Page:Life in the Old World - Vol. II.djvu/365

Rh the beautiful little Kindergartens of Germany, as soon as she could leave Italy, which she loved so much for its beauty and its art; she would live for friendship, for beauty, for these little children, and I—said nothing against it! Perhaps such a life as this might be better suited to so delicate and ethereal a being, than married life with its sorrows and anxieties, which were unavoidable even with a Hercules. I confessed my deep sympathy with him and his love; but he was altogether too much a man not soon to recover himself in a trial, which, however painful to his heart, would still neither derange nor interrupt his career in life, which was rich with its plans for the future. I am, in the mean time, not certain whether little Elsa will adhere steadfastly to her resolution of devoting her life to the happiness of her twelve female friends. Twelve female friends might be much more troublesome than a husband.

This is what I have said; and for the rest, my summer-daughter must be left free, and must decide according to her own heart's light! Her little paternal inheritance, and her extraordinary musical talent, will shield her from real want. But her delicate health, and her inability to take care of herself—Oh Hercules, Hercules, I return after all to the wish that she may be able to love thee, and that thou mayst surround her with thy strong, protecting arms! In the mean time I have carefully avoided mentioning his name during the quiet week that we have been together here, and which my summer-daughter has made affluent to me by her captivating manners, her music, and by an affluence of biographical and