Her train to the Town Hall certainly made a very brave show; the fifty freight waggons you are expecting will scarcely form a longer line." The young merchant started.

The comparison roused his forgotten anxiety afresh, and after a few brief, tender words of farewell he left the object of his love.

Els gazed thoughtfully after him; the moonlight revealed his tall, powerful figure for a long time.

Her heart throbbed faster, and she felt more deeply than ever how warmly she loved him.

He moved as though some heavy burden of care bowed his strong shoulders.
She would fain have hastened after him, clung to him, and asked what troubled him, what he was concealing from her who was ready to share everything with him, but the Frauenthor, through which he entered the city, already hid him from her gaze.
She turned back into the room with a faint sigh.