Ilka, it is needless to say,
was not a party to these speculations; to her the Hahns appeared
equally undesirable in any capacity whatsoever.
As for the proprietor of the "Haute Noblesse," I believe he was
suffering from an honest infatuation. He admired Ilka's face, he
admired her neck, her figure, her voice, her ankles as displayed by
the short Tyrolese skirt; he wandered about in a sort of frenzy of
unrest, and was never happy except in her presence. That a certain
amount of speculation entered into love's young dream, I cannot
positively deny; but, on the whole, the emotion was as sincere as any
that Mr. Hahn's bosom had ever harbored. Whether he should allow her
to sing in public after she had become his wife was a point about
which he sometimes worried, but which he ended by deciding in the
affirmative. It was a splendid investment for the "Haute Noblesse."
Mr. Fritz's matrimonial speculations took a somewhat different turn.
He raved to his friends about the perfection of Ilka's physical
development; talked about her "points" as if she had been a horse. So
much of cynicism always mingled with his ardor that his devotion could
hardly be dignified by the name of love. He was convinced that if he
could keep Ilka for some years in Berlin and persuade her to continue
cultivating her voice, she would some day be a great prima donna.
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