The Torrents Of Spring

XXIX
If Gemma had announced that she had brought with her cholera or
death itself, one can hardly imagine that Frau Lenore could have received
the news with greater despair. She immediately sat down in a
corner, with her face to the wall, and burst into floods of tears, positively
wailed, for all the world like a Russian peasant woman on the grave of
her husband or her son. For the first minute Gemma was so taken aback
that she did not even go up to her mother, but stood still like a statue in
the middle of the room; while Sanin was utterly stupefied, to the point of
almost bursting into tears himself! For a whole hour that inconsolable
wail went on – a whole hour! Pantaleone thought it better to shut the
outer door of the shop, so that no stranger should come; luckily, it was
still early. The old man himself did not know what to think, and in any
case, did not approve of the haste with which Gemma and Sanin had acted;
he could not bring himself to blame them, and was prepared to give
them his support in case of need: he greatly disliked Klüber! Emil regarded
himself as the medium of communication between his friend and
his sister, and almost prided himself on its all having turned out so
splendidly! He was positively unable to conceive why Frau Lenore was
so upset, and in his heart he decided on the spot that women, even the
best of them, suffer from a lack of reasoning power! Sanin fared worst of
all. Frau Lenore rose to a howl and waved him off with her hands, directly
he approached her; and it was in vain that he attempted once or
twice to shout aloud, standing at a distance, ‘I ask you for your daughter’s
hand!’ Frau Lenore was particularly angry with herself. ‘How could
she have been so blind – have seen nothing? Had my Giovann’ Battista
been alive,’ she persisted through her tears, ‘nothing of this sort would
have happened!’ ‘Heavens, what’s it all about?’ thought Sanin; ‘why, it’s
positively senseless!’ He did not dare to look at Gemma, nor could she
pluck up courage to lift her eyes to him. She restricted herself to waiting
patiently on her mother, who at first repelled even her… .
At last, by degrees, the storm abated. Frau Lenore gave over weeping,
permitted Gemma to bring her out of the corner, where she sat huddled
up, to put her into an arm-chair near the window, and to give her some
orange-flower water to drink. She permitted Sanin – not to approach …
oh, no! – but, at any rate, to remain in the room – she had kept clamouring
for him to go away – and did not interrupt him when he spoke. Sanin
immediately availed himself of the calm as it set in, and displayed an
astounding eloquence. He could hardly have explained his intentions
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