At length he said "I have learned to love you truly and passionately, my wife, and now you show me how you have returned the affection which my heart bestowed upon you.
You are right when you accuse me of having laid too much stress upon vain trifles.

For that very fault I have been most severely punished, for had I wooed you in woollen, instead of in velvet, I should never have had the misfortune to be bound to a woman like you.

Nor was it love that led me to you, but the miserable ambition to bring a nobleman's daughter into my burgher home.

So we both deceived each other, and now if you wish to return whence I took you--you may leave my home unhindered." The young wife buried her face in her hands and answered: "No, no, life is too miserable and poverty-stricken at home and I have suffered too much in the long struggle to keep up appearances.

And then what would people say?
No, no,--I will do everything that I can to please you." "Very well, you may stay," he replied gloomily.
Frau Schimmel, who had been in the room for some time, turned to the notary and said: "The Court apothecary used to say that I was stupid, but thirty years ago I foretold what has happened here today." She then implored Zeno to throw the elixir into the Pleisse, but for the first time he exhibited a will of his own.