He would have liked to spring up and follow her; but how could he treat the gifted speaker so cavalierly who turned to him with such ardour and held him enthralled in the spell of her eyes and words. From that moment, however, his distraction was unmistakable; his glances wandered into space, but Lori would not release the victim of her eloquence.
"You must spend the winter season in the town here; oh, you have more female admirers than you imagine; you will be fêted as you deserve, for in truth the world is not so well supplied with intellectual men as it appears to be, when one sees so many wildly luxuriant whiskers and menacing eyebrows and the superior smile, which after all means so little, of so many lords of creation. No, no, Herr von Blanden, you must not withdraw yourself from society, you cannot condemn yourself to everlasting solitude; too many wistful glances, that would be glad to share it, follow you."
"Lori's distaff buzzes incessantly to-day," said Albertina, casting a glance ready for conquest upon the gentleman sitting beside her.
Emma, who found the bird in the hand worth two in the bush, meanwhile redoubled her attentions to her brother-in-law, whose hand she pressed cordially, so as to console him for the few wounding sparks that flew towards him from the anvil of Lori's loquaciousness.
"Yes," said she, "so long as there are gentlemen like Herr von Blanden, and our good brother-in-law, the social circle cannot become oppressed with tedium."
"I feel," said Dr. Kuhl, "that I am de trop here; no one thinks it worth while to transplant me amongst the stars. Therefore I must come to the miserable end of a falling one."
Blanden meanwhile had risen, and after a polite bow had hastened through the leafy garden paths after that form which wholly occupied his attention; it had surely been no vision, but nowhere fluttered the green veil, that like a greeting of hope flowed from the hat of his principessa.
Here at a turn of the road, close to the lake, he believed he had recognised it. It was the veil, but another, a strange face looked at him from beneath the hat, a face fearfully hideous, that seemed to laugh and grin at his disappointment.
He hastened back once more; with slow scrutiny he went from table to table; here and there sat officers, but with unknown companions, the one who had accompanied those ladies was remarkably tall and stout, he was unmistakable.
All in vain; she must have already left the garden, but who was this stranger who appeared to be so well known here, was universally greeted with respect, with friendliness? Feeling annoyed, Blanden went up and down the garden walks, he looked at every lady, found all ugly as though the one had borne away with her all the radiance of beauty.