open air, in
a very composed state of mind, recalling many vanished ideas and
wishes, and in much sorrow at the prospect of my shortly impending
journey, which must now take me far from Saalfeld and Halle.[88] Thus I
did not return very soon, and went straight to her room. I immediately
discovered such an expression of natural, earnest, and approving
friendship in the countenance of the mother, who came forward to meet
me, that I could no longer doubt the success of my proposal, and my
feelings also became equally visible when I began to speak. The
feelings of all three were similar and showed themselves perceptibly in
our eyes, a kind of joyful solemnity ensued, and we all three returned
thanks to God. The mother laid before me the two letters, and asked,
'Do you confess that you have written these?' 'Oh, yes,' I said, and
kissed her hand. She kissed me warmly, and assured me of her most
hearty approbation.

"The daughter very soon after lost her heretofore shyness, and raised
her eyes pleasantly, because she knew it did not displease her mother,
and she had now a right to make herself pleasant. We had neither of us
had any romantic training, otherwise she would not have waited for this
till I had spoken and had obtained the mothers consent. Thus this
affair, which was so difficult and so important for me, took a smooth
course, without the intervention of any other person, or the employment
of those arts or intrigues with which brides are entrapped by many.

"It is not necessary for me to tell the holy and humble thankfulness of
my soul to God, nor how much I endeavoured to preserve my inward peace
and tranquillity, in spite of the gossip that followed upon this my
resolution.

"I immediately investigated the character of my bride; she had an
agreeable aspect, although the smallpox, which she had passed through
after she was grown up, had materially injured her complexion. Her
education had been carried on partly under the eyes of a grandmother
and an excellent aunt, partly by the mother, who kept a tutor for her
and her brother. After the death of the father, the mother and daughter
had lived in great retirement. But she had only the more cultivated all
those qualifications which are most advantageous to her sex; her
judgment was so good, that her mother generally preferred it to her own
in household arrangements. The style of her letters was good, the
handwriting pretty and even, and there were very few faults of