promise of silence, that in my first youth I sighed in secret for the daughter of a forester."
"Well, it is quite an idyll!"
"No, only half a one. For she was so far from being a beauty that it often caused me an effort to keep up the illusion. But it seemed to me I ought to have some one whose initials I could cut on the bark of the trees with a burning heart above."
"Yes, afterwards you men can always speak with irony of your loves, and then it is for poor us to suffer. And who was the next one?"
"There wasn't another."
"What do you say? Look here, Harald, Harald!"
"Indeed, I assure you, none worth mentioning. Perhaps I have fancied some pretty face I have seen in the street. I may have had a dream or two and built castles in the air.…"
"Well, for those you are a splendid architect. But I feel certain that you are deceiving me."
"What makes you say so? Remember that I have had so little society, have met so few ladies."
"Yes, that may be the reason. Very likely that is why you care for me. When you discover that I am just like the others"
"But you are not."
"Well, you don't know!"
"I am sure of it, it's impossible.… And, after all, what do I care for the others?"
Minna laughed heartily and pressed me to her.
"That was well said, and it came from the heart, therefore you shall have a kiss … if only you would always think so! No, do not promise anything; what is the good of that? Kiss me!"
