The lady grasped the import of my hieroglyphic and shook her head, but she smiled a little too.
"But he is not like the others," she insisted; "he is the direct opposite of what ladies' men think a man should be. It will sound incredible, I know, but it is the simple fact that he has been my visitor these three years. He has come to see me nearly every day during that period, and never has he permitted himself a single bold advance or a single unbecoming expression. Every day I have to tell him, just as if it were the first time, to take a seat, put down his helmet, and place his sword in the corner, and our conversation has never gone beyond the criticism of Schiller's verses."
I was bound to admit that this was really an extraordinary case.
"I couldn't help rallying him about it," continued the lady; "you know that I am not accustomed to a wooer who imitates the statue of Memnon; and then Kvatopil confessed, with perfect simplicity, that he was afraid of me. 'If I were as timid on the battle-field,' said he, 'as I am in your presence, His Majesty would only give me my deserts by dismissing me from his service.'"
The lieutenant signified by a nod of his head that his words had been correctly reported.
"Finally," continued Bessy, "I had to ask for his hand—hadn't I, my friend?"
The bridegroom replied that such had indeed been the case.
"Even then he was quite coy. He pleaded his humble rank. He begged time for consideration. Now, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did."
"I had to remove his scruples one by one, till at last I brought him to a definite declaration, and he said he would take me to wife. Never have I met with such an officer before."