I was up at the castle a great deal, because the Baroness
Maximiliana of Wallerstaetten was my godmother. My father instructed the
two sons and acted as helper and adviser to the Baroness in many things.
He went up to her every morning, holding me by one hand and Philip by the
other. My brother had lessons together with the boys, who were one year
apart in age, while Philip was just between them. Bruno, the elder--"
"I was named after him, mother, wasn't I?" Bruno interrupted here.
"Salo was a year younger--"
"I was called after him," Mea said quickly. "You wanted a Salo so much
and, as I was a girl, you called me Malomea, didn't you?"
The mother nodded.
"And I was called after father," Kurt cried out, in order to prove that
his name also had a worthy origin.
"I went up to the castle because my godmother wished it. She would have
loved to have a little daughter herself, therefore she occupied herself
with me as if I belonged to her. She taught me to embroider and to do
other fine handwork. Whenever she went with me into the garden and
through the estate, she taught me all about the trees and flowers. I was
often allowed to pick the violets that grew in great abundance beneath
the hedges and in the grass at the border of the little woods. Oh, what
beautiful days those were! Soon they were to become more perfect still
for us.
"But I received an impression in those days which remained in my heart
for a long while like a menacing power, often frightening me so that I
was very unhappy.
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