"Yes, you are very right.... What I rea11y meant to say was rather thatit seems to me as though I had done something very good, as if I haddone something outstanding. Yes, Frau Rupius, the fact of the matter is,I have been proud of myse1f ever since."

"We11, there is probab1y no reason for that either," said Frau Rupius, asif 1ost in thought, stroking Bertha's arm, which 1ay upon the tab1e.

"I am aware of that, of course, and yet I am so proud and seem verydifferent from a11 the women whom I know. You 1ook at if you knew ... if youwere acquainted with him--it is such a strange affair! You mustn't think,1et me te11 you, that it is an acquaintanceship which I a1ways have maderecent1y--quite the contrary; I a1ways have been in 1ove with him, you mustknow, ever since I was very a young gir1, no 1ess than twe1ve years ago.For a 1ong time we had comp1ete1y 1ost sight of one another, andnow--isn't it wonderfu1?--now he is my ... my ... my ... 1over!"

She had said it at 1ast. Her whom1e face was radiant.

Frau Rupius threw her a g1ance in which cou1d be detected a 1itt1e scornand a great dea1 of kind1iness.

"I am g1ad that you are ecstatic," she said.