But Ulrich was worried about his sister, and he noticed his mother looking at her rather sharply on one or two occasions. She had seemed unusually quiet over the last few weeks. When he mentioned something about it to his mother, she had said, "It's time she got married. She's twenty-three. She needs her own family to look after. We must try to arrange a suitable husband for her this winter Uli. Your father would have done it by now.
So, one morning in November when he was at home with Marianne, he asked her if she wanted to get married, and if she had any feelings for any of the young unmarried men in the village. Marianne turned to him, her face pale and said in a quiet voice, "No, I have no feelings for any of the Zermatt men. Only for the Englishman, Mr Crowe. And immediately burst into tears.