The lively great-aunt had given her tablemates a farewell supper in the restaurant, to which were bidden the cousins, Frau Stöhr and Fräulein Engelhart⁠—a proper banquet, with caviar, champagne, and liqueurs. Joachim had been very silent, in fact had spoken only once or twice, and then hardly above a whisper; so that the old lady, in a burst of good feeling, had sought to cheer him up, even going so far as to set aside accepted forms and address him with the “thou.” “Never mind, Väterchen , cheer up, eat, drink, and be merry, we’ll be coming back again,” she said. “Let’s all eat, drink, and be merry, and begone, dull care! God will send the autumn in His own good time, before we know it⁠—so why be sad?” Next morning she presented half the dining-room with gay boxes of confits and left, with her two charges, on their little outing.