‘It is true, mein Fräulein. What ought a man to study, if not his own order?’
‘And that such an order! Indeed, you are right. I want to know who that lovely woman near us was, in a dress like a cloud of creamy muslin and lace. I thought she must be a Pole, from her gracefulness and from the spirited way in which she spoke.’
‘You were right,’ he said earnestly. ‘It was the Princess ——.’
‘Thank you very much. I feel happier now. Suppose it had turned out to be some Mrs. Smith, or Frau Müller!’
‘I fear, mein Fräulein, that you are a little tinged with——’
‘But, liebe Sara,’ cried a lady behind, ‘it is getting late, and we have such a long drive.’
‘Oh, Carla, don’t go yet!’ expostulated, not Sara, but a German girl, dark, handsome, and defiant-looking. ‘It is so fine; and we have not seen the emperor, and, after all, it is not so late.’
‘Oh, it is quite early!’ said an English girl who was of the party.
She addressed as Sara at this moment turned, and the whole group paused, a few paces from the place where the silent watcher sat. He had turned aside as soon as Sara had passed, and was now gazing intently down into the mysterious eddies of the river, his chin propped on his hand.
‘Just as you like, Gräfin,’ said Sara Ford, smiling; ‘it is very nice here, and Herr von Lemde’s society makes dullness out of the question.’