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 other for ever. He too took counsel with himself, whether it would not be better to give in, and not demand the kiss until after their wedding. A man should have more sense than a woman. Why embitter each other’s lives? They were really fond of each other, had thought to die because they had not been allowed to marry, and now, shortly before their wedding, here they were, tormenting each other for no reason whatever.

‘Why are you crying?’ Lukas asked his sweetheart in a gentle tone, such as she had not heard from him for a long time.

‘I hear you have now taken to gambling at the inn as well?’

‘I have learnt many things lately that I knew nothing of before.’

‘But above all you have learnt to do things to annoy me.’

‘What about you?’

‘I am behaving in your house as a decent girl should. I think I deserve praise rather than blame for that.’

‘You think I ought to praise you into the bargain, because you jeer at me for dancing to your piping? Tell any one how you are treating me, they wouldn’t believe you. Show me a bridegroom who has had to put