hem were still in bed."

"Well, then, the horses will have to do the journey again to-morrow, for
no time should be lost."

"Yes, you can come in to-morrow, if you long so much to see your
friend."

"And you?" asked Trudi, in a tone of astonishment.

"And I? I am up to my ears now in work. Last week was the first week for
four months that we could plough. Now we have lost these three days at
Easter. I cannot spare a single hour."

"But, my dear Axel, Bibi is of far greater importance for the future of
Lohm than any amount of ploughing."

"I confess I do not see how."

"I don't understand you."

"Why didn't you bring the little boys?"

"What have you asked me to come here for?"

"Come, Trudi, you've not been near me for eight months. Isn't it natural
that you should pay me a little visit?"

"No, it isn't natural at all to come to such a place in winter, and
leave all the fun at home. I came because of Bibi."

"What! You'll come for Bibi, but not for your own brother?"

"Now, Axel, you know very well that I have come for you both."

"For us both? What would Miss Bibi say if she heard you talking of
herself and of me as 'you both'?"

"I wish you would not bother to go on like this. It's a great waste of
time."

"So it is, my dear. Any talk about Bibi Bornstedt, as far as I am
concerned, is a hopeless waste of time."

"Axel!"

"Trudi?"

"You don't mean to say that you are not thinking of her?"

"Thinking of her? I never let my thoughts linger round strange young
ladies."

"Then what in heaven's name have you got me here for?"

"The anemones are coming out----"

"_Ach_----"

"They really are."

"Suppose instead of teasing me as though I were still ten and you a
great bully, you talked sensibly. The Hohensteins give a _bal masque_
to-night, and I gave it up to come to you."

"Oh, my dear, that was really kind," said Lohm, touched by the
tremendousness of this sacrifice.

"Then be a good boy," said Trudi caressingly, edging herself closer to
him, "and tell me you are going to be wise about Bibi. Don't throw such
a chance away--it's positively wicked."

"My dear Trudi, you'll have us in the ditch. It is very nice when you
lean against me, but I can't drive. By the way, you remember my old
Kleinwalde neighbour? The old man who spoilt you so atrociously?"

"Bibi will make a most excellent wife," said Trudi, ungratefully
indifferent to the memory of old Joachim. "Oh, what a cold wind there i