"But my dear Fräulein, why mind a woman seeing it?"
"But what do you want to see it for?"
"I wish to help you."
"I don't want to be helped. I'll show it to nobody—to nobody at all. It's much too—too dreadful."
"Well, well, do not be agitated. Girls, I know, are vain. If any one can help you it will be Dr. Kraus. He is an excellent physician, is he not?"
"Yes," said Priscilla, dropping back into her corner.
"The Grand Duke is a great admirer of his. He is going to ennoble him."
"Really?"
"They say—no doubt it is gossip, but still, you know, he is a very handsome man—that the Countess von Disthal will marry him."
"Gracious!" cried Priscilla, startled, "what, whether he wants to or not?"