Paul, who sat opposite, insisted against all the rules of etiquette
on having Schrotter beside him as his left-hand neighbor. On his
right, Frau Brohl, in rustling silk, sat in rapt silence. The ever-
modest Frau Marker was content to take a lower place.
The pastor said grace before the dinner began, which seemed to
surprise the Landrath, but the Chamberlain was much edified. The
Young Men's Verein played dance-music and marches in front of the
open windows. Paul proposed the health of the emperor, whereupon the
Landrath, in a carefully worded speech, drank to the host and the
ladies. They all clinked glasses with an enthusiasm which was in no
way feigned, but perfectly accountable after so splendid a dinner
and such well-assorted wines. In the midst of the gayety and noise,
and while the clarionets and trumpets blared away outside, Paul
turned to his neighbor, and tapping the foot of his glass against
the edge of Schrotter's, he whispered to him, unheard by the others:
"To HIS memory!" He turned his head away abruptly, bent over his
glass, and was busily engaged in furtively passing his table-napkin
across his face and eyes. Schrotter put his lips to his glass and
closed his eyes. One could positively trace upon his broad brow how
a thought passed over it like a shadow.
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