ANTOINETTE. There is surely enough for us to spare a little for an old lady. LASKOWSKI. Sure, dearie! MRS. BOROWSKI (leans over to ANTOINETTE). Do you remember, pet, how you used to come and call with your parents, now dead and gone? A little bit of a thing you were, Paul would lift you on the horse and you didn't cry at all, you sat there just like a grown-up ... I remember it very well. ANTOINETTE. I don't. Such things _are_ forgotten. PAUL (looks at her). Have you really forgotten that, madam? ANTOINETTE. Heavens, I haven't thought of it again. MRS. BOROWSKI. Just wait and see, pet, when you are old you will think of it again. ANTOINETTE. Not all people grow to be as old as you, dear Mrs. Borowski. LASKOWSKI (has partaken freely of the wine). Dearie, you'll grow as old as the hills! I can prophesy that much. Haven't you the finest kind of a time! ANTOINETTE. I?... Of course! LASKOWSKI (garrulously). What do you lack!... Nuthin'!... Children's what you lack! ANTOINETTE (looks at him sharply). Never mind, please! LASKOWSKI (abashed). Well, well, don't put on so, dearie! MRS. VON TIEDEMANN (to PAUL). Have you any children, Doctor? PAUL. No, I'm sorry to say, madam. MR. VON TIEDEMANN (to his wife). We're better off in that respect, Bess, aren't we? Three lusty bairns! MRS. SCHNAASE. And _we_, with our five! LASKOWSKI (touched). Do you see, dearie! What am I always tellin' you! An agriculturalist without children ... KUNZE. Abraham scored one hundred when the Lord bestowed his son Isaac upon him. LASKOWSKI. But a fellow like me can't wait that long--stuff and nonsense. What if I die and ... PAUL. You will take care not to do that. LASKOWSKI. Don't say that, brother! I'm going to die young! I'm sure of it. An old woman once told my fortune, and she said I wouldn't see more than fifty. But, do you know what, dearie? MRS. VON TIEDEMANN (to ANTOINETTE). I suppose you frequently came to Ellernhof in the old days, Madam von Laskowski? ANTOINETTE. Why, the departed was my guardian, you know, Mrs. Von Tiedemann. MRS. VON TIEDEMANN. Oh yes. I had forgotten that. VON TIEDEMANN. Do you ride horseback as much as ever, madam? ANTOINETTE. Now and then, for pastime! LASKOWSKI. Now don't you say a word, dearie! Why, you're pasted on a horse all day long, and then from horseback right into the cold, cold water. Did anybody ever hear the like of it? PAUL (to ANTOINETTE). Yesterday I had a horseback ride again too, madam. Have I told you about it? The first time in years. And, what is more, I got quite near your place. I was even able to see the houses of Klonowken. ANTOINETTE. Did you ride through the forest? PAUL. Of course, through the pine forest of Klonowken, yesterday morning. Right through the snow. ANTOINETTE. Why, I was out at the same time. PAUL (looks at her). You were, madam? Too bad! Why did we not chance to meet? ANTOINETTE. I suppose it was not ordained so.