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364 the latter had invested less money than any one, none at all, in fact, Diederich suspected. Jadassohn's relations with Kathchen, from former times, were a sort of mortgage on the enterprise. So Diederich had no scruples in discussing with Jadassohn the anxiety it caused him. At the Stammtisch the pair pulled their chairs together in a corner, over which the motto stood: "What lovely woman does for love of man must e'er succeed accordingly to plan." With due respect for Pastor Zillich, who was discoursing not far off upon the canons of Christianity, they discussed the affairs of the villa. Diederich complained of Kathchen's rapacious demands upon his purse, and he expected Jadassohn to exercise a restraining influence upon her. But Jadassohn merely said: "Why do you keep her then? Isn't she supposed to be most expensive?" And this was also true. After his first fleeting satisfaction at having got Kathchen in this fashion, Diederich had come to regard her practically as an item, an imposing item, in his advertising account. "My position," he said to Jadassohn, "obliges me to do things on a large scale. Other wise I would—honestly—drop the whole thing, for, between ourselves, Kathchen does not offer enough attraction." At this Jadassohn smiled eloquently, but said nothing. "In any case," continued Diederich, "she is the same type as my wife, and my wife"—here he whispered behind his hand—"has a better technique. You see there is no resisting her temperament, and after every escapade at the von Brietzen villa I have the feeling that I owe my wife something. You may laugh, but as a matter of fact, I always make her a present. Provided she doesn't notice anything!" Jadassohn laughed with more reason than Diederich suspected, for he had long since regarded it as his moral duty to enlighten Frau Hessling about this relationship. In political matters a similarly advantageous co-operation was established between Diederich and Jadassohn as in the case of Kathchen. They jointly did their utmost to purge