Just the same, if Uli had had bad
intentions and had wanted to secure a marriage by an evil road--of which
there are cases enough with men worse than Uli--Elsie would have given
plenty of opportunity, nor would she have done anything to shield
herself. "Uli, don't be so timid!" she would perhaps have said. But Uli
was honest and desired no evil; so he shunned such opportunities, and
often avoided the chances Elsie gave him, much preferring to deserve her
than to seduce her. He worked all the harder, took especial pains with
every detail, and tried to earn the commendation that, if he were not
rich already, he could not fail to become so with such aptitude; this,
he thought, would have as much weight with the parents as many thousand
francs. He did not think of that terrible saying--"Only a servant." But,
his fellow-servants had eyes in their heads, too, and long before Uli
had begun to think of anything, they had noticed Elsie's indiscreet
conduct and had teased Uli about it. More and more they ascribed his
activity to the intention of becoming son-in-law. The change since the
trip was not hidden from them. They invented divers accounts of what had
happened, taunted Uli to his face and calumniated him behind his back.
Whenever he required anything new of them they interpreted it to mean
that he wanted to get himself valued at their expense; therefore they
took it ill, became unruly, and said they would take him down a peg.
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