Annette was embroidering a silk ribbon; and Richard picked up the end of it and held it in his hands. But she generally managed to spoil the effect of her pretty speeches, and added that people could talk French without having ideas; but that, when speaking German, they noticed the absence of costume, and were ashamed thereat. When she uttered these last words, Richard dropped the ribbon he had been holding, and walked away. Annette was happy whenever she could express her pleasure with any one, and Ludwig was not wrong in saying: "She will be one of the best of wives when she is once a mother. Now she is fluttering about, hither and thither; is herself restless, and disturbs others." With every hour, new guests arrived, and Martella said: "It was stupid of me to have wanted to go away; I am needed here, where there are so many strangers--no, not strangers--O dear Lord, so many beings who belong to one! If mother were only living yet, she could help me love them. O dear father, when we step over into eternity, and meet all the beings who belong to us--so many! so many! Indeed, father, you are now experiencing a part of eternity." And it was so. But I felt that age was coming on me. I could not walk about much, and was obliged almost constantly to remain seated in my room, where they all came to me. To see Wolfgang and Victor together, was to me joy unutterable. My sister asserted that, when a child, I had looked just as these two now did. I cannot imagine that I ever looked so elegant and distinguished-looking. After the Major joined us, the customs officer became much quieter in his manner; for the Major had come in full uniform. Johanna, who, since Ludwig's arrival, had become even more reserved and austere, seemed to find the meeting with her son, the vicar, a pleasant change. Nothing daunted by my presence, she complained to him that, with a sister-in-law who had only been married by a civil magistrate, and with a nephew who had not even been christened, she felt as if living among heathens. The vicar, who was more liberal in his views, and yet felt quite at home in his vocation, pacified his mother, and she concluded to take part in the family festival. The eldest son of the inspector of the water-works came with his two sisters, and the Major was delighted to find that this young man, my godson, had determined to follow the sea. Ludwig told us that a sea-captain had assured him that the naval cadets were principally recruited from the inland provinces, while the sailors naturally came from among the dwellers along the sea-coast. The medical counsellor, who had formerly been director of the jail in which Ludwig and Rothfuss had been imprisoned, but who had now retired on a pension, was also among the guests, and Rothfuss was delighted beyond measure to meet him again.