Blanden was her first thought; she implored Kuhl not to communicate the theatrical riot to him, he should beseech all their friends to be silent about it; she should take care that the newspapers containing the report should not fall into his hands, it might excite him, and be injurious to his health, if the news reached him. Kuhl promised to preserve the secret. "Really, it is not so bad," added he consolingly, "a little more or less noise does not matter. The dear public itself is a great scandal, a thousand-headed crime against good taste, a million-fold want of sense. What is most wretched pleases it, and yet it is really sincere when its honest displeasure has been roused, if indeed it is possible to transform this sleepy mass into fire and flame. To be sure it only burns like plum-pudding when spirits have been poured over it and ignited, when the spirits are exhausted then the phlegm remains behind." Giulia thanked the Doctor for his friendly intentions, and for the slight comfort which she could extract from such daring views. Arrived at home, she sat a long time talking to Beate; she gave her companion money for the journey, and on the following day Beate prepared for her departure to the Orta lake. CHAPTER VI. A SLEIGHING PARTY. A cold East Prussian winter's day--crisp snow upon the roads--the broad fields sleep beneath their white cover. Ashen grey clouds in the sky, but the snow flakes seem to be frozen, and cannot loosen themselves; only now and again one little atom flutters down, or has the icy north wind, which here and there sweeps up a looser snow field, wafted it down from the roofs? It is that spiteful cold which seems to be more fitted for Laplanders than for civilised mortals. The air cuts as if with knives, and the breath of life freezes on men's lips. But this very scorn of Nature who has retired to her ice palace and surrounded herself unapproachably, as if with a threefold shield, calls forth man's defiance. Nature must be enjoyed at any price! The inhabitants of the town, clad in thickly furs, amuse themselves upon the Pregel. Upon the smooth even course that leads inland the chair sleighs fly forward in long rows, the skaters rush in the direction of the north wind which brings them the icy cold greeting from the Baltic Sea, lying beneath the spell of winter, others make circles upon the surface, and display their art which even a great poet has immortalised. One of the most successful is the gallant skater who makes use of his skates as buskins for the higher flight of love. With what gladsomeness he pushes the sleigh before him; within it sits, buried beneath furs, shawls, rugs, veils, what appears to be a formless mass, and yet!--he is proud to drive a beautiful woman.