child, and go and sit alone in a corner. I had other views for my old age, but God forbid that my beloved girl should be made unhappy by me. He is reliable and honorable, and will take good care of her. I shall move back to the little town I came from.
ADELAIDE (seizing his hand).
My revered friend, no—you shall not do that! Neither Oldendorf nor Ida would accept their happiness at such a price. But if Senden and his friends were secretly to take the paper away from the professor, what then?