Something moved yonder in the bushes. Hartmut looked up indifferently, thinking that some game was passing through, but instead of that he saw the glimmer of a light dress. A lady emerged from a narrow side path which wound through the forest, and stood still, apparently undecided as to the direction she ought to take.
Rojanow had started at the unexpected sight. It awoke him suddenly from his dream and called him back to reality. The stranger had also noticed him. She, too, seemed surprised, but only for a moment; then she drew near and said with a slight bow: "May I ask you, sir, to show me the road to Furstenstein? I am a stranger here and have lost my way in my walk. I fear I have wandered considerably from my path."
Hartmut had scanned the appearance of the young lady with a quick glance, and immediately decided to act as guide. Although he did not know the road about which she had asked--knew only the direction in which it lay--it troubled him but little. He made a deeply polite bow.
"I place myself entirely at your service, gracious Fraulein. Furstenstein is, indeed, rather far from here, and you cannot possibly find the road by yourself, so I must beg you to accept my escort."
The lady seemed to have expected the right direction to be pointed out, and the proffered escort was evidently not especially welcome, but she may have been afraid of losing her way a second time, and the perfect politeness with which the offer was made scarcely left her any choice. She bowed after a moment's hesitation and replied: "I shall be very much obliged to you. Please let us go."
Rojanow pointed out a narrow, half-covered path which led in the direction of Furstenstein, and entered it without further ado. He decided to retain his rôle as guide, for the little adventure began to interest him.
His protégé was, indeed, beautiful enough to make the encounter interesting. The pure, delicate oval of her face; the high, clear brow surrounded by shining blonde hair; the lines of the features--all was perfect symmetry, but there was something chilling in the strong regularity of these lines, which was rather increased by a mark of energetic will power most plainly pronounced. The young lady could not be more than eighteen or nineteen years old at the utmost, but she had nothing of the charm of mirth and gayety belonging to that age. The large blue eyes looked as calm and grave as if a girlish dream had never brightened them, and the same cold, proud composure was visible in the carriage and whole appearance.
This tall, slender figure affected one like a chilling breath. Her plain but elegant apparel showed that she belonged to the high classes.
Rojanow had time enough to observe her as he walked now behind her and now before, bending back the low-hanging bows, or warning of the unevenness of the ground. This narrow forest path was truly not comfortable, and proved itself not very appropriate for the toilet of a lady. More than once her dress was caught by the bushes; the veil of her hat was entangled in the boughs at every opportunity, while the mossy soil proved at times very damp and foggy.
All of this, however, was borne with perfect indifference, but Hartmut felt that he was not doing himself much credit with his post as guide.