by anything than by
what you have just said to me. It is true, that since--well, for some
time past I will say--I have gained a very different opinion of you; it
is my duty to confess this to you after having so candidly told you the
rest to your face. I have learned to esteem you highly, Rosenbusch;
I--I even believe I must make use of a stronger expression; I have
conceived a hearty love and affection for you--no, you mustn't
interrupt me by a single word, it must all come out first. Do you know,
on that night when you behaved so naughtily--you recollect it, don't
you?--you took a liberty which you regarded merely as the toll of
gallantry, but which a girl who has any respect for herself--though I
have no prudish notions about such things when people are really in
love with one another--and that was it that made me feel so badly,
because you took such a liberty without really loving me; and I believe
I didn't close an eye half that night, and that I shed many secret
tears, because--because, do what I would, I couldn't be angry with you
for it!"

"Angelica!" he cried, eagerly, approaching to seize her hand, which,
however, she instantly drew back. "Why do you speak this way, if you
will not make me happy--if you will not even let me kiss your hand? No,
I won't be kept from speaking any longer; for, no matter how much about
my bad qualities you may still have on your conscience, you can
no longer deny that you like me, that you think well of me; and
that is the main thing and a thousand times better than I ever dared
to hope. Dearest, best Angelica, only try and believe that even a
thirty-one-year-old battle-painter can improve. I will stop up my flute
with lead, I will give my mice strychnine in a piece of Swiss cheese,
and will wear a covering over my nose so that the children shall run
away at sight of me. And, finally, in regard to my love-affairs--do you
really believe I am so wanting in taste, to say nothing of all nobler
motives, as to have eyes for such every-day doll-faces, after having
found in your countenance the image of all love and goodness, of all
wisdom and grace?"

In the mean while he got possession of one of her hands and pressed
it so earnestly, at the same time gazing into her face with such
true-hearted, mischievous eyes, that she grew quite red and came very
near losing her firmness. However, she quickly recovered herself again
and said:

"You are a truly dangerous man, Rosenbusch. I begin to