“How fine that we should meet here! We can have our little consultation now. It is far more lovely than in the house.”
Chlodwig controlled his inward emotion and offered her his arm: “Shall we not walk a little farther? I will take you to a place where we can get a wonderfully fine view.”
“No, no; let us stay here; you have chosen a perfectly beautiful spot. You sit down where you were, under that tree, and I will find a place near.... I just love to sit in the grass.”
He required no second bidding and led her to the oak. There he installed her where he had been, so that she could lean her back against the tree, and he threw himself down at full length at her feet. Supporting himself on his elbow he leaned his chin on his hand and gazed up at her.
She was dressed wholly in white: also the shoes on her little feet peeping out from under her skirt were white. She took off her hat. As she had become somewhat heated by the walk her cheeks and lips glowed and she looked remarkably young. Her eyes rested on Chlodwig’s face. How could she have ever regarded him as ugly? An expression of sorrow trembling about his lips gave his features a noble pathos; and a gentle affectionateness was expressed in his eyes—certainly the reflection of his chief characteristic—goodness. He also had taken off his hat: she now noticed, for the first time, how very thick and wavy was the short-cropped hair on his head.
He was the first to speak: “Well, what now? Is this to be our parting hour? Are our ways to separate now, forever?”
“Separate!... for always?... Certainly not.... Helmer, answer me one question. Until now, you have always talked with me about myself, never about your own life, about your endeavors and wishes. If I did not know you from your ‘Schwingen,’ I should scarcely have had a glimpse into your soul.”
“What do you want to ask, Franka?”
“It is not a very discreet question, but I want to know one thing.... Are you ... have you a ... have you any ties, that bind you?”
“You mean a betrothed, a sweetheart? No, I am free from such ties.”