For a long time I have in
secret loved your daughter, Mam'sell Veronica; and I can boast of many
a kind look which she has given me, evidently showing that she would
not cast me away. In one word, honored Conrector! I, Hofrat Heerbrand,
do now entreat of you the hand of your most amiable Mam'sell Veronica,
whom I, if you have nothing against it, purpose shortly to take home
as my wife."
Conrector Paulmann, full of astonishment, clapped his hands
repeatedly, crying: "Ey, Ey, Ey! Herr Registr--Herr Hofrat, I meant
to say--who would have thought it? Well, if Veronica does really
love you, I for my share cannot object; nay, perhaps, her present
melancholy is nothing but concealed love for you, most honored Hofrat!
You know what freaks they have!"
At this moment Veronica entered, pale and agitated as she now commonly
was. Then Hofrat Heerbrand stepped toward her; mentioned in a neat
speech her Saint's-day and handed her the odorous nosegay, along
with a little packet; out of which, when she opened it, a pair of
glittering ear-rings beamed up at her. A rapid flying blush tinted her
cheeks; her eyes sparkled in joy, and she cried: "O Heaven! These are
the very ear-rings which I wore some weeks ago, and thought so much
of."
"How can this be, dearest Mam'sell," interrupted Hofrat Heerbrand,
somewhat alarmed and hurt, "when I bought these jewels not an hour ago
in the Schlossgasse, for current money?"
But Veronica heeded him not; she was standing before the mirror to
witness the effect of the trinkets, which she had already suspended
in her pretty little ears.
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