“That wasn’t very nice of Leonore,” Josephine exclaimed heatedly, “if I were in her place, I certainly would have acted differently!” This drew more laughter, but she remained completely serious and insisted, “There’s nothing to laugh about—I’m completely serious!” That involuntary confession was now a somewhat dangerous pitfall and could easily have proved disastrous, especially since the artist was quick to take offense; but in the lively chatter of the small gathering, it didn’t carry too much weight, and Theresa now took the reins and steered the conversation carefully in a different direction, though this, of course, once again amounted to a tribute in a different form: “We must be grateful to Leonore, for she acted quite logically; otherwise, our master Ludwig wouldn’t be sitting here, but might instead be the court conductor in Bonn!” “Without a position or a salary,” Ludwig added; “after the prince fled, the entire court was disbanded.”