With a little tact and diplomacy, a clever woman would have had no difficulty in putting up a bright girl to attempt so easy a fight and victory.

But Malvine never thought of such a thing.

Social etiquette withheld the various young ladies on whom the Habers' quiet guest had made no small impression from taking those first steps, which are considered unwomanly and humiliating, although in most cases they invariably bring about the desired results, and so Wilhelm continued to sit in his corner, and the group of pretty heiresses in theirs; the winter passed, and Malvine's darling wish was still unfulfilled.
Easter came round, and with it the migration of the family to Friesenmoor House.

Wilhelm would have liked to seize this opportunity for withdrawing himself from a hospitality which weighed heavily on him, but Paul put down his timid revolt with a high hand.
"None of that now.

You are coming with us, and can see what country life is like for a whole summer," he declared, and there the matter rested.
The estate and its surroundings possessed no picturesque charms.