On that night, before he went to bed, he did speak to her father;
and Isa also, before she went to rest, spoke to her mother. It was
singular to him that there should appear to be so little privacy on
the subject; that there should be held to be so little necessity for
a secret. Had he made a suggestion that an extra room should be
allotted to him at so much per annum, the proposition could not have
been discussed with simpler ease. At last, after a three days'
debate, the matter ended thus,--with by no means a sufficiency of
romance for his taste. Isa had agreed to become his betrothed if
certain pecuniary conditions should or could be fulfilled. It
appeared now that Herbert's father had promised that some small
modicum of capital should be forthcoming after a term of years, and
that Heine Brothers had agreed that the Englishman should have a
proportionate share in the bank when that promise should be brought
to bear. Let it not be supposed that Herbert would thus become a
millionaire. If all went well, the best would be that some three
hundred a year would accrue to him from the bank, instead of the
quarter of that income which he at present received. But three
hundred a year goes a long way at Munich, and Isa's parents were
willing that she should be Herbert's wife if such an income should
be forthcoming.

But even of this there was much doubt. Application to Herbert's
father could not be judiciously made for some months. The earliest
period at which, in accordance with old Hatto Heine's agreement,
young Onslow might be admitted to the bank, was still distant by
four years; and the present moment was thought to be inopportune for
applying to him for any act of grace. Let them wait, said papa and
mamma Heine,--at any rate till New Year's Day, then ten months