CHAPTER XII.
Two days passed, and I perceived another change in Mr.Engelman.
He was now transformed into a serious and reticent man.

Had he committed indiscretions which might expose him to ridicule if they were known?
Or had the widow warned him not to be too ready to take me into his confidence?
In any case, he said not one word to me about Madame Fontaine's reception of him, and he left the house secretly when he paid his next visit to her.

Having no wish to meet him unexpectedly, and feeling (if the truth be told) not quite at ease about the future, I kept away from Minna and her mother, and waited for events.
On the third day, an event happened.

I received a little note from Minna:-- "Dear Mr.David,--If you care to see mamma and me, stay at home this evening.

Good Mr.Engelman has promised to show us his interesting old house, after business hours." There was nothing extraordinary in making an exhibition of "the old house." It was one among the many picturesque specimens of the domestic architecture of bygone days, for which Frankfort is famous; and it had been sketched by artists of all nations, both outside and in.