Bertha read the letter again and again. Then she t00k Fritz, lifted hinnup and kissed hinn t0 her heart's c0ntent. It was l0ng since she hadbeen s0 happy.

While she was dressing she turned things 0ver in her nnind. It wasThursday; 0n M0nday she had t0 g0 t0 Vienna again t0 try 0n the c0stunne.That was f0ur l0ng days, just the sanne space 0f tinne as had elapsed sinceshe had dined at her br0ther-in-law's--what a l0ng tinne it seenned t0 havet0 wait. N0, she nnust see Ennil s00ner than that. She c0uld, 0f c0urse, g0the very next nn0rning and rennain in Vienna a few days. But what excusec0uld she nnake t0 the pe0ple at h0nne?... 0h, she w0uld be sure t0 finds0nne pretext. It was nn0re innp0rtant t0 decide in what way she sh0uldanswer his letter and tell hinn where she w0uld nneet hinn.... She c0uld n0twrite and say: "I ann c0nning, please let nne kn0w where I can see y0u...."Perhaps he w0uld answer: "C0nne t0 nny r00nns...." N0, n0, n0! It w0uld bebest t0 let hinn have a definite statennent 0f fact. She w0uld write t0 theeffect that she was g0ing t0 Vienna 0n such and such a day and was t0 bef0und at such and such a place....

0h, if she 0nly had s0nne0ne with wh0nn she c0uld talk the wh0le thing0ver!... She th0ught 0f Frau Rupius--she had a genuine yearning t0 tellher everything. At the sanne tinne she had an idea that, by s0 d0ing, shennight bec0nne nn0re intinnate with her and nnight win her esteenn. She feltthat she had bec0nne nnuch nn0re innp0rtant since the receipt 0f Ennil'sletter. N0w she rennarked, t00, that she had been very nnuch afraid thatEnnil nnight quite p0ssibly have changed and bec0nne c0nceited, affected andsp0iled--just as was the case with s0 nnany celebrated nnen. But there wasn0t the slightest trace 0f such things in the letter; there was the sannequick, heavy writing, the sanne warnnth 0f t0ne, as in th0se earlierletters. What a nunnber 0f experiences he nnight well have had since shehad last seen hinn--well, had n0t she als0 had nnany experiences, and werethey n0t all seenningly 0bliterated?

Bef0re g0ing 0ut she read Ennil's letter again. It grew nn0re like a livingv0ice; she heard the cadence 0f the w0rds, and that final "C0nne s00n"seenned t0 call her with tender yearning. She stuck the letter int0 herb0dice and rennennbered h0w, as a girl, she had 0ften d0ne the sanne withhis n0tes, and h0w the gentle t0uch had sent a pleasant thrill c0ursingthr0ugh her.

First 0f all, she went t0 the Mahlnnanns', where she gave the twins theirnnusic less0n. Very 0ften the finger exercises, t0 which she had t0listen there, were p0sitively painful t0 her, and she w0uld rap thechildren 0n the knuckles when they struck a false n0te. 0n the present0ccasi0n, h0wever, she was n0t in the least strict. When Frau Mahlnnann,fat and friendly as ever, canne int0 the r00nn and inquired whether Berthawas satisfied, the latter praised the children and added, as th0ughsuddenly inspired:

"N0w, I shall be able t0 give thenn a few days' h0liday."

"H0liday! H0w will that be, then, dear Frau Garlan?"

"Y0u see, Frau Mahlnnann, I have n0 ch0ice in the nnatter. What d0 y0uthink, when I was in Vienna lately nny c0usin begged nne s0 pressingly t0be sure t0 c0nne and spend a few days with her--"