she said that since her father knew her feelings, and since I now also knew that she had made a clear decision towards me, she would prefer if I wanted to talk to her father in private. That's what I did, and he gave me the comforting assurance that I was dearer to him than Schlinke, whose true Christianity and genuine love he questioned; Mr. Fiedler said when I asked him that Schlinke had no claims ( 113 ). Julius Fiedler(137), said both, Bertha and Mr. Fiedler, had never had any connection with Bertha, and if he had had one, said Mr. Fiedler, he would have had reservations about confirming it. --

Oh Lord! My faithful God, you have helped me so far, be merciful to me further; and give me my beautiful Rachel, my gentle Sara, my attentive Lydia, my Phoebe(138), useful to the Christian community - my dear, beloved Bertha; So I want to thank you and sing your praises. Amen.

August 29th, 1839.
In the evening I wrote a letter and a few bits of poetry to my Bertha, in which I first described to her the impression that her statement regarding Schlinke had made on me and then told her how Schlinke had tried to deceive both me, whose attraction to Bertha was known to him, and her, by not looking for her person but for her money, judging by what he himself had said about his applications in Hamburg.

August 30th, 1839.
Today I went to Klemzig, accompanied by the native Kauwadla warinya, who picked up my blackboard. We both had lunch at Mr. Fiedler, whereupon I sent my companion ahead and spent the afternoon in the company of my beloved Bertha. After reading my letter, she gave me her hand in gratitude, adding that she was surprised that Schlinke was not looking for her person, but for her money. She had told him ( 114 ) earlier, she continued, that he would not receive any treasures with her, to which he replied indignantly, had he then asked for any? My answer to this was that man had no heart and was therefore unworthy of her love; and she replied that Schlinke should be safe from her from now on. --

At first it wasn't my intention to stay in Klemzig all afternoon, especially since Schlinke wanted to come out today, but since Bertha seemed to want my presence for that very reason, I was happy to comply with her request. After we were no longer expecting him, Schlinke actually arrived and found me sitting opposite Bertha; At first he seemed concerned and remained so throughout the afternoon, no doubt having an idea of how things were going. Nevertheless, he didn't dare to ask me on the way back, which we took together, but he told me, tapping on the bush, that Bauer was looking for Bertha. The latter was obviously very embarrassed when Schlinke entered, because a deep blush covered her entire face as she offered him her hand, as it seemed to me, coldly and with deliberate indifference.