A few days later he called on my father, who was rather bewildered by
this honour, and asked permission to take me to the garden. He treated
me like a grown-up person, and after we had inspected the lawns and
borders, and looked at the ripening bunches in the grape-house, I felt
myself half-way to become mistress of the place. It never occurred to me
that my plans might fall through.
At the same time it began to dawn upon me that the personality of Von
Brincken, or rather the difference of our ages, inspired me with a kind
of disgust. In spite of his style and good appearance, he had something
of the "elderly gentleman" about him. This feeling possessed me when we
looked over the house. In every direction there were lofty mirrors, and
for the first time in my life I saw myself reflected in full-length--and
by my side an old man.
This was the beginning. A year later, after I had been confirmed, I was
sent to a finishing school at Geneva at Von Brincken's expense. I had
not the least doubt that he meant to marry me as soon as my education
was completed.
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