Page:Foreign Tales and Traditions (Volume 2).djvu/250

 lected together a few plumbs and pieces of cake and sugar, the fragments of their repast, which she deposited in her reticule, while her father placed himself before her to conceal so shabby a proceeding from the waiter. Probably the old fellow read the disgust I felt at witnessing this mean transaction in my countenance; for he immediately launched out into an harangue in praise of Bernhardine’s economical spirit, assuring me that she therein only imitated her worthy patroness, Mrs Milbirn, who would have rescued a half-burnt match from the fire rather than have wasted it unnecessarily.

Disgusted beyond measure by all that I had heard or witnessed for the last half-hour, I threw myself abruptly into my carriage, and Bernhardine was scored out of the list of women one might marry. For had she possessed a thousand charms, with such a father-in-law, to think of marrying was impossible. I had already erased Charlotte, Adelaide, Prokofjefna, and Julia from the list, on the faith of what I had heard from Sander; so here were five out of the way, and for the other two, my firm resolution was to make no inquiries about them.

“ on!” cried I to the postillion, with a sort of feeling that the sooner I reached Klarenburg the sooner I would get out of a place which had altogether become unendurable in imagination to me. “Drive on, that we may see the Golden Ox in his glory before it is dark!”

“What! Is it to the Golden Ox you want to go, sir?” exclaimed the postillion in a tone of disappointment. “Why I cannot say how a gentleman like you chooses to think;