Her two little girls looked with astonishment at her.Neither they nor Peer could discover why she was so over-whelmed with sorrow and grief.
"The poor children!"she said."A mother is al-ways thinking of their future.The boys can take care ofthemselves.Caesar fslls，but he gets up again;the twoolder ones splash in the water tub;they ought to be inthe navy，and would surely marry well.But my two littlegirls!What will their future be?They will reach the agewhen the heart feels，and then I am sure that whoevereach of them falls in love with will not be at all afterGabriel's liking;he will choose someone they'll despise，and that will make them so unhappy.As a mother，Ihave to think about these things，and that is my sorrowand grief.You poor children!You will be so unhappy!"She wept.
The little girls looked at her.Peer looked at her andfelt rather sad;he could think of nothing to say，so hereturned to his little room，sat down at the old piano，andtones and fantasies came forth as they streamed throughhis heart.
In the early morning he went to his studies with aclear mind and performed his duties，for someone waspaying for his schooling.He was a conscientious，right-minded fellow.In his diary he recorded each day what hehad read and studied，and how late he had sat up playingthe piano-always mutely，so that he wouldn't awakenMadam Gabriel.It never said in his diary，except onSunday，the day of rest，"Thought of Juliet，""Was atthe pharmacist's，""Wrote a letter to Mother and Grand-mother."Peer was still Romeo and a good son.
"Very industriously!"said Herr Gabriel."Followthat example，young Madsen!Or you'll fail!"
"Scoundrel!"said young Madsen to himself.
Primus，the Dean's son，suffered from sleepingsickness."It is a disease，"said the Dean's wife;he wasnot to be treated with severity.
The deanery was only eight miles away;wealth andcomfort were there.
"That man will die a bishop，"said Madam Gabriel."He has good connections at the court，and the Deanessis a lady of noble birth.She knows all about heraldry-that means coats of arms.
It was Whitsuntide.A year had passed since Peercame to Herr Gabriel's house.He had gained muchknowledge，but his voice had not come back;would itever come?
The Gabriel household was invited to the Dean's toa great dinner and a dall later in the evening.A goodmany guests came from the town and from the manorhouses about.The pharmacist's family was invited;Romeo would see his Juliet，perhaps dance the first dancewith her.
The deanery was a well-kept place，whitewashed，and without any manure heaps in the yard，[and it had a dovecot painted green，around which twined an ivy vine.]The Deaness was tall，corpulent woman;"Athene，Glaucopis，"Herr Gabriel called her;"the blue-eyed，"not"the ox-eyed，"as Juno was called，thought Peer.Therewas a certain distinguished kindness about her，and aneffort to have an invalid look;she probably had sleepingsickness just like Primus.She was in a light-blue silkdress and wore great curls;the one on the right side wasfastened with a large medallion portrait of her great-grand-mother，a general's wife，and the one on the left with anequally large bunch of grapes made of white porcelain.
The Dean had a ruddy，plump face，with shiningwhite teeth，well suited to biting into a roast fillet.Hisconversation always consisted of anecdotes.He could con-verse with everybody，but no one ever succeeded in carry-ing on a conversation with him.
The Councilor，too，was there，and among the strangers from the manors was Felix，the merchant's son;he had been confirmed and was now a most elegant younggentleman，both in clothes and manners;he was a mil-lionaire，they said.Madam Gabriel did not have courageenough to speak to him.
Peer was overjoyed at seeing Felix，who came tohim in a very genial manner and said that he had broughtgreetings from his parents，who read all the letters Peerwrote home to his mother and grandmother.
The dancing .The pharmacist's daughter was to dance the first dance with the Councilor;that was apromise she had made at home to her mother and to theCouncilor.The second dance had been promised to Peer;but Felix came and took her with a good-natured nod.