She cried out softly, and sank on his breast. "Loulou,"
"Wilhelm," was all they said. It had happened so quickly, so
unconsciously, that they both felt as if they were awaking from a
dream, as Loulou a minute later freed herself from his burning lips
and encircling arms, and Wilhelm, confused and hardly master of his
senses, stood before her. They turned silently homeward. She
trembled all over and did not dare to take his arm. He inwardly
reproached himself, yet he felt very happy in spite of it. Then,
before they had reached the summit of the castle hill, he gathered
all his courage together and said anxiously:
"Can you forgive me, Loulou? I love you so much."
"I love you too, Wilhelm," she answered, and stretched out her hand
to him.
"Dare I speak to your mother, my own Loulou?" whispered he into her
ear.
"Not here, Wilhelm," she said quickly, "not here. You do not know my
parents well enough yet. Wait till we are in Berlin."
"I will do as you like," sighed he, and took leave of her with an
eloquent glance, as they reached the hotel.
On this evening a quantity of curious things happened, which Wilhelm
so far had not observed in spite of his studies in natural science.
He could not touch his dinner, and Herr and Frau Ellrich's voices,
against all the laws of acoustics, seemed to come from the far
distance, and several minutes elapsed before the sounds reached his
ears, although he sat close to the speakers.
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