"Your mind has gone horse-back riding, I fear. At present it is between here and Lauterbrunnen, jogging beside that roaring little torrent that—"
"I don't mind confessing that you are quite right," said he frankly. "And I may add that the music makes me so blue that I'd like to jump into that roaring torrent and—and swim out again, I suppose," he concluded, with a sheepish grin.
"You are in love."
"I am," he confessed.
She laid her hand upon his. Her eyes were wide with eagerness. "Would it drive away the blues if I were to tell you that you have a chance to win her?"
He felt his head spinning. "If—if I could believe that—that-" he began, and choked up with the rush of emotion that swept through him.
"She is a strange girl. She will marry for love alone. Her father is determined that she shall marry a royal prince. That much I may confess to you. She has defied her father, Mr. Schmidt. She will marry for love, and I believe it is in your power to awaken love in that adorable heart of hers. You—"
"For God's sake, Mrs. Gaston, tell me—tell me, has she breathed a word to you that—"
"Not a single word. But I know her well. I have known her since she was a baby, and I can read the soul that looks out through those lovely eyes. Knowing her so well, I may say to you—oh, it must be in the strictest confidence!—that you have a chance. And if you win her love, you will have the greatest treasure in all the world. She—but, look! The Grand Duke is leaving. He—"
"I don't care what becomes of the Grand Duke," he burst out. "Tell me more. Tell me how you look into her soul, and tell me what you see—"