Godfrey seated himself at a little distance from his cousin, opened his book and began to read, but every now and then he peeped over the edge of it, either because he had read it before, or because he was thinking of something else.  That is always the way with Methodistical divinity students even when they firmly believe what they teach. Before the examination they think of nothing but their spiritual calling, but after the examination is well over human nature regains its sway, and they look out for a fitting wife, before they begin to think of a parsonage.  Godfrey was like all the rest of his kind, and as no other girls except Mina and Lina had come in his way, and as Lina attended to his admonitions far more docilely than her sister, he determined to make her his helpmate.  He was ignorant as to how such matters ought to be conducted, and felt a little shy and awkward.  He had got no further in his wooing than pressing his lady-love’s foot under the table, and whenever he had done so he was always much more confused than Lina, whose foot had received the pressure.

However he had determined that the whole matter should be settled that day, so he began:  “I brought this book out entirely for your sake, Lina.  Will you listen to a bit of it just now?” “Yes,” said Lina.  “What a slow affair it’s going to be,” thought Braesig, who could hardly be said to be lying on a bed of roses, his position in the cherry-tree was so cramped and uncomfortable.  Godfrey proceeded to read a sermon on Christian marriage, describing how it should be entered into, and what was the proper way of looking upon it.  When he had finished he drew a little nearer his cousin and asked:  “What do you think of it, Lina?” “It’s very nice,” said Lina.  “Do you mean marriage?” asked Godfrey.  “O-oh, Godfrey,” said Lina, her head drooping lower over her work.  “No, Lina,” Godfrey went on drawing a little closer to her, “it isn’t at all nice.  I am thankful to see that you don’t regard the gravest step possible in human life with unbecoming levity.  Marriage is a very hard thing, that is to say, in the Christian sense of the word.”  He then described the duties, cares and troubles of married life as if he wished to prepare Lina for taking up her abode in some penal settlement, and Braesig, as he listened, congratulated himself on having escaped such a terrible fate.  “Yes,” Godfrey continued, “marriage is part of the curse that was laid on our first parents when they were thrust out of paradise.”  So saying he opened his Bible and read the third chapter of Genesis aloud.  Poor Lina did not know what to do, or where to look, and Braesig muttered:  “The infamous Jesuit, to read all that to the child.”  He nearly jumped down from the tree in his rage, and as for Lina, she would have run away if it had not been the Bible her cousin was reading to her, so she hid her face in her hands and wept bitterly.  Godfrey was now quite carried away by zeal for his holy calling; he put his arm round her waist, and said:  “I could not spare you this at a time when I purpose making a solemn appeal to you.  Caroline Nuessler, will you, knowing the gravity of the step you take, enter the holy estate of matrimony with me, and become my Christian helpmeet?” Lina was so frightened and distressed at his whole conduct that she could neither speak nor think; she could only cry.