I owe everything to him. He laid the
foundation of my prosperity, and preserved my heir to me, for whom
alone I am working and striving. If Wilhelm were with us now, he
would not refuse my request, and with that thought before you, Herr
Doctor, you will not pain me by refusing." The words came from
Paul's heart, and showed that he felt keenly the desire to do
homage, in his way, to Wilhelm's memory. Schrotter could not but
accept.
To all outward appearances he had recovered from the terrible shock
of his friend's death, in reality, however, he was all the less
likely to have got over his loss, owing to the circumstance that he
was often busied with the management of Wilhelm's affairs, and thus
the wound was inevitably kept open.
Wilhelm left no will. After much inquiry, it was discovered that he
had a very distant relative living at Lowenhagen, near Konigsberg,
married to a poor village smith, and lavishly endowed with children.
The house in the Kochstrasse went to her--a very windfall, for which
the honest wife and mother was too thankful to be able to simulate
grief at the death of the relative she had never known. She
generously handed over all Wilhelm's papers to Schrotter, after
having assured herself by inquiries in various quarters that they
would only fetch the value of their weight.
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