Hundreds of times he was on the point of saying to Loulou that he
did not think the tie between them would secure their happiness, and
offering her her freedom, but as soon as he began his courage would
fail him. If people were present he was confused; if they were
alone, her personal appearance had the same charm for him, or rather
it awoke in him the remembrance of the delight and enthusiasm he had
felt in the past, and prevented him taking a step toward what would
do grievous injury to her girlish vanity, if nothing more.
Would this suspense and these fears, which made him so restless and
unhappy, always last? He might write a letter to Loulou, as he was
unable to say what he wished to in the light of her beautiful brown
eyes. Then he threw this idea aside as unworthy of consideration; he
could not simply dismiss a girl whom he loved by means of the post.
The simple thing to do seemed to wait, until, on the other side,
they should grow disgusted with him, and would tell him to go. This
agreed with his passive character, which was timidly inclined to
draw back before the rushing current of events, and preferred to be
carried along by them, just as a willow leaf is borne along on the
surface of a stream. Wilhelm could not help noticing that Herr von
Pechlar was now a favorite guest at the Ellrichs', that he made
himself very fussy about both mother and daughter, and that he had a
very impertinent and slightly triumphant air when he met him.
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