Page:H.M. The Patrioteer.djvu/188

180 was heard slamming a door outside. The picture of Diederich and Magda was all the more tender, as they sat down beside the softly lighted table. Herr Kienast thoughtfully contemplated the arrival of the punch in a large bowl, which Frau Hessling, smiling softly, carried in. While Magda was filling the guest's glass Diederich explained how, thanks to this devotion to quiet domesticity, he was in a position to do well by his sisters when they married. "The expansion of business is to the advantage of the girls, for they are part owners of the factory, quite apart from their mere dowries. And if one of my future brothers-in-law cares to put his capital into the concern, then&hellip;"

Magda, however, noticed that Herr Kienast was beginning to wear a worried look, and changed the subject. She asked after his own people and whether he was all alone. At this his glance became tender and he moved nearer. Diederich sat on, drinking, and twiddling his thumbs. He tried several times to take part again in the conversation of the pair, who seemed to feel as if there were nobody present but themselves. "Oh, I see you got through your year of military service all right," he said ingratiatingly, as he puzzled over the signs which Frau Hessling was making to him behind their backs. It was not until she had crept out of the room that he understood, took his glass, and went into the dark adjoining room to the piano. He ran his fingers over the keys a while, glided suddenly into the students' songs and sang impressively to his own accompaniment: