"'To-day is Martinmas,' said I. Edwin Stürmer looked at me. It was a strange look; what did he mean? And all at once Anna Maria—the proud, heartless Anna Maria—threw her hands over her face, and bitterly weeping, went out.
"'What is that, Edwin?' I asked; and, as he did not answer, I tapped him on the shoulder with my wooden knitting-needle. And the strong man rose too, stood at the window, and looked out without replying a word.
"'Little summer, little summer, rose-leaf,
Village and city,
Give us something, O maiden fair!'
died away the old song."
CHAPTER XX.
"The winter passed quietly away, and with the spring, just as the trees were blossoming, Susanna came back. Anna Maria had sent the best carriage to meet the home-comer, and put a little white dress on the child. The table was set in a festal manner in the dining-room, and at Susanna's place was a bunch of splendid white roses. I went to the front steps to meet the young wife. Stürmer, who happened to have come over, remained with Anna Maria in the salon; she had the child in her arms.
"Susanna jumped down from the carriage, fresh and rosy, and fell on my neck. 'Here I am again, dearest aunt, here I am again!' she cried. 'How have you been, and how is my dear little boy?' She flew up the steps like a bird, so that all the lace and flounces of her elegant mourning dress stood out and blew behind her. Like a child she ran through the hall; I could scarcely keep up with her; then she stood in the salon.
"The baby had grown; the baby sat there quite sensibly already, on the arm of his fair aunt; his bright curly hair fell about his lovely baby face, and he was just grasping after Uncle Stürmer's watch. The young mother rushed to the child with a cry of delight, pulled it into her arms, and covered it with kisses. But the young gentleman misunderstood this; he did not know the strange lady at all who had come in so suddenly, and with a pitiful cry he stretched out his arms toward Anna Maria.
"Susanna was confounded, and then began to weep, affectingly and bitterly: 'She had lost her child's love!' It was a painful scene. Stürmer went into the next room, and Anna Maria tried to console Susanna. 'It is only because he is not accustomed to you; he has not seen you for so long, Susanna. Just hear what he has learned,' she begged.