I have nobody in all the world with whom I can be intimate." The mother suggested that Paula might be a little more friendly with her sister Lili, and also with Miss Hanenwinkel.

But Paula declared, that Lili was much too young, and the governess much too old.

The latter was really only twenty, but to Paula she seemed very old indeed.

For girls to be intimate, she declared they must be of the same age, so that they could thoroughly understand each other's feelings, and they must be always together.

Without such a friend Paula said there was no real pleasure in life, for a girl needed some one to whom she could confide her secrets, and who would tell her own in return.
"Yes, Paula is at the romantic age," said her brother.