Seite 865 von 1294

"And you take advantage of her fine character, eh? He-he!"

"No, no! Oh, no! On the contrary."

"Oh, on the contrary! He-he-he! A queer thing to say!"

"Believe me! Why should I disguise it? In fact, I feel it strange

myself how timid, chaste and modern she is with me!"

"And you, of course, are developing her... he-he! trying to prove

to her that all that modesty is nonsense?"

"Not at all, not at all! How coarsely, how stupidly--excuse me

saying so--you misunderstand the word development! Good heavens,

how... crude you still are! We are striving for the freedom of

women and you have only one idea in your head.... Setting aside

the general question of chastity and feminine modesty as useless

in themselves and indeed prejudices, I fully accept her chastity

with me, because that's for her to decide. Of course if she were

to tell me herself that she wanted me, I should think myself very

lucky, because I like the girl very much; but as it is, no one

has ever treated her more courteously than I, with more respect

for her dignity... I wait in hopes, that's all!"