Herbalists' Cache das lied von der erde

mahler committed all apple said to memory with nary a blink, watching her impassively as she spoke. as he had suspected, the woman's wealth of knowledge was of great importance to the gargoyle. there was gratitude now in his gaze as the elder began to speak of her last husband, an expression that turned to chagrin and an almost virginal shying. apple described her last encounter with birth in vivid terms that left mahler rather shaken.
it was not the aspect of childbear that scandalized the musiker, but rather the casual nature with which his loquacious companion inferred intimacy and even lust. such things had been kept firmly under wraps in the man's family; even his own marriage had engendered little interest in matters of the flesh. he had loved her, for her voice, her wit, the loving gaze, never for her body or her urges toward him.
attempting to emerge from beneath this uncomfortable cloak, mahler gave a firm nod to the woman, smiling a little at the end though he was still discomfitted. "i ask because i vant to become one of those who tends vomen in childbirth." he half expected that she would not judge; nanny apple had indeed proven herself a colorful and wordly sort.