“Shewouldn’thaveblubbered，asyoucallit。Idon’tknowwhyyouneedbesodisgusting！Itwouldhavegivenherjustthemoralsupportsheneeded。Nowshewillhavetotellhimherself，andhewillblameus。
Yououghttohavespoken；youcouldhavedoneiteasilyandnaturallywhenyoucameupwithher。Youwillhaveyourselftothankforallthetroublethatcomesofit，now，mydear。”
Heshoutedinadmirationofherskillinshiftingtheblameonhim。
“Allright！Ishouldhavehadtostandit，evenifyouhadn’tbehavedwithangelicwisdom。”
“Why。”shesaid，afterreflection，“Idon’tseewhateitherofushasdone。Wedidn’tgetBurnamytocomehere，orconniveathispresenceinanyway。”
“Oh！MakeTriscoebelievethat！Heknowsyou’vedoneallyoucouldtohelptheaffairon。”
“Well，whatifIhave？HebeganmakinguptoMrs。Addinghimselfassoonashesawher，to-night。Shelookedverypretty。”
“Well，thankHeaven！we’reoffto-morrowmorning，andIhopewe’veseenthelastofthem。They’vedonewhattheycouldtospoilmycure，butI’mnotgoingtohavethemspoilmyaftercure。”
Mrs。MarchhaddecidednottogotothePosthofforbreakfast，wheretheyhadalreadytakenalavishleaveofthe’schone’Lili，withasenseofbeingpromptlysupersededinheraffections。Theyfoundaplaceinthered-table-clothendofthepavilionatPupp’s，andwereservedbytheprettygirlwiththerose-budmouthwhomtheyhadknownonlyasEin-und-
Zwanzig，andwhosepromiseof“Komm’gleich，bitteschon！”waslikeabird’snote。Neverhadthecoffeebeensogood，thebreadsoaeriallylight，theWestphalianhamsotenderlypink。Ayoungmarriedcouplewhomtheyknewcameby，arminarm，intheirmorningwalk，andsatdownwiththem，liketheirownyouth，foramoment。
“Ifyouhadtoldthemweweregoing，dear。”saidMrs。March，whenthecouplewerethemselvesgone，“weshouldhavebeenasoldasever。Don’tletustellanybody，thismorning，thatwe’regoing。Icouldn’tbearit。”
Theyhadbeenobligedtotakethesecretaryofthehotelintotheirconfidence，intheprocessofpayingtheirbill。Heputonhishighhatandcameouttoseethemoff。Theportierwasalreadythere，standingatthestepofthelordlytwo-spannerwhichtheyhadorderedforthelongdrivetothestation。TheSwisselevator-mancametothedoortoofferthemafellow-republican’sgoodwishesfortheirjourney；HerrPupphimselfappearedatthelastmomenttohopefortheirreturnanothersummer。Mrs。Marchbentalastlookofinterestupontheproprietorastheirtwo-spannerwhirledaway。
“Theysaythatheisgoingtobemadeacount。”
“Well，Idon’tobject。”saidMarch。“Amanwhocanfeedfourteenthousandpeople，mostlyGermans，inaday，oughttobemadeanarchduke。”
Atthestationsomethinghappenedwhichtouchedthemevenmorethantheselastattentionsofthehotel。Theywereintheircompartment，andwereintheactofpossessingthemselvesofthebestplacesbyputtingtheirbundlesandbagsonthem，whentheyheardMrs。March’snamecalled。
TheyturnedandsawRoseAddingatthedoor，histhinfaceflushedwithexcitementandhiseyesglowing。“IwasafraidIshouldn’tgethereintime。”hepanted，andhehelduptoherahugebunchofflowers。
“WhyRose！Fromyourmother？”
“Fromme。”hesaid，timidly，andhewasslippingoutintothecorridor，whenshecaughthimandhisflowerstoherinoneembrace。“Iwanttokissyou。”shesaid；andpresently，whenhehadwavedhishandtothemfromtheplatformoutside，andthetrainhadstarted，shefumbledforherhandkerchief。“Isupposeyoucallitblubbering；butheisthesweetestchild！“
“He’sabouttheonlyoneofourCarlsbadcompatriotsthatI’msorrytoleavebehind。”Marchassented。“He’stheonlyunmarriedonethatwasn’tindangerofturningupaloveronmyhands；iftherehadbeensomeratheroldgirl，orsomeratherlightmatroninouracquaintance，I’mnotsurethatIshouldhavebeensafeevenfromRose。Carlsbadhasbeenaninterruptiontooursilverweddingjourney，mydear；butIhopenowthatitwillbeginagain。”
“Yes。”saidhiswife，“nowwecanhaveeachotheralltoourselves。”
“Yes。It’sbeenverydifferentfromourfirstweddingjourneyinthat。
Itisn’tthatwe’renotsoyoungnowaswewere，butthatwedon’tseemsomuchourownproperty。Weusedtobethesoleproprietors，andnowweseemtobemeretenantsatwill，andanyinterlopinglovermaycomeinandsetourdearestinterestsonthesidewalk。Thedisadvantageoflivingalongisthatwegettoomuchintothehandsofotherpeople。”
“Yes，itis。Ishallbegladtoberidofthemall，too。”
“Idon’tknowthatthedrawbackisseriousenoughtomakeuswishwehaddiedyoung——oryounger。”hesuggested。
“No，Idon’tknowthatitis。”sheassented。Sheadded，fromanabsencewherehewassufficientlyabletolocatehermeaning，“Ihopeshe’llwriteandtellmewhatherfathersaysanddoeswhenshetellshimthathewasthere。”
Thereweremanythings，intheweather，thelandscape，theirsoleoccupancyofanunsmokingcompartment，whileallthesmokingcompartmentsroundoverflowedwithsmokers，whichconspiredtoofferthemapleasingillusionofthepast；itwassometimessoperfectthattheyalmostheldeachother’shands。Inlaterlifetherearesuchmomentswhentheyouthfulemotionscomeback，ascertainbirdsdoinwinter，andtheelderlyheartchirpsandtwitterstoitselfasifitwereyoung。Butitisbesttodiscouragethisfondness；andMrs。Marchjoinedherhusbandinmockingit，whenhemadeherobservehowfititwasthattheirsilverweddingjourneyshouldberesumedaspartofhisafter-cure。Ifhehadfoundthefountainofyouthinthewarm，flat，faintlynauseouswateroftheFelsenquelle，hewasnotgoingtocallhimselftwenty-eightagaintillhissecondmonthoftheCarlsbadregimenwasout，andhehadgotbacktosaladandfruit。
AtEgertheyhadamemorabledinner，withsomuchleisureforitthattheycouldformalife-longfriendshipfortheoldEnglish-speakingwaiterwhoservedthem，andwouldnotsufferthemtohurrythemselves。
Thehillshadalreadyfallenaway，andtheyranalongthroughacheerfulcountry，withtractsofforestunderwhitecloudsblowingaboutinabluesky，andgaylyflingingtheirshadowsdownuponthebrownploughedland，andupontheyellowoat-fields，wherewomenwerecuttingtheleisurelyharvestwithsickles，andwhereonceagreatgirlwithswarthybarearmsunbentherselffromhertoil，androse，astatueofrudevigorandbeauty，towatchthemgoby。Hedgesofevergreenenclosedtheyellowoat-fields，whereslowwagonspausedtogatherthesheavesoftheweekbefore，andthenloiteredawaywiththem。Flocksofgeesewaddledinsculpturesquereliefagainsttheclose-croptpastures，herdedbylittlegirlswithflaxenpigtails，whoseeyes，blueascorn-flowers，followedtheflyingtrain。Therewerestretchesofwildthymepurplinglongbarrenacreages，andgrowinguptherailroadbanksalmosttotherailsthemselves。Fromthemeadowstherowen，tossedinlongloosewindrows，sentintotheircarasadautumnalfragrancewhichmingledwiththetobaccosmoke，whentwofatsmokersemergedintothenarrowcorridoroutsidetheircompartmentsandtriedtopasseachother。Theirvaststomachsbeattogetherinavainencounter。
“Zuenge！”saidone，and“Ja，zuenge！”saidtheother，andtheylaughedinnocentlyineachother’s’faces，withajoyintheirrecognitionofthecorridor’snarrownessasgreatasifithadbeenastrokeofthefinestwit。
Allthewaythelandwaslovely，andastheydrewnearNurembergitgrewenchanting，withafairyquaintness。ThescenerywasAlpine，butthescalewastoy-like，asbefittedtheregion，andthemimicpeaksandvalleyswithgreenbrooksgushingbetweenthem，andstrangerockformsrecurringinendlesscaprice，seemedthehomeofchildren’sstory。Allthegnomesandelvesmighthavedweltthereinpeacefulfellowshipwiththepeasantswhoploughedthelittlefields，andgatheredthegarlandedhops，andlivedinthefarmsteadsandvillagehouseswiththosehightimber-lacedgables。
“Weoughttohavecomeherelongagowiththechildren，whentheywerechildren。”saidMarch。
“No。”hiswifereturned；“itwouldhavebeentoomuchforthem。Nobodybutgrownpeoplecouldbearit。”
ThespellwhichbeganherewasnotreallybrokenbyanythingthatafterwardshappenedinNuremberg，thoughtheoldtoy-capitalwastrolley-
wiredthroughallitsquaintness，andtheywerelodgedinahotellightedbyelectricityandheatedbysteam，andequippedwithanelevatorwhichwassomodernthatitcamedownwiththemaswellaswentup。Allthethingsthatassumedtobeofrecentstructureorinventionwereasnothingagainstthedensepast，whichoverwhelmedthemwiththesenseofaworldelsewhereoutlived。InNurembergitisnotthequaintorthepicturesquethatisexceptional；itisthematter-of-factandthecommonplace。Here，morethananywhereelse，youaresteepedinthegothicspiritwhichexpressesitselfinaTeutonicdialectofhomelysweetness，ofendearingcaprice，ofrudegrotesqueness，butofpositivegraceandbeautyalmostnever。Itisthearchitecturalspeechofastrenuous，gross，kindly，honestpeople’sfancy；suchasitisitwasinexhaustible，andsuchasitisitwasbewitchingforthetravellers。
Theycouldhardlywaittilltheyhadsupperbeforeplungingintotheancienttown，andtheytookthefirsttram-carataventure。Itwasasortoftransfer，drawnbyhorses，whichdeliveredthemalittleinside。
ofthecitygatetoatrolley-car。Theconductorwiththeirfaredemandedtheirdestination；Marchfranklyownedthattheydidnotknowwheretheywantedtogo；theywantedtogoanywheretheconductorchose；
