'I think that if you approve, and if your daughter has no objections--'

'Objections!' cried Frau von Greifenstein, suddenly waking from her
reverie and turning her face to her companion's with an engaging
simper. 'As if dear, sweet, beautiful Hilda could have any objections
to marrying our Greif! Objections! Ah no, dear cousin, that youthful
heart is already on fire!'

The words were uttered with such an affectation of softness that
Pretzel did not move, as his mistress anxiously looked to see if he
were awake when she had done speaking.

'No,' replied the other lady calmly. 'She has none. But I do not think
that was what my cousin Greifenstein meant.'

'I meant that the marriage might take place early in the new year, if
neither you nor your daughter had any objections,' said Greifenstein.

'But they have none--she has just told you so! Oh, Hugo, how dull men
are, where love is concerned! Why should they object?'

'Indeed, I cannot see any reason why they should not be married in
January,' said Hilda's mother. But there was a shade of annoyance in
her face, and she bit her lip a little as she bent over her work.

'Very good, then,' pursued Greifenstein, as though his wife had not
spoken. 'We will say the first week in January, if it is agreeable to
you.'