furniture, but when it came to the point she went with him. They
bought two beds, which were, of course, to stand side by side. The
furniture had to be walnut, every single piece real walnut. And they
must have spring mattresses covered with red and white striped tick,
and bolsters filled with down; and two eiderdown quilts, exactly
alike. Louisa chose blue, because she was very fair.

They went to the best stores. They could not do without a red
hanging-lamp and a Venus made of plaster of Paris. Then they bought a
dinner-service; and six dozen differently shaped glasses with cut
edges; and knives and forks, grooved and engraved with their initials.
And then the kitchen utensils! Mama had to accompany them to see to
those.

And what a lot he had to do besides! There were bills to accept,
journeys to the banks and interviews with tradespeople and artisans;
a flat had to be found and curtains had to be put up. He saw to
everything. Of course he had to neglect his work; but once he was
married, he would soon make up for it.

They were only going to take two rooms to begin with, for they were
going to be frightfully economical. And as they were only going to
have two rooms, they could afford to furnish them well. He rented two
rooms and a kitchen on the first floor in Government Street, for six
hundred crowns. When Louisa remarked that they might just as well have
taken three rooms and a kitchen on the fourth floor for five hundred
crowns, he was a little embarrassed; but what did it matter if only
they loved one another? Yes, of course, Louisa agreed, but couldn't
they have loved one another just as well in four rooms at a lower
rent, as in three at a higher? Yes, he admitted that he had been