"Doctor, you are not in earnest. Linden might still marry a quiet,
sensible woman of mature years, but a young girl who might be his
daughter--he must have lost his senses."
"Madame, that is still far from being manifest to me, marriage often has
a rejuvenating influence."
"Marriage with a girl like Kaethe Markwald? If I were Linden, I should
fear eyes like hers. She belongs to the species of sleeping monsters.
Woe betide the man who wakes and is not strong enough to conquer them."
Thiel could not help smiling. "I repeat, marriage often works marvels of
resurrection. And in the worst case--the matter need not yet be taken
tragically."
Frau von der Lehde could not console herself for the final loss of
Linden, but she understood that she could do nothing more to hold him or
to win him back. In the first place because he could not be reached.
Contrary to universal expectation, he soon tore himself away from his
charming fiancee and set off on his summer travels much earlier than in
former years. He extended them full three months, which he spent at
various sea-shore watering-places.
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