He fell upon his knees, and tears choked his voice. Pilgrim laid his hand on his shoulder. "Forgive me, dear Pilgrim,--forgive me," prayed Lenz, rising; "would I could beg the whole world's forgiveness! I have often resolved to be a stronger, firmer man. Now I shall have a wife who deserves a manly husband. But this once I must give way. I have been wishing, as I came here, that some hard task might be imposed upon me,--no matter what, only something, something so difficult it would take my whole heart and strength;--I would do it; I would prove myself worthy of the happiness God has granted me." "Hush, hush! other men have got other women before now. There is no need to tear the world to pieces about it." "If my mother had but lived to know this!" "If your mother had lived, Annele would not have had you. It is only because you are without encumbrances, without a mother, that she cares for you." "Say not that, Pilgrim! she so reveres my mother!" "It is easy to revere her when she is no longer here. I tell you, you were nothing to Annele till your mother died." "You have not even wished me happiness." "I wish you happiness! I wish you all happiness!" "Why do you say it twice? Tell me why twice?" "Only because the words came out so." "No, you had a meaning in them." "True, I had. I will tell you to-morrow, not to-night." "Why to-morrow? tell me now; you shall not hide anything from me." "You are drunken now; how can I speak soberly with you?" "I am not drunken; I am perfectly sober." "Good; tell me, then, how this all happened so suddenly." "I cannot tell. It came upon me like a flash from heaven, and now I see it had long been the one wish of my heart." "I thought so; and yet I thought, too, you would do nothing without letting me know." "Neither will I. You shall go with me to her father to-morrow. I have not yet laid my suit before him." "Not yet? Thank Heaven! Then I hope it may come to nothing." "What! would you drive me mad?" "No need of that. Lenz, she is not yet your betrothed; she is not yet your wife; there is still time for me to speak openly. It would be wrong to draw back now, but it would be only one wrong. If you marry Annele, you will be doing a thousand wrongs your life long. Lenz, she is no wife for you,--she least of any." "You do not know her, only joking with her as you do. But I have learned her through and through,--her goodness, her cleverness."