But it went against the grain to put any constraint on the girl, and he felt that he would be ashamed to answer "No," if Frau Brohl were to ask him if he had already spoken to Malvine.

Then if he were to go in a straightforward way to Malvine, and say, "I can no longer hide from you that I love you, and that I want you to be my wife, will you consent ?" there was a great deal of risk in that, for if she misjudged her own feelings, and said that she loved some one else, and so could not listen to him, the rupture between them would be accomplished, and it would be no use to him if later she found out that she had been mistaken in her feelings.

There could be no secure step for him, on that he was quite decided.
If he could approach neither Frau Brohl nor Malvine, there was one way clearly open to him, and he took it without further delay.
One sunny afternoon in May, a few weeks after the Labor meeting at the Tivoli, Paul came to see Wilhelm, and asked him to go for a walk with him in the Thiergarten.

Wilhelm was soon ready, and while they were walking Paul was astonishingly quiet, and seemed sunk in deep thought.
He suddenly broke the silence, and when they were under the trees, without any beating about the bush, asked his friend: "Wilhelm, do you love Malvine ?" Wilhelm stood still, as if rooted to the ground, and in boundless astonishment he said: "Are you off your head, Paul ?" "I implore you, Wilhelm," said he in an anxious way, "just answer 'yes' or 'no,' because the happiness of my life depends on your answer." "But I never thought of it," cried Wilhelm, grasping Paul's hand.

"What put such an idea into your head ?" "Then you are not in love with Malvine ?" asked Paul obstinately.
"No, I am not in love with Malvine, if you will have the answer in that precise form." "I thought as much, but I wished to have the answer from your own lips;" and as they walked, he continued, "Do you see, Wilhelm, if you had loved Malvine, I would have got out of your way; I would have submitted to fate without any struggle or opposition." "Have I been injudicious?
Perhaps too intimate?
Forgive me, Paul, if it is so.