He didn't really know what to think. "Control yourself long
enough to tell me what the trouble is."
For reply Regine unfolded a newspaper and pointing to a certain
paragraph said tragically:
"Read!"
The head forester began to read, and he, too, soon became excited, and
grew red and angry as he read on. The paper was a weekly, published in
the South-German capital, and the article which excited their joint
wrath read as follows:
"We have just learned that a duel with pistols was fought early last
Monday morning, in one of the unfrequented suburbs of our city. The
opponents were the well-known society gentleman, Count W., and a young
North German landlord, W.v.E., who is the nephew and has been for the
past few days the guest of a very prominent member of the diplomatic
circle. The cause of the quarrel which resulted in the duel was a member
of the court theatre company, a young singer who has, until now, enjoyed
a good reputation. Count W. was wounded in the shoulder, and Herr v.E.,
who has left the city since, received a trifling wound in the hand."
"That goes beyond anything I ever heard," cried the head forester, in a
towering rage. "My future son-in-law fights a duel on Marietta's
account. What was the quarrel about? What do you know about it, Regine?
My papers don't mention it.
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