Page:The Reminiscences of Carl Schurz (Volume One).djvu/196

 others the reports about the stage. A theater had been established in Bonn which gave respectable performances, and even light opera. To the Bonner Zeitung the director of the theater assigned a box for its reporters, the principal reporter having so far been Mme. Kinkel. This box was now at my disposal, and I occupied it, not only when journalistic duties called me to witness the performance of a new play, but sometimes also when I felt the want of a little relaxation from my many labors and cares. Here I must confess that to these labors and cares an affair of the heart had been added.

Until this time no woman outside of my family-circle had played any part in my life, perhaps largely because of my excessive bashfulness. At length inevitable fate laid its hand upon me too. I really fell in love, head over heels, at first sight, with a beautiful young lady. She was the daughter of a little merchant. Her name was Betty. I had never been introduced to her and we had never exchanged a word. I had only seen her sitting at her window, occupied with embroidery; still oftener with a book in her hand, I had frequently passed by this window, and almost always she sat there. Sometimes our eyes met, and I then was conscious of blushing all over. From a friend of hers I heard that she was reading Shakespeare in the English original, which gave me a high idea of her mental gifts and acquirements. The sly manner in which I sometimes turned the conversation with that friend in the direction of Betty, was, of course, self-betraying; and from what he told me in return, I was happy to suspect that Betty too was aware of my existence. I ardently longed to know her and soon found a to me surprisingly favorable opportunity.

One evening while sitting in the theater-box,—Flotow's opera “Martha” was on the stage,—two ladies took seats in the