A lot of small talk followed: a good deal of it about my interrupted journey; and von Bernhoff asked if I was going on the following day.
"I don't think Aunt Charlotte will let you go, Paul," said Bessie, who was as cool and self-possessed as possible.
"Frau Ellicott has come then?" said von Bernhoff, who had known of the intended visit. "I shall be glad to see her again. She is a charming lady."
"She arrived this morning," said Bessie in the most matter of fact tone.
"You should see Frau Ellicott," said von Bernhoff to von Felsen, who had pricked up his ears at this. "She is a perfect type of an English lady."
"I shall hope for the honour of being presented," he smirked.
"She will be delighted, I am sure. Lieutenant von Bernhoff is a favourite of hers, and any friend of his may count upon her good graces." I thought Bessie was carrying things a bit too far; but von Felsen was keeping an eye on me, and I could not warn her. "To-day she has a bad headache. You may remember how a journey upsets her."
"Ah yes, indeed"; and von Bernhoff shrugged his shoulders with a gesture of commiseration. "I remember too how interested she was in Fräulein Chalice Mennerheim. More than once she has spoken to me in raptures about her voice."
"She is passionately fond of music and used to be a great singer herself," was Bessie's absolutely composed reply.
"This news about Fräulein Korper will interest her greatly, then," interjected von Felsen; and I saw why Chalice's name had been dragged in so clumsily.