“_Gott sei Dank_, our travels are over,” said Lothar. “When one marries one has to have a wedding journey, but ours has lasted too long. I’m sick of hotels.” “Where are we going?” said Brenda, who though it was time to know. “Where does a young wife expect to go?” snapped August. “What a strange question! To your husband’s home, of course.” “But we have not chosen our home yet,” said Brenda. “It has been chosen for you,” said Frau Erdmann solemnly. “You will find everything ready, even to the roast in the oven and the cook to dish it up. It has been hard work, but every day when I returned with an aching head and agitated nerves I said to Wilhelm, ‘I do it for my son and he will thank me.’” “Little Mamma, I thank you from the bottom of my heart,” exclaimed Lothar, and printed a resounding kiss somewhere near one of the sandy wings that nearly covered his mother’s ears. “Do you mean that you have taken a flat and put my furniture into it?” said Brenda. “‘My’ is a word never heard on the lips of a German wife,” said the Professor. “You and all you bring with you are now the property of Lothar.” Brenda had not known many violent dislikes in her life, but she conceived one now for the Professor, and as she thought he was behaving offensively she ignored him and, turning to her mother-in-law, asked again whether a flat had really been taken for them. But before Frau Erdmann could reply August bounced to his feet, livid with fury, and shouted to the driver to stop. “What is it, August?” said Frau Erdmann. “Are you not well?” The little man was actually spluttering with rage as he answered. “I am evidently not good enough for the gracious one. When I speak she does not answer. This is English Kultur. When a man of years and learning addresses such a silly goose, she replies with a stare and does not know enough to open her mouth. But there is a limit to what my dignity can endure. Civility is my right and I insist on it. If Lothar is under the slipper, it is not my affair. Such manners are typical.” Brenda was aghast and looked at Lothar. She saw no promise of support in his face, but only scowling impatience; while Frau Erdmann, after waiting for him to speak, said: “I should have thought you would expect Brenda to be polite to your relatives. My idea of good manners is to reply amiably when I am addressed. August was quite right. It is unbecoming in a young wife to speak as if anything in the house belonged to her only.”