"Well, what do you purpose doing?"

"For the next two years I shall be busy with the altar, which will yield
me ample means to marry your daughter."

Long and wearily they argued, till Hans felt as if he could control
himself no longer.

"O, patience!" he cried, "if it were not that I regard you as something
holy, because you are the father of Marie, I would not brook your
disdain. A king held the ladder for Durer, and a Counselor treats his
beloved pupil like a rogue. Yonder is a laughing, alluring world. There
I have enjoyed all the honors of my calling; and here, in this little
dark corner of the earth, I must let myself be trodden upon. All because
I bring a ray of sunshine and beauty that hurts your blinded eyes--in
short, because I am an artist."

"Go, then, into your artistic world. Why didn't you stay there? Why did
you bother to return to this dark corner, as you name it?"

"Because I love your daughter so much, that no sacrifice I could make
would be too great."

"Did you for one moment think that I could sink so far as to allow my
daughter to marry an artist?"

"Yes, considering the respect I enjoyed."

"Well, I don't care how many times the King held the ladder, or whether
or not he cleaned Durer's shoes, I will hold to this: that as impossible