»Now—at once?« the girl asked, surprised, and raised her eyebrows. He smiled gaily, disclosing even rows of strong straight teeth, blushed deeply, and replied:
»Certainly. Why lose valuable time?«
»There will be some music soon. We can dance.«
»Dance, my fair charmer? Silly twiddles,—catching oneself by the tail. As to the music, it can be heard from up there?«
She looked at him and smiled.
»Fairly well.«
She was beginning to like him. He had prominent cheek bones and was clean shaven; his cheeks and the lower part of the mouth, under the clean-cut lips, were slightly blue, as when dark-bearded men shave. He had fine dark eyes, although in expression a little too unswerving; and they moved slowly and heavily, as though every movement were a great distance to be traversed. But despite his shaven face and easy manner, she reasoned, he did not resemble an actor, but rather an acclimatized foreigner.
»You are not a German?« she asked.
»Nnno. Not quite. I mean, I am an Englishman. Do you like Englishmen?«
»But what good Russian you speak! I should never have guessed!«