I have not even spoken
to my brother about it. You know very well that he is the children's
guardian."
Mrs. Maxa was quite unable to hide her excitement.
"You can be reassured, for we have thought of that, too," the visitor
said with a slightly superior smile. "My husband's sister does not live
very far from Mr. Falcon in Sils. So he planned to visit your brother
and talk the plan over with him."
This calmed Mrs. Maxa a trifle, for her brother knew already how it
stood between the three comrades and how little she wanted them to live
together. But she could not help wondering why these people were trying
to force the boys to live together.
"I do not really understand why the boys should have to live together,"
she said with animation; "they do not profess to feel much friendship for
each other, and never seek each other out. You yourself, Mrs. Knippel,
do not seem to get a very good impression from my children's ways. I do
not see why you wish your sons to live with mine at all."
"It is a matter of decorum," the attorney's wife replied, "and my husband
agrees with me. What would people in town say if the sons of the two
best families here, who have always studied together, should not live
together? Everybody would think that something special had happened
between the families. Both parties will only gain in respect by
joining."
"I do not believe that people in the city will be interested in what the
three boys are doing," said Mrs.
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