"
"I should believe that, if it had not been exactly the moment when
Rollo began to bark outside. So he must have seen it too. Then the
door flew open and the good faithful animal sprang toward me, as
though he were coming to my rescue. Oh, my dear Johanna, it was
terrible. And I so alone and so young. Oh, if I only had some one here
with whom I could weep. But so far from home--alas, from home."
"The master may come any hour."
"No, he shall not come. He shall not see me thus. He would probably
laugh at me and I could never pardon him for that. For it was so
fearful, Johanna--You must stay here now--But let Christel sleep and
Frederick too. Nobody must know about it."
"Or perhaps I may fetch Mrs. Kruse to join us. She doesn't sleep
anyhow; she sits there all night long."
"No, no, she is a kindred spirit. That black chicken has something to
do with it, too. She must not come. No, Johanna, you just stay here
yourself. And how fortunate that you merely drew the shutters to. Push
them open, make a loud noise, so that I may hear a human sound, a
human sound--I have to call it that, even if it seems queer--and then
open the window a little bit, that I may have air and light."
Johanna did as ordered and Effi leaned back upon her pillows and soon
thereafter fell into a lethargic sleep.
CHAPTER X
It was six o'clock in the morning when Innstetten returned home from
Varzin. He made Rollo omit all demonstrations of affection and then
retired as quietly as possible to his room.
Pages:
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376