is on the down grade. That is a sin against oneself," he added. But Guste was standing with her hands on her hips.
"Oh, the down grade? And you, I suppose, are on the up grade? Because you go boozing in the Ratskeller and get into rows with people? The whole town is talking about you, and you try to slander a most respectable family. On the down grade, indeed! There will be no question of the down grade with whoever gets my money. You are just jealous. Do you think I can't see that?"—and she glared at him with tears of rage in her eyes. He felt exceedingly uncomfortable and would have liked to fall on his knees and kiss her little chubby fingers, and then the tears from her eyes—but would that do? Meanwhile she scr.ewed up her fat, pink face into an expression of contempt, turned her back and slammed the door. With beating heart Diederich stood for a while on the spot, then he made off, feeling very small.
He reflected that there had been no chance for him in that quarter anyhow; the matter did not concern him. For all her money, Guste was just a silly goose—and this thought quieted him. When he heard one evening what Jadassohn had learnt in the courts at Magdeburg, Diederich had his moment of triumph. Only fifty thousand marks! And with that, putting on the airs of a countess! A girl who bluffed on that scale was obviously more suitable for second-raters, like the Bucks, than for a solid, right-thinking citizen like Diederich! Käthchen Zillich would be preferable. She was like Guste in appearance, her charms were almost as irresistible, and moreover her good temper and easy manners were a recommendation. He began to come more frequently to afternoon coffee and diligently made love to her. She warned him against Jadassohn, which Diederich recognised as only too well justified. She also spoke with extreme dislike of Frau Lauer, whose conduct with Landgerichtsrat Fritzsche. … In the Lauer case Käthchen Zillich was the only person who wholly took Diederich's part.
