"Oh why not, why shouldn't it do, dear Frau Doerr? That is a very serious and instructive subject and is more important than you think. I once visited a friend in Poland, a comrade in my regiment and also during the war, who lived in a great castle; it was red and had two huge towers, and was so fearfully old, that you never see anything like it nowadays. And the last room was his living room; for he was unmarried, because he was a woman hater...." "Is it possible?" "And everywhere the old rotten boards were trodden through and wherever there were a couple of boards lacking, there was a mushroom bed, and I passed by all the mushroom beds, until at last I came to his room." "Is it possible?" repeated Frau Doerr and added: "Mushrooms! But one cannot always be talking about mushrooms." "No, not always. But really quite often, and anyway it makes no difference what you talk about. If it isn't mushrooms it is 'champignons,' and if it is not the red castle in Poland it is Schloss Tegel or Saatwinkel, or Valentinswerder. Or Italy or Paris, or the city railway, or whether the Panke should be filled in. It is all the same. One can always talk a little about anything, whether it is especially pleasing or not. And 'yes' is just as good as 'no.'" "But," said Lena, "if all the talk is so empty, I am surprised that you should go into such company." "Oh you see beautiful women and handsome gowns and sometimes you catch glances that will betray a whole romance, if you look sharp. And anyway, it does not last long, so that you still have a chance to make up for lost time at the club. And at the club it is really charming, for there the artificial talk ceases and reality begins. Yesterday I took Pitt's black mare from him." "Who is Pitt?" "Oh, those are just names that we have among ourselves, and we use them when we are together. The Crown Prince himself says Vicky, in speaking of Victoria. It really is pleasant that there are such affectionate pet names. But listen, the concert is beginning over there. Can't we open the windows, so as to hear it better? You are already tapping with your foot. How would it do for us to take our places and try a Quadrille or a Francaise? We have three couples: Father Doerr and good Frau Nimptsch, and Frau Doerr and I (I beg the honor) and then comes Lena with Hans." Frau Doerr agreed at once, but Doerr and Frau Nimptsch declined, the latter because she was too old, the former because he was not used to such fine doings. "Very well, Father Doerr. But then you must beat time; Lena, give him the tray and a spoon. And now come, ladies. Frau Doerr, your arm. And now Hans, wake up, be lively."