It is fulfilled at last. The signs of it have been in the air since one
day in the spring, when Hermann, as though newly awakened to powerful
manhood, arrived again in Winkelsteg and at once asked me concerning
Waldlilie.
He no longer takes pleasure in the noisy, rioting circle called by many
the _world_, although the term is entirely misapplied. Hermann has
fortunately passed the dangerous crisis. He has now entered mature
life, where one longs for the glories of nature and the inner worth of
man. Waldlilie has become a wonderfully beautiful young woman, and the
pains which I have taken in the development of her intellectual powers
have been richly rewarded.
And thus it is fulfilled. A Schrankenheim has burst his barriers. Two
days ago, on the festival of our Lord's Ascension, the master of the
forest and Waldlilie were united in the church.
Over in the glen by the lake, Hermann wished to erect a summer villa,
where he and his wife might spend a few weeks every year in the early
autumn. But Waldlilie begged him to abandon the idea. She was very fond
of that region, but she could not visit the lake.
They have left us and gone to the beautiful town of Salzburg.