ol. Dora and I talked it over, and
she said that if Father married Frau R., she would leave home. In the
evening when we were at supper, I said: "If only Frau v. R. was not
so ugly. Father, don't you think she's perfectly hideous? And Father
laughed so lovingly and said: You need not be anxious, little witch,
I'm not going to inflict a stepmother on you." I was so glad, and so was
Dora and we kissed Father such a lot, and Dora said: "I felt sure that
you would never break your oath to Mother," and she burst out crying.
And Father said: "No, girls, I did not give any promise to your Mother,
she would never have asked anything of the kind. But with grown girls
like you it would never do to bring a stepmother into the house." And
then I told Father that Dora would have gone away from home, and as
for me, I should certainly have been frightfully upset. For _if_ Father
really wanted _to marry_ again _I_ should have to put up with it; and so
would Dora. But Father said once more: "Don't worry, I certainly shan't
marry again." And I said: "Not even Aunt Dora?" And he said: "Oh, as
for her -- --" And then he pulled himself up and said: "No, no, not even
Aunt Dora." Dora has just told me that I am a perfect idiot, for surely
I must know that Father is not particularly charmed by Aunt. And then
she blamed me for having told Father that she would leave home if he
were to marry again. _I am a child_ to whom it is impossible to entrust
any secrets!! Now we have been quarrelling for at least three quarters
of an hour, so it is already half past 11. Luckily to-morrow is a
holiday, because of the Emperor's birthday. But I am so glad to know for
certain that Father is not going to marry Frau v. R I could never get on
with a stepmother.

October 9th. It's horribly difficult in German this year. In composition
we are not allowed to make any rough notes, we have to write it straight
off and then _hand it in_. I simply can't. Professor Fritsch is very
handsome, but the girls are terribly afraid of him for he is so strict.
His wife is in an asylum and his children live with his mother. He
has got a divorce from his wife, and since he has the luck to be
a Protestant he can marry again if he wants to. Hella is perfectly
fascinated by him, but I'm not in the least. For I always think of Prof.
W. in the Second, and that's enough for me. I'm not going to fall in
love with any more professors. In the Training College, where Marina is
now, in her f