After a while the company sat down to basset and quadrille, and I was left standing disconsolately by myself. I looked around for Elmscott, being minded to depart, when her voice sounded at my elbow, and I forgot all but the sweetness of it.
"Mr. Buckler," she asked, "you do not play?"
"No," I replied. "I have seen but little of either cards or dice, and that little has given me no liking for them."
"Then I will make bold to claim your services, for the room is hot, and my ears, perchance, a little tired."
'Twas with no small pride, you may be sure, that I gave my arm to the Countess; only I could have wished that she had laid her hand less delicately upon my sleeve. Indeed, I should hardly have known that it rested there at all had I not felt its touch more surely on the strings of my heart.
We went into a smaller apartment at the end of the room, which was dimly lit, and very cool and peaceful. The window stood open and showed a little balcony with a couch. The Countess seated herself upon it with a sigh of relief, and leaning forward, plucked a sprig of flowers which grew in a pot at her side.
"I love these flowers," said she, holding the spray towards me.
'Twas the blue flower of the aconite plant, and I answered:
"They remind you of your home."
"Then you know the Tyrol, and have travelled there." She turned to me with a lively interest.