Belinda
.
A
Novel
.
By
Rhoda
Broughton
...
In
Three
Volumes
PERIOD
I
.
"
Mignonne
,
allons
voir
si
la
rose
Qui
ce
matin
avait
disclose
Sa
robe
de
pourpre
au
soleil
A
point
perdu
ceste
vesprée
,
Les
plis
de
sa
robe
pourprée
Et
son
teint
au
vostre
pareil
.
Las
!
voyez
comme
en
peu
d'espace
,
Mignonne
,
elle
a
dessus
la
place
!
Las
!
Las
!
ses
beautez
laissé
cheoir
!
O
vrayment
marastre
Nature
Puis
qu'une
telle
fleur
ne
dure
Que
du
matin
jusques
au
soir
!
Donc
si
vous
me
croyez
,
Mignonne
,
Tandis
que
vostre
âge
fleuronne
En
sa
plus
verte
nouveauté
,
Cueillez
,
cueillez
vostre
jeunesse
,
Comme
à
ceste
fleur
,
la
vieillesse
Fera
ternir
vostre
beauté
.
"
CHAPTER
I
.
"
Along
the
crisped
shades
and
bowers
Revels
the
spruce
and
jocund
Spring
.
"
Not
less
lustily
than
elsewhere
is
the
spruce
and
jocund
Spring
revelling
in
the
Grosse
Garten
at
Dresden
on
this
May
Day
.
And
though
there
is
still
in
her
very
frolic
a
disposition
to
pinch
sharply
,
a
certain
tartness
in
her
green
smile
,
yet
many
glad
subjects
have
come
forth
to
do
homage
to
her
new
Queendom
.
Yes
,
many
;
for
to-day
the
Dresdeners
—
as
I
am
told
is
their
custom
on
each
fresh
May
Day
—
have
issued
out
on
foot
and
in
carriage
to
welcome
the
year
's
new
sovereign
.
They
are
holding
a
sort
of
flower-feast
;
everybody
is
throwing
bouquets
to
everybody
else
.
Above
their
heads
the
trees
are
breaking
into
little
leaf
;
upon
the
side-paths
throng
the
foot-passengers
;
along
the
drives
the
carriages
gaily
roll
.
Here
is
a
very
smart
turn-out
.
Surely
this
must
be
the
King
and
the
Queen
?
Not
at
all
!
It
is
only
Graf
von
S.
reclining
with
a
self-satisfied
air
alone
in
a
barouche
,
richly
filled
with
choice
nosegays
,
and
drawn
by
four
chestnut
horses
,
with
a
crimson
velvet
postilion
jigging
up
and
down
in
front
,
and
a
crimson
velvet
outrider
trotting
bravely
behind
.
An
Englishman
would
feel
a
fool
in
such
a
position
,
but
far
indeed
from
a
like
frame
of
mind
is
that
of
this
splendid
and
happy
German
.
Well
,
here
come
the
King
and
Queen
really
now
,
with
their
mouse-coloured
liveries
;
come
,
bowing
and
smiling
with
as
much
affability
as
if
they
were
real
big
royalties
;
no
one
troubling
himself
to
get
out
of
their
way
;
not
a
policeman
to
be
seen
;
no
open
space
imperatively
cleared
,
as
when
the
Princess
of
Wales
comes
trotting
serenely
down
the
drive
.
Here
are
soldiers
in
plenty
;
but
soldiers
thinking
for
the
most
part
neither
of
war
nor
beer
;
soldiers
with
their
martial
hands
full
of
innocent
daffodillies
and
fresh
sweet
Nancies
.
Gardereiters
in
their
light
blue
uniforms
and
flat
blue
caps
,
pricking
hither
and
thither
on
their
sleek
horses
,
carrying
bouquets
of
roses
,
azaleas
,
deutzias
,
hyacinths
,
and
seeking
here
and
there
with
grave
gray
eyes
for
the
happy
fair
ones
for
whom
they
are
destined
.
Two
bands
are
clashing
merrily
out
;
a
great
booming
thump
on
the
big
drum
makes
the
horses
start
and
fidget
.
Now
,
for
a
change
,
comes
a
real
English
turn-out
.
One
need
not
look
twice
to
decide
its
nationality
.
The
square-sitting
,
bolt-upright
servants
in
their
quiet
liveries
;
the
plain
but
shining
harness
;
the
great
glossy-coated
bays
stepping
together
like
one
horse
—
who
can
doubt
concerning
them
?
Now
more
English
in
hired
carriages
;
but
do
not
judge
us
by
these
,
O
kind
Saxons
;
these
are
not
our
best
!
And
yet
it
is
in
one
of
these
very
hired
carriages
that
are
sitting
a
pair
of
young
women
,
of
whom
their
England
has
no
need
to
be
ashamed
,
and
who
are
not
at
all
ashamed
of
themselves
.
Not
that
the
present
is
their
happiest
moment
,
for
the
expression
of
one
face
is
cross
,
and
of
the
other
anxious
.
"
Shall
we
go
home
,
Belinda
?
"
asks
the
cross
one
morosely
.
"
Why
,
we
have
only
just
come
!
"
objects
Belinda
.
A
Russian
carriage
passes
;
a
coachman
with
a
hat
like
a
beefeater
and
a
long
cloth
frock
pulled
in
with
gathers
at
the
waist
.
Then
more
Germans
,
with
bunches
of
narcissus
at
their
horses
'
ears
,
and
in
their
servants
'
breasts
.
Now
a
Gardereiter
perched
on
the
box
of
a
coach
,
driving
six-in-hand
,
and
with
a
confiding
lady
in
a
pink
bonnet
beside
him
tranquilly
enjoying
her
position
nor
any
wise
distrubed
by
the
hopeless
muddle
into
which
her
hero
has
got
his
innumerable
reins
.
Another
blue
Gardereiter
flings
her
a
bouquet
,
but
it
is
ill-aimed
,
falls
upon
the
road
,
and
the
wheels
pass
over
it
.
This
sight
is
too
much
for
the
fortitude
of
Belinda
's
sister
.
"
I
must
take
some
desperate
step
to
attract
attention
,
"
she
says
crossly
,
yet
with
a
vein
of
humor
streaking
her
ill-
temper
;
"
what
do
you
recommend
?
Shall
I
be
frightened
at
the
big
drum
,
and
give
a
loud
shriek
,
or
will
you
?
"
"
Certainly
not
I
!
"
"
I
cannot
think
what
has
happened
to
them
!
they
must
be
wrong
in
their
heads
.
Are
you
aware
that
not
one
of
them
has
thrown
us
a
single
bouquet
?
"
"
Why
should
they
?
"
answers
Belinda
;
"
we
know
none
of
them
.
"
"
Even
though
they
do
not
know
us
,
they
might
toss
us
a
handful
of
flowers
,
"
says
Sarah
grumblingly
.
"
I
am
sure
we
look
wistful
enough
,
and
that
requires
no
great
amount
of
acquaintance
!
"
"
I
should
think
it
extremely
impertinent
if
they
did
!
"
replies
Belinda
loftily
.
The
other
pouts
.
"
For
my
part
,
them
,
I
wish
that
they
would
begin
to
be
impertinent
at
once
!
"
But
for
such
insolence
the
Saxon
army
appears
to
have
no
sort
of
bent
.
In
silence
the
neglected
girls
drive
on
.
And
the
sun
shines
,
and
the
east
wind
blows
,
and
the
big
drum
booms
,
and
the
great
brass
instruments
blare
,
and
still
they
trot
round
the
bit
of
dull
water
,
up
the
straight
drives
,
past
the
Museum
of
Antiquities
.
A
rain
of
spring
nosegays
falls
around
them
,
but
not
one
is
aimed
at
their
humble
landau
;
not
one
drops
,
even
by
accident
,
into
their
empty
laps
.
Here
come
the
King
and
Queen
again
;
the
mouse-coloured
and
silver
outriders
;
the
suave
and
middle-aged
pair
of
little
royalties
.
The
gloom
on
Sarah
's
face
deepens
,
and
even
in
Belinda
's
eyes
the
anxious
,
seeking
look
has
grown
intensified
.
If
they
know
no
one
in
this
gay
foreign
throng
,
whom
is
she
seeking
?
"
After
all
,
"
she
presently
says
,
"
you
knew
,
Sarah
,
when
you
were
so
anxious
to
come
,
that
we
should
meet
no
acquaintance
here
except
Professor
Forth
,
and
—
"
Well
,
and
why
is
not
he
here
,
pray
?
"
cries
Sarah
,
with
a
burst
of
genuine
ill-
humour
that
seems
sensibly
to
ease
her
.
"
Did
not
I
order
him
to
be
punctual
to
the
moment
?
Even
he
would
be
better
than
nothing
!
"
Belinda
smiles
ironically
.
"
That
is
an
enthusiastic
form
of
encomium
upon
the
man
that
you
are
going
to
marry
!
"
But
Sarah
does
not
heed
.
Her
eyes
are
directed
to
the
side
walk
,
where
the
brisk
foot-passengers
pass
and
repass
.
"
There
he
is
!
"
she
cries
in
a
disgusted
voice
;
"
certainly
there
is
no
mistaking
him
!
Did
you
ever
see
such
a
gait
in
your
life
?
Look
at
him
slouching
along
on
his
great
flat
feet
!
"
Belinda
looks
as
directed
;
and
sure
enough
,
amid
the
strapping
soldiers
erect
and
tall
,
detects
without
difficulty
a
slovenly
middle-aged
figure
,
clerical
,
if
you
judge
by
its
coat
;
scholarly
,
if
you
decide
by
its
spectacles
.
With
his
hands
behind
him
,
and
his
hat
set
somewhat
on
the
back
of
his
head
,
he
is
mooning
absently
along
.
"
Is
it
possible
?
"
cries
Sarah
,
half-rising
from
her
seat
,
and
in
a
tone
that
is
almost
awful
from
its
ire
.
"
Yes
;
it
is
monstrous
;
it
is
unbelievable
!
but
it
is
nevertheless
true
that
he
has
not
brought
me
a
bouquet
after
all
!
"
"
Yes
,
he
has
,
"
replies
Belinda
quietly
,
"
only
it
is
so
small
that
it
requires
a
keen
sight
to
perceive
it
.
"
As
they
speak
,
the
object
of
their
observation
becomes
aware
of
their
vicinity
,
and
turning
his
moony
scholar
's
gaze
towards
them
,
awkwardly
aims
at
them
a
tiny
bunch
of
not
particularly
fresh
violets
.
It
falls
into
his
betrothed
's
lap
,
but
not
long
does
it
remain
there
.
With
an
angry
gesture
,
and
before
Belinda
can
stop
her
,
she
has
tossed
it
out
into
the
road
;
and
the
Gardereiter
,
with
his
six
black
horses
,
and
his
confiding
companion
,
who
are
just
in
the
act
of
again
passing
,
drive
over
it
,
and
grind
it
into
the
dust
.
Thanks
,
however
,
to
his
near-sight
the
donor
is
saved
from
witnessing
this
humbling
spectacle
.
"
I
am
afraid
that
my
aim
was
not
good
,
"
he
says
innocently
,
as
the
carriage
draws
up
at
the
side-walk
,
exploring
,
as
he
speaks
,
the
interior
through
his
spectacles
in
search
of
his
missing
posy
.
"
I
fear
that
the
nosegay
I
directed
towards
you
must
have
fallen
short
,
and
never
reached
you
.
"
"
Oh
yes
,
it
did
,
"
replies
Sarah
,
with
a
sort
of
ferocious
playfulness
;
"
but
as
it
was
too
large
for
me
to
carry
,
I
put
it
outside
.
"
"
How
late
you
are
!
"
cries
Belinda
hastily
,
trying
by
a
rapid
change
of
subject
,
and
a
sweet
,
good-natured
smile
,
to
erase
the
traces
of
this
suave
speech
.
"
After
playing
us
so
false
,
you
cannot
expect
to
find
us
in
a
very
good
humor
.
"
"
I
was
delayed
by
an
accident
,
"
replies
the
lover
irritably
.
"
I
found
the
east
wind
so
very
much
keener
than
I
was
aware
of
"
—
shivering
a
little
and
buttoning
his
coat
more
tightly
over
his
narrow
chest
—
"
that
,
as
I
am
extremely
susceptible
to
cold
,
I
was
compelled
to
return
to
my
lodgings
for
a
second
overcoat
.
Sarah
knows
"
—
with
a
rather
resentful
glance
at
his
fiancée
—
"
that
I
am
extremely
susceptible
to
cold
.
"
But
Sarah
heeds
him
no
more
than
she
does
the
east
wind
of
which
he
complains
.
"
Ah
!
Bravo
!
"
she
is
crying
joyfully
,
as
another
bouquet
—
a
real
one
this
time
—
large
as
a
Cheshire
cheese
,
fragrant
as
a
hot-house
,
choice
and
costly
as
should
be
young
Love
's
tribute
,
come
flying
into
the
carriage
.
She
has
stretched
out
both
hands
to
grasp
it
;
no
doubt
as
to
its
destination
troubling
her
triumph
,
although
to
a
looker-on
it
would
have
seemed
as
if
it
were
aimed
more
at
the
other
sister
,
at
Belinda
,
who
has
also
half-stretched
out
her
hands
,
but
has
quickly
withdrawn
them
,
and
turned
with
patient
attention
,
though
with
something
of
a
blank
look
on
her
face
,
to
the
Professor
's
fretful
sarcasms
on
the
absurdity
of
an
al
fresco
entertainment
in
such
weather
.
But
though
he
misses
nothing
in
her
civil
listening
,
though
her
head
is
turned
towards
him
,
and
quite
averted
from
her
sister
,
yet
her
ears
miss
no
one
syllable
of
that
sister
's
exuberant
thanks
.
"
Come
near
,
that
I
may
bless
you
!
"
she
hears
her
cry
coquettishly
.
"
You
see
I
have
not
a
hand
to
give
you
;
but
you
must
blame
yourself
for
that
.
What
a
giant
it
is
!
How
fresh
!
How
good
!
"
—
evidently
smelling
it
.
"
It
has
quite
put
me
into
good-humour
again
with
this
odious
entertainment
.
I
assure
you
I
never
was
so
flouted
in
my
life
.
What
boors
they
are
!
How
different
it
would
have
been
if
they
had
been
Frenchmen
!
"
etc.
,
etc.
Perhaps
it
is
that
her
volubility
leaves
no
space
for
answers
from
the
person
she
addresses
.
Certain
it
is
that
he
is
strangely
silent
.
Is
it
not
odd
to
accept
gratitude
so
bounteous
with
so
entire
a
dumbness
?
In
pondering
on
this
problem
,
Belinda
presently
loses
the
thread
of
the
Professor
's
plaints
;
awakes
from
her
musing
to
find
him
first
gazing
at
her
with
surprised
offence
,
then
gone
;
then
succeeded
in
his
station
at
the
carriage-door
by
some
one
;
some
one
else
who
has
no
spectacles
,
who
does
not
stoop
nor
cower
before
the
east
wind
;
some
one
young
,
in
short
—
word
of
splendid
compass
!
He
is
young
:
not
with
the
conventional
youth
loosely
assigned
by
society
to
any
unmarried
male
under
eighty
,
but
really
young
;
some
one
who
three-and-twenty
years
ago
did
not
exist
.
Who
that
was
not
young
and
callow
would
be
staring
at
her
with
all
his
eyes
,
and
saying
aggrievedly
under
his
breath
:
"
Why
did
you
not
catch
it
?
You
knew
I
meant
it
for
you
!
"
She
looks
back
at
him
:
a
happy
,
red
smile
warming
the
face
that
men
have
often
blamed
as
chill
and
high
.
"
I
did
my
best
!
"
"
What
are
you
two
gabbling
about
?
"
cries
Sarah
restlessly
,
cutting
ruthlessly
short
a
sentence
of
her
betrothed
's
.
"
Are
you
saying
anything
about
me
?
Ah
!
I
see
you
both
look
guilty
!
"
Neither
undeceives
her
.
A
quarter
of
an
hour
later
the
two
girls
are
bowling
homewards
to
their
grand-mamma
and
their
apartment
in
the
Lüttichau
Strasse
,
leaving
behind
them
the
King
,
the
Queen
,
the
Graf
von
S.
in
his
barouche
,
and
the
brave
soldiers
,
both
blue
and
green
.
Belinda
has
bent
her
delicate
head
,
and
is
laying
her
cheek
most
tenderly
against
the
blossoms
in
her
sister
's
lap
.
"
Let
me
beg
of
you
not
to
mumble
them
,
"
cries
Sarah
politely
,
interposing
a
prohibitory
hand
.
"
You
always
seem
to
have
an
idea
that
flowers
ought
to
be
eaten
.
"
Then
,
seeing
a
quite
unaccountable
flash
of
indignation
in
her
sister
's
eyes
,
adds
generously
:
"
If
they
were
not
all
wired
,
as
I
see
they
are
,
I
would
spare
you
an
orchid
or
two
.
"
"
Would
you
indeed
!
"
replies
Belinda
ironically
.
But
further
than
this
her
magnanimous
silence
does
not
give
way
.
CHAPTER
II
.
A
night
has
passed
since
the
Professor
's
damaged
violets
bit
the
dust
.
It
is
now
morning
,
and
at
the
window
of
her
bedroom
in
the
Lüttichau
Strasse
,
with
the
sash
flung
high
(
to
the
deep
astonishment
of
the
German
Dienstmädchen
,
to
whom
the
smell
of
an
unaired
room
,
further
flavoured
with
departed
sausages
and
old
beer
,
is
as
dear
as
to
the
rest
of
her
nation
)
,
Belinda
sits
,
the
sun
warming
her
hair
,
and
the
tart
air
freshening
her
face
.
She
is
looking
fixedly
out
on
the
pear-tree
in
the
garden-scrap
below
—
the
pear-tree
that
a
week
ago
was
pinchedly
struggling
into
flower
,
that
has
been
daily
whitening
ever
since
,
and
now
seems
to
stagger
under
its
burden
of
blossom-snow
.
Yet
I
doubt
whether
she
sees
it
.
"
Is
it
possible
?
"
she
is
saying
to
herself
,
almost
with
awe
—
the
awe
that
a
great
joy
gives
—
"
is
it
possible
?
"
A
slight
noise
makes
her
turn
her
head
and
see
the
tall
white
door
open
to
admit
her
sister
.
"
Are
you
alone
?
"
says
the
latter
,
cautiously
peeping
.
"
Of
course
I
am
alone
,
"
replies
Belinda
crossly
.
"
Am
I
in
the
habit
of
receiving
in
my
bedroom
?
"
This
not
particularly
gracious
answer
is
,
however
,
quite
enough
for
Sarah
,
who
forthwith
enters
,
and
steps
friskily
across
the
sunshiny
parquet
,
looking
as
clean
as
a
cherry
,
as
pink
and
white
as
a
May-bush
.
"
The
moment
is
apparently
not
a
propitious
one
,
"
she
says
,
laughing
,
and
drawing
a
chair
close
up
to
her
sister
's
kness
;
"
but
as
my
need
is
sore
,
I
am
afraid
I
cannot
afford
to
wait
for
a
better
.
I
have
come
,
my
Belinda
,
to
ask
a
favour
of
you
.
"
"
Then
you
may
go
away
again
at
once
,
"
replies
Belinda
with
surly
decision
,
"
for
I
tell
you
,
once
for
all
,
I
will
not
grant
it
!
"
"
What
!
refuse
even
before
you
hear
what
it
is
?
"
cries
the
other
,
lifting
those
brows
which
nature
,
slightly
abetted
,
perhaps
,
by
a
pair
of
tweezers
,
has
drawn
in
the
thinnest
straight
line
across
her
wrinkleless
forehead
.
"
Do
you
think
I
do
not
recognise
that
well-known
formula
?
"
asks
Belinda
severely
.
"
I
am
sure
that
I
have
heard
it
often
enough
.
It
means
that
you
expect
me
to
tell
Professor
Forth
that
you
have
every
intention
of
jilting
him
!
"
"
You
word
it
coarsely
,
"
replies
Sarah
composedly
;
"
but
I
have
heard
worse
guesses
.
"
"
Then
I
absolutely
and
flatly
refuse
the
office
!
"
rejoins
Belinda
firmly
.
"
Why
you
engaged
yourself
to
him
in
the
first
instance
—
"
"
Why
indeed
?
"
interrupts
the
other
,
casting
up
both
eyes
and
hands
to
heaven
.
"
You
may
well
ask
!
"
"
And
yet
,
"
pursues
Belinda
,
regarding
her
sister
with
an
air
of
stern
wonder
,
"
when
you
wrote
to
announce
your
engagement
to
me
,
you
said
that
you
did
not
know
what
you
had
done
to
deserve
such
happiness
!
"
"
I
did
not
—
I
did
not
!
"
cries
Sarah
,
reddening
for
once
with
genuine
shame
,
and
putting
her
fingers
before
her
face
.
"
Do
not
say
it
;
it
is
not
true
!
It
was
not
about
him
;
it
was
one
of
the
others
!
"
"
One
of
the
others
!
"
echoes
Belinda
,
scornfully
curling
up
her
fine
nose
.
"
How
pleasant
and
dignified
to
be
bandied
about
!
One
of
the
others
!
"
"
It
may
not
be
dignified
,
"
replies
Sarah
impudently
,
though
under
the
lash
of
her
sister
's
words
even
her
throat
has
crimsoned
,
"
but
it
is
not
so
very
unpleasant
!
"
"
You
know
,
"
continues
Belinda
sternly
,
"
that
I
took
a
solemn
oath
to
wash
my
hands
of
your
affairs
,
last
time
,
when
I
had
that
painful
scene
with
poor
young
Manners
,
and
he
walked
round
the
room
on
his
knees
after
me
,
clutching
my
skirts
and
sobbing
!
"
"
He
always
sobbed
!
"
interjects
Sarah
hard-heartedly
.
"
I
have
seen
him
cry
like
a
pump
!
"
"
I
have
already
told
six
men
that
you
had
only
been
making
fools
of
them
,
"
continues
the
elder
sister
,
contemptuously
passing
by
her
junior
's
lame
attempt
at
palliation
.
"
Six
!
Come
now
,
gently
.
"
"
I
repeat
,
six
!
In
fact
,
I
think
I
am
rather
understating
it
;
and
I
will
not
tell
a
seventh
!
"
"
A
seventh
!
!
!
"
"
If
you
imply
that
I
am
exaggerating
,
I
am
quite
willing
to
count
.
First
"
—
checking
off
on
her
long
white
fingers
,
beginning
with
the
thumb
—
"
first
,
young
Manners
!
"
"
We
have
had
him
once
already
!
"
"
Second
"
—
travelling
on
to
the
forefinger
—
"
Colonel
Greene
.
Poor
fellow
!
he
sobbed
too
!
"
"
More
shame
for
him
!
"
—
brazenly
.
"
Third
,
the
young
clergyman
whom
you
picked
up
at
the
seaside
,
and
whose
name
I
never
can
remember
.
"
"
No
more
can
I
!
"
cries
Sarah
,
with
animation
.
"
How
strange
!
Pooh
!
What
was
it
again
?
Did
it
begin
with
a
B
?
"
"
Fourth
,
"
continues
Belinda
relentlessly
,
arriving
at
her
third
finger
—
"
fourth
,
old
Lord
Blucher
,
who
was
so
deaf
that
I
could
not
get
him
to
understand
what
I
meant
.
"
But
Sarah
's
light
mind
is
still
on
the
track
of
her
lover
's
lost
initial
.
"
I
am
almost
sure
that
it
began
with
an
L
!
"
she
says
thoughtfully
.
"
Fifth
"
—
extending
her
little
finger
—
"
Mr.
Brabazon
.
"
"
You
counted
him
before
!
"
"
I
did
not
!
"
"
I
think
you
did
.
"
"
I
am
sure
I
did
not
;
but
,
to
make
certain
,
we
will
begin
all
over
again
.
First
"
—
returning
to
her
thumb
—
"
poor
young
Manners
—
"
"
Stop
!
"
cries
Sarah
loudly
,
putting
her
fingers
in
her
ears
,
and
abandoning
the
search
for
the
young
clergyman
's
name
.
"
I
will
grant
that
there
were
six
,
sixteen
,
sixty
—
anything
to
put
an
end
to
that
intolerable
arithmetic
of
yours
!
"
Belinda
is
preparing
to
begin
on
her
other
hand
,
but
at
this
concession
she
lets
them
both
drop
in
her
lap
,
and
ceases
counting
.
There
is
a
silence
.
Sarah
's
roving
eyes
are
despondently
fastened
on
the
white
earthenware
stove
,
and
Belinda
's
large
grave
gaze
is
straying
through
the
window
,
taking
in
at
once
the
poetry
of
the
blooming
pear-tree
and
the
prose
of
the
Bohemian
railway
,
and
the
ugly
straight
stuccoed
houses
beyond
it
.
"
What
could
have
been
your
inducement
in
this
case
,
"
she
says
presently
,
turning
with
a
judicial
air
to
the
offender
,
"
I
am
quite
at
a
loss
to
conjecture
;
it
certainly
could
have
been
neither
pleasure
nor
profit
!
"
"
It
certainly
could
not
,
"
answers
Sarah
,
sighing
profoundly
,
and
wagging
her
head
from
side
to
side
;
"
anyone
who
saw
him
would
exonerate
me
from
the
suspicion
of
either
motive
!
"
"
Such
a
conquest
could
not
have
even
gratified
your
vanity
!
"
pursues
Belinda
relentlessly
.
"
Yes
,
but
it
did
!
"
replies
Sarah
,
abandoning
her
dispirited
pose
,
and
speaking
with
an
animation
which
shows
that
she
does
not
altogether
relish
this
wholesale
depreciation
of
her
latest
victim
;
"
you
may
not
think
much
of
him
,
but
I
can
assure
you
that
he
is
considered
a
great
luminary
at
Oxbridge
.
At
the
house
where
I
met
him
they
could
not
make
enough
of
him
;
it
seems
he
has
written
a
book
upon
the
Digamma
!
"
"
And
what
is
the
Digamma
?
"
asks
Belinda
curtly
,
totally
unmoved
by
this
evidence
of
erudition
.
"
You
do
not
know
what
the
Digamma
is
?
"
cries
Sarah
,
lifting
her
eyebrows
,
and
speaking
with
an
air
of
pompous
astonishment
.
"
Well
,
then
,
"
breaking
into
a
laugh
,
and
even
demeaning
herself
so
far
as
to
be
guilty
of
the
faintest
possible
shadow
of
a
wink
,
"
to
tell
you
a
secret
,
no
more
do
I
!
"
"
You
cannot
live
upon
the
Digamma
,
I
suppose
!
"
says
Belinda
grimly
,
not
much
infected
by
her
sister
's
mirth
.
"
I
should
be
very
sorry
to
try
!
"
still
laughing
.
"
Then
I
am
quite
as
much
in
the
dark
as
ever
!
"
rejoins
the
other
,
inexorably
grave
.
"
Well
,
it
was
not
only
the
Digamma
,
of
course
,
"
says
Sarah
,
frowning
in
reluctant
retrospect
;
"
though
,
as
far
as
I
could
make
out
,
that
appeared
to
be
his
cheval
de
bataille
;
but
he
was
looked
upon
as
a
genius
generally
.
You
should
have
seen
how
they
all
sat
at
his
feet
—
such
feet
!
—
and
hung
on
his
words
.
There
was
one
girl
—
she
was
at
Girton
—
who
waited
on
him
hand
and
foot
;
she
always
warmed
his
great-coat
for
him
,
and
helped
him
on
with
his
goloshes
!
"
"
Well
?
"
"
Well
,
you
know
,
"
impatiently
,
as
if
stating
something
too
obvious
to
be
contradicted
,
"
one
would
not
have
been
human
if
one
could
have
stood
calmly
by
,
and
looked
on
.
I
rushed
into
the
fray
.
I
too
warmed
his
great-coat
and
put
on
his
goloshes
.
Ugh
!
what
a
size
they
were
!
I
could
have
lived
roomily
and
commodiously
in
one
of
them
!
"
"
Well
?
"
"
Well
,
indeed
!
I
do
not
call
it
at
all
well
!
I
call
it
very
ill
!
"
"
There
I
have
the
good
fortune
thoroughly
to
agree
with
you
.
"
"
Well
,
as
I
was
saying
,
"
resuming
the
thread
of
her
narrative
with
a
heavy
sigh
,
"
I
rushed
into
the
fray
.
I
was
successful
,
dreadfully
successful
!
You
know
the
sequel
,
as
they
say
in
books
.
"
"
I
do
not
know
the
sequel
,
"
replies
Belinda
sternly
;
"
all
I
know
is
that
I
will
have
neither
part
nor
lot
in
it
!
"
"
No
?
and
yet
,
"
fawningly
,
"
it
would
come
so
much
better
from
you
.
"
"
Better
or
worse
,
it
will
not
come
from
me
.
"
"
When
you
break
it
to
them
,
"
sidling
up
with
a
cajoling
air
,
"
it
does
not
hurt
them
nearly
so
much
!
I
declare
I
think
they
almost
like
it
!
"
No
answer
.
A
silence
cut
into
only
by
the
uncouth
shriek
of
a
departing
engine
.
"
Why
at
least
did
you
drag
him
here
?
"
asks
Belinda
presently
,
still
opposing
a
front
of
granite
to
her
sister
's
blandishments
.
"
I
am
afraid
I
cannot
quite
defend
it
,
"
replies
Sarah
,
in
a
small
voice
,
and
again
hanging
her
head
;
"
but
,
to
tell
the
truth
—
which
indeed
I
always
try
to
do
—
times
were
slack
!
There
was
nobody
else
much
just
then
,
and
I
thought
I
could
at
least
make
him
fetch
and
carry
!
"
Then
,
with
an
acute
change
of
key
and
access
of
emotion
:
"
I
was
grossly
deceived
;
he
is
too
disobliging
to
fetch
,
and
too
much
afraid
of
over-fatiguing
himself
to
carry
!
"
Another
pause
.
A
quick
wind-whiff
tosses
through
the
window
a
little
strom
of
pear-petals
,
and
throws
them
on
Belinda
's
lap
.
"
Now
if
the
cases
were
reversed
,
"
says
Sarah
,
kneeling
down
at
her
senior
's
elbow
,
and
folding
her
hands
with
an
extremely
insinuating
gesture
of
supplication
,
"
if
you
were
in
difficulties
—
"
"
I
never
am
in
difficulties
.
"
I
do
not
see
much
to
brag
of
in
that
,
for
my
part
!
"
springing
to
her
feet
again
.
"
No
more
do
I
,
"
replies
Belinda
drily
.
"
I
am
never
in
difficulties
,
as
you
call
them
,
because
I
never
have
any
temptation
to
be
;
perhaps
if
I
had
I
might
;
but
as
you
are
well
aware
,
"
stifling
a
sigh
,
"
I
have
not
,
and
never
had
,
any
charm
for
men
!
"
"
It
is
very
odd
,
is
not
it
?
"
says
Sarah
,
not
attempting
to
combat
this
assertion
,
but
looking
at
her
sister
with
an
expression
of
compassionate
curiosity
.
"
I
cannot
think
why
it
is
.
I
have
often
wondered
what
the
reason
could
be
;
sometimes
I
think
it
is
your
nose
!
"
"
My
nose
?
"
repeats
Belinda
hastily
,
involuntarily
glancing
round
in
search
of
a
mirror
,
and
putting
up
her
hand
to
her
face
;
"
what
is
the
matter
with
my
nose
?
"
"
There
is
nothing
the
matter
with
it
,
"
rejoins
Sarah
,
still
speculatively
gauging
her
sister
's
attractions
;
"
perhaps
it
would
be
better
for
you
if
there
were
;
it
is
only
too
good
!
I
cannot
fancy
any
man
venturing
to
love
such
a
nose
;
it
looks
too
high
and
mighty
to
inspire
anything
short
of
veneration
!
"
"
It
is
not
so
very
high
either
!
"
cries
Belinda
hurriedly
,
drawing
from
her
pocket
a
very
fine
handkerchief
,
and
applying
a
corner
of
it
in
careful
measurement
to
her
traduced
feature
.
"
There
!
"
marking
off
a
small
portion
with
her
thumb
;
"
only
that
much
.
"
"
It
is
not
a
case
of
measurement
,
"
says
Sarah
gravely
;
"
I
have
seen
noses
several
hands
higher
that
were
not
nearly
so
alarming
.
It
is
a
case
of
feeling
;
somehow
yours
makes
them
feel
small
.
Take
my
word
for
it
,
"
with
a
shrewd
look
,
"
the
one
thing
that
they
never
can
either
forgive
or
forget
is
to
be
made
to
feel
small
.
"
Belinda
laughs
,
a
little
bitterly
.
"
It
is
clear
,
then
that
nothing
short
of
amputation
could
make
me
attractive
,
and
I
am
afraid
even
that
might
fail
;
but
I
do
not
know
why
we
digressed
to
me
at
all
.
"
"
I
had
a
little
plan
,
"
says
Sarah
,
her
airy
gaiety
giving
sudden
place
again
to
gloom
at
the
returning
thought
of
her
own
sorrows
;
"
but
you
have
frightened
it
away
.
"
"
What
is
it
?
"
very
shortly
.
"
Well
,
you
know
,
"
instantly
resuming
her
wheedling
air
and
her
coaxing
posture
at
her
sister
's
knees
,
"
that
we
are
going
to
drive
to
Moritzburg
to-day
,
you
and
I
.
Of
course
Professor
Forth
,
"
with
a
slight
grimace
,
"
will
be
on
duty
there
to
meet
us
;
equally
of
course
,
young
Rivers
,
who
seems
to
have
contracted
a
not
altogether
reprehensible
habit
of
dogging
our
steps
,
will
be
there
too
,
"
"
Well
?
"
averting
her
head
a
little
.
"
Well
,
I
thought
—
but
you
are
not
a
pleasant
person
to
unfold
one
's
little
schemes
to
—
I
thought
that
for
once
you
might
be
obliging
,
and
pair
off
casually
with
my
dear
,
and
take
an
opportunity
of
softly
breathing
to
him
that
nobody
—
I
least
of
all
—
will
try
to
stop
him
if
he
effects
a
graceful
retreat
to
Oxbridge
and
the
Digamma
!
"
"
And
meanwhile
you
?
"
in
a
rather
low
and
suppressed
voice
,
and
with
face
still
turned
away
.
"
And
meanwhile
I
,
"
replies
Sarah
,
jovially
,
"
killing
two
birds
with
one
stone
—
keeping
the
coast
clear
,
that
is
to
say
,
and
marking
my
gratitude
for
that
haystack
of
gardenias
—
shall
be
straying
hand-in-hand
through
the
vernal
woods
with
—
"
But
that
sentence
is
destined
never
to
be
ended
.
Belinda
has
risen
from
her
seat
with
a
gesture
so
sudden
and
violent
as
almost
to
destroy
the
equilibrium
of
the
girl
so
caressingly
propped
against
her
,
and
has
thrust
head
and
neck
out
of
the
window
,
as
if
,
even
in
this
fresh
room
,
she
gasped
for
air
.
It
is
a
moment
before
she
speaks
;
and
even
then
her
voice
sounds
odd
.
"
I
have
already
told
you
that
I
utterly
decline
to
be
mixed
up
in
your
entanglements
.
I
forbid
you
to
mention
the
subject
to
me
again
.
"
"
Whew-w-w-w
!
"
says
Sarah
by-and-by
,
in
a
low
key
,
when
she
has
recovered
the
breath
reft
from
her
by
stupefaction
at
her
sister
's
procedure
,
enough
to
speak
at
all
;
remaining
seated
meanwhile
in
stunned
isolation
on
her
lonely
stool
.
"
Forbid
!
What
an
ugly
word
!
After
all
,
"
speculatively
,
"
I
am
not
much
surprised
that
men
are
frightened
at
you
.
I
am
frightened
at
you
myself
sometimes
;
and
so
no
wonder
that
they
shake
in
their
shoes
,
and
dare
not
call
their
harmless
souls
their
own
.
"
"
How
many
times
are
you
going
to
tell
me
that
?
"
cries
Belinda
,
veering
round
in
sudden
passion
.
"
Do
you
think
that
it
can
be
very
pleasant
to
hear
that
I
can
never
inspire
anything
but
alarm
and
aversion
?
I
am
as
well
aware
of
it
as
you
can
be
;
but
I
am
a
little
tired
of
hearing
it
.
"
"
And
you
might
inspire
such
different
feelings
,
"
says
Sarah
,
in
a
tone
of
the
purest
artistic
regret
;
"
it
is
a
pity
to
see
advantages
which
would
have
made
me
famous
if
I
had
them
,
absolutely
thrown
away
upon
you
!
I
suppose
,
"
with
a
sigh
,
"
that
it
is
the
old
story
of
the
people
with
large
appetites
and
nothing
to
eat
,
and
the
people
with
plenty
to
eat
and
no
appetities
.
"
CHAPTER
III
.
"
For
mirth
of
May
,
with
skippis
and
with
hoppis
,
The
birdies
sang
upon
the
tender
croppis
,
With
curiose
notes
,
as
Venus
'
chapell
clerkis
.
The
roses
yong
,
new
spreding
of
their
knoppis
,
Were
powdered
brycht
with
hevinly
beriall
droppis
,
Throu
'
bemes
rede
birnyng
as
ruby
sperkis
,
The
skyes
rang
for
schouting
of
the
larkis
.
"
A
way
they
go
to
Moritzburg
,
when
the
noon
sun
is
warm
and
high
;
away
they
go
,
handsome
,
gay
,
and
chaperonless
.
There
is
no
reason
why
their
grandmother
,
who
is
a
perfectly
able-bodied
old
lady
,
should
not
escort
them
;
but
as
she
is
sixty-five
years
of
age
,
has
no
expectation
of
meeting
a
lover
,
and
is
quite
indifferent
to
spring
tints
and
German
Schlosses
,
she
wisely
chooses
to
stay
at
home
.
"
If
you
cannot
behave
like
young
gentle-women
without
having
me
always
at
your
heels
,
why
,
all
I
can
say
,
my
dears
,
is
that
I
am
sorry
for
you
,
"
is
the
formula
with
which
she
mostly
salves
her
own
conscience
and
dismisses
them
.
The
result
is
perhaps
not
worse
than
that
of
more
pretentious
exhortations
;
for
the
girls
,
having
a
sense
of
being
on
parole
,
do
behave
like
young
gentlewomen
:
at
least
Belinda
always
does
,
and
Sarah
very
often
.
They
get
into
their
carriage
in
a
quick
and
cautious
manner
;
casting
,
meanwhile
,
apprehensive
glances
towards
a
house
a
good
deal
lower
down
the
street
,
and
which
they
will
be
obliged
to
pass
.
"
Sarah
,
"
says
Belinda
impressively
,
unconsciously
speaking
half
under
her
breath
,
"
if
you
hear
a
window
open
,
mind
you
do
not
look
that
way
.
She
is
quite
capable
of
bawling
at
us
from
the
balcony
;
and
if
she
finds
out
where
we
are
going
to
,
she
is
certain
to
insist
on
coming
too
.
"
"
If
she
gets
into
this
carriage
to-day
,
"
replies
Sarah
firmly
,
"
it
will
be
over
my
dead
body
!
"
and
away
they
go
.
With
lowered
parasols
and
held
breath
,
they
pass
the
dreaded
house
—
pass
it
in
safety
.
Not
a
sound
issues
from
its
silent
casements
.
Away
they
go
,
across
the
Elbe
,
over
the
many-arched
bridge
,
where
the
people
,
more
leisurely
than
in
our
breathless
London
,
are
standing
to
watch
the
rafts
floating
down
the
river
,
and
guided
between
the
piles
;
through
the
Neustadt
,
where
the
Strong
August
for
ever
prances
in
bronze
;
past
the
Leipzig
Railway
Station
,
under
the
Acacia
alley
,
leaving
on
their
right
the
great
,
new
,
dreary
barracks
,
backed
by
the
pine-wood
;
along
,
along
,
between
the
young
birches
that
,
silver-turnked
,
baby-leaved
,
stand
on
each
side
of
the
way
;
off
a-pleasuring
into
the
country
.
They
do
not
talk
much
—
at
least
to
each
other
.
To
herself
,
Belinda
is
saying
over
and
over
the
same
one
thing
continuously
:
"
He
will
not
be
there
!
I
do
not
at
all
expect
him
.
"
She
says
it
superstitiously
,
in
the
trembling
hope
that
if
she
can
cajole
the
envious
gods
into
believing
that
she
does
not
count
upon
it
,
they
may
let
her
have
her
wish
.
"
He
will
not
be
there
!
"
But
her
racing
pulse
and
her
flushing
cheeks
say
differently
;
differently
too
say
the
wedded
birds
and
the
springing
grasses
and
the
opening
buds
.
They
say
all
together
:
"
He
will
be
there
!
He
will
—
he
will
!
"
But
perhaps
,
besides
him
,
there
may
be
some
one
else
,
not
quite
so
eagerly
desired
.
They
are
not
far
beyond
the
town
,
and
are
joggling
tranquilly
along
in
the
sunshine
,
when
Belinda
is
roused
with
a
start
from
her
love-musings
by
an
agitated
series
of
ejaculations
from
Sarah
.
"
Belinda
!
She
is
there
!
On
your
side
.
Quick
!
Hold
down
your
parasol
!
Perhaps
she
may
not
see
us
.
"
Swift
as
lightning
Belinda
has
obeyed
.
Totally
irrespective
of
the
sun
's
position
,
her
en-tout-cas
stoops
till
it
shields
—
imperviously
,
one
would
think
—
the
inmates
of
the
carriage
from
all
passers-by
on
that
side
.
But
there
are
eyes
,
hard
,
horny
,
and
inquisitive
,
to
which
an
en-tout-cas
—
nay
,
a
stone
wall
,
if
need
be
—
is
as
glass
.
The
coachman
checks
his
horses
;
and
Sarah
,
leaning
angrily
out
to
bid
him
drive
quicker
,
perceives
that
he
has
no
alternative
,
if
he
would
not
drive
over
a
burly
,
middle-aged
figure
gesticulating
with
raised
arms
and
waved
umbrella
in
mid-road
,
and
crying
:
"
Halt
,
Kutscher
!
"
with
all
the
power
of
a
strong
pair
of
lungs
.
"
It
is
no
use
!
"
says
the
girl
,
sinking
back
in
disgusted
resignation
on
the
cushions
.
"
It
never
is
any
use
!
"
The
next
moment
the
lady
to
whom
she
alludes
is
presenting
a
hot
,
red
face
,
a
grizzled
fringe
of
hair
,
and
a
large-patterned
black
and
white
plaid
gown
,
at
the
carriage-door
.
"
I
was
afraid
you
might
not
see
me
!
"
she
says
,
shaking
hands
warmly
.
"
How
are
you
?
Where
are
you
going
to
?
I
thought
I
must
just
stop
you
for
a
minute
,
to
ask
where
you
are
going
to
?
To
Moritzburg
?
How
pleasant
!
I
wish
I
were
going
to
Moritzburg
too
!
"
Then
,
as
no
invitation
follows
this
very
broad
hint
:
"
I
dare
say
,
now
,
as
you
seem
to
have
plenty
of
room
,
you
would
not
mind
giving
me
a
lift
.
"
"
It
would
be
delightful
!
"
says
Belinda
,
with
suspicious
precipitancy
;
"
but
I
am
afraid
—
"
"
I
do
not
in
the
least
mind
sitting
back
,
if
that
is
what
you
are
going
to
say
.
It
is
all
one
to
me
how
I
sit
.
If
you
had
travelled
as
much
as
I
,
it
would
be
all
one
to
you
!
"
"
If
Belinda
had
travelled
as
much
as
you
,
"
says
Sarah
sarcastically
,
"
I
am
sure
that
her
one
hope
and
prayer
would
be
to
be
allowed
to
stay
at
home
for
the
rest
of
her
life
.
Well
,
"
with
a
would-be
valedictory
wave
of
the
hand
,
"
it
is
too
unlucky
;
but
as
we
have
unfortunately
promised
to
meet
some
people
—
"
"
Some
people
!
What
people
?
"
repeats
the
other
inquisitively
.
"
Anyone
I
know
,
I
wonder
?
Professor
Forth
,
of
course
,
for
one
,
"
with
a
meaning
smile
.
"
I
saw
him
setting
off
this
morning
somewhere
.
I
knew
that
it
must
be
an
excursion
of
some
kind
,
because
he
had
two
overcoats
;
but
I
could
not
make
out
where
.
I
asked
at
his
lodgings
,
but
the
Dienstmädchen
did
not
know
.
And
Rivers
—
young
Rivers
?
—
are
you
going
to
meet
him
too
?
A
propos
what
Rivers
is
he
?
I
want
to
find
out
what
Rivers
he
is
;
I
know
so
many
Rivers
.
"
"
I
will
ask
him
at
once
,
"
says
Sarah
gravely
.
"
I
will
say
to
him
,
'
What
Rivers
are
you
?
'
Au
revoir
.
Drive
on
,
Kutscher
.
"
"
Where
are
you
going
to-morrow
?
What
are
you
going
to
do
to-morrow
?
Will
you
come
to
Wesenstein
?
I
want
you
all
to
come
to
Wesenstein
!
With
a
little
packing
we
might
all
get
into
one
carriage
.
What
do
you
say
to
a
long
day
at
Wesenstein
?
or
,
better
still
,
Tharandt
?
What
do
you
say
to
a
long
day
at
Tharandt
?
"
But
the
carriage
has
rolled
inexorably
away
;
and
the
latter
part
of
these
propositions
is
addressed
to
the
empty
air
.
"
A
form
of
thanksgiving
to
be
used
on
land
!
"
says
Sarah
,
drawing
a
long
breath
,
and
blowing
a
kiss
in
ironical
adieu
to
the
lessening
figure
of
their
baffled
friend
.
They
are
nearing
their
goal
now
.
Along
the
straight
avenue
of
young
horse-chestnuts
and
limes
they
trot
;
the
wind-swept
flat
plain
on
either
hand
,
and
the
long
vista
of
tree-shaded
road
,
ended
by
the
Schloss
.
They
are
driving
up
to
the
Gasthof
Au
Bon
Morché
.
Belinda
shuts
her
eyes
.
If
he
is
here
,
he
will
be
to
be
seen
at
once
,
or
not
at
all
.
If
he
is
not
here
,
she
will
be
ignorant
of
it
for
yet
one
moment
more
.
She
shuts
her
eyes
;
but
in
an
instant
Sarah
's
sarcastic
ejaculation
,
obviously
called
forth
by
the
first
sight
of
her
betrothed
,
"
My
king
!
my
king
!
"
makes
her
open
them
again
;
open
them
to
see
that
she
has
succeeded
in
tricking
the
gods
;
that
he
is
here
;
and
that
,
judging
by
his
looks
,
he
too
has
been
shutting
his
eyes
and
dreading
.
"
How
do
you
do
?
"
says
Sarah
gaily
,
giving
him
her
hand
.
"
I
have
a
message
for
you
from
Miss
Wheaton
;
she
wants
to
know
what
Rivers
you
are
!
I
was
so
afraid
of
forgetting
that
I
thought
I
had
better
deliver
it
at
once
.
Think
it
over
,
I
advise
you
,
against
you
meet
her
next
.
Bah
!
he
does
not
hear
a
word
I
say
!
"
A
quarter
of
an
hour
later
they
are
all
seated
on
deal
chairs
at
a
deal
table
under
a
primitive
shed
that
does
duty
as
an
arbour
,
waited
on
by
a
civil
,
homely
Dienstmädchen
in
a
blue
bib
,
and
eating
beefsteaks
.
At
least
two
of
them
are
.
Two
of
them
are
past
eating
.
For
them
the
beefsteak
cuts
juicily
;
for
them
the
schnitzel
swims
greasily
;
for
them
the
excellent
light
lager-bier
foams
in
lidded
mugs
—
in
vain
.
It
is
indeed
dubious
whether
anyone
except
Sarah
enjoys
the
luncheon
quâ
luncheon
.
The
Professor
is
doubtful
as
to
the
digestibility
of
the
schnitzel
,
and
more
than
doubtful
as
to
the
prudence
of
lunching
out
of
doors
in
a
high
wind
on
the
2nd
of
May
.
He
had
indeed
gone
so
far
as
to
have
luncheon
laid
in
the
little
beer-and-smoke-stained
inn
parlour
;
but
his
betrothed
has
explained
to
him
so
kindly
yet
firmly
that
if
he
lunches
indoors
he
will
lunch
alone
,
that
he
has
sullenly
submitted
,
merely
putting
on
ostentatiously
,
one
atop
of
another
,
the
two
overcoats
which
,
as
Miss
Watson
faithfully
reported
,
he
had
providently
brought
with
him
.
And
yet
,
though
the
wind
is
high
,
it
is
not
spiteful
.
It
rocks
playfully
the
tall
oleanders
in
pots
,
and
swings
the
little
wooden
boxes
hung
in
the
trees
to
oblige
the
birds
,
who
find
them
a
quite
satisfactory
substitute
for
nests
,
judging
,
at
least
,
by
the
easy
cheerfulness
with
which
the
short-tailed
,
wise-faced
starlings
go
in
and
out
of
the
tiny
apertures
.
Whether
or
not
it
has
pleased
or
been
digestible
,
luncheon
is
now
ended
,
and
Professor
Forth
is
surveying
the
bill
through
his
spectacles
.
"
Six
marks
,
sixty
pfennigs
!
"
he
says
,
proclaiming
the
total
in
a
tone
which
announces
how
very
far
from
content
he
is
with
it
;
"
one
mark
,
sixty-five
pfennigs
a
head
!
A
very
high
charge
,
I
should
say
;
undoubtedly
prices
in
Germany
have
doubled
since
the
war
!
Viermal
Bifstek
!
"
reading
aloud
the
items
—
"
as
it
turned
out
,
zweimal
would
have
been
ample
.
Zweimal
Kartoffeln
—
"
He
breaks
off
suddenly
,
for
Sarah
has
twitched
the
paper
out
of
his
hand
.
"
In
mercy
spare
us
!
"
she
cries
.
"
What
can
be
more
dreadful
than
the
recapitulation
of
the
items
of
the
food
one
has
just
swallowed
?
It
is
like
beginning
luncheon
all
over
again
,
to
which
,
with
my
present
feelings
,
death
would
be
preferable
.
"
By-and-by
they
set
off
to
visit
the
Schloss
—
the
four-towered
Schloss
,
with
its
round
red
domes
,
and
all
its
little
pinnacles
and
dormer
windows
—
falling
,
as
they
go
,
into
two
couples
,
though
this
is
not
accomplished
without
a
slight
manoeuvring
on
the
part
of
one
.
"
In
heaven
's
name
stop
a
moment
to
admire
this
pump
!
"
says
Rivers
,
in
an
eager
whisper
to
Belinda
.
"
Nothing
to
admire
in
it
?
—
of
course
there
is
not
!
I
never
saw
an
uglier
pump
in
my
life
,
but
it
will
give
them
a
good
start
!
"
"
Are
you
so
sure
that
they
are
anxious
to
get
a
good
start
?
"
asks
Belinda
with
a
significant
look
ahead
at
Sarah
,
who
,
continually
throwing
back
restless
glances
over
her
shoulder
,
lagging
,
stopping
on
every
possible
pretext
,
if
she
cherishes
a
desire
for
a
tête-à-tête
,
certainly
disguises
it
admirably
.
"
I
am
not
at
all
sure
,
"
replies
the
young
man
,
with
a
dry
laugh
.
"
What
I
am
sure
of
is
that
I
wish
it
.
"
"
Do
you
think
that
her
back
looks
as
if
she
were
being
tolerably
civil
to
him
?
"
pursues
Belinda
,
talking
on
quickly
and
nervously
;
"
one
can
gather
so
much
from
a
person
's
back
.
I
am
afraid
that
the
way
in
which
she
is
jerking
her
head
about
does
not
augur
very
well
for
him
.
Was
not
she
rude
to
him
at
luncheon
?
he
must
have
heard
her
whisper
to
me
that
he
was
an
old
skinflint
.
"
"
Perhaps
they
are
all
right
when
they
are
alone
,
"
replies
Rivers
sanguinely
.
Belinda
shakes
her
head
.
"
I
doubt
it
!
"
They
have
reached
the
Schloss
and
its
broad
slabbed
terrace
.
Belinda
is
leaning
on
the
old
stone
balustrade
,
low
and
weather-worn
,
that
runs
round
it
.
Her
eyes
are
fixed
on
the
carved
stone
figures
,
weather-worn
too
,
that
stand
out
against
the
pallid
fair
sky
in
their
old-world
quaintness
;
the
fat
Cupids
with
abnormal
Dachshunds
;
the
ancient
vases
,
rough
with
stone
lilies
and
roses
;
the
fat
Cupids
again
.
Belinda
looks
at
the
Cupids
,
and
Rivers
looks
at
her
;
looks
at
her
as
a
wholesome
minded
and
bodied
boy
of
twenty-two
does
look
at
his
first
love
.
To
him
nothing
now
exists
save
that
opaque
white
cheek
;
that
small
disdainful
nose
,
on
which
Sarah
hangs
all
its
owner
's
mischances
;
that
lovely
stature
that
makes
other
women
look
squat
and
bunchy
.
To
him
all
creation
that
is
not
Belinda
—
sun
,
moon
,
stars
,
Schloss
,
Professor
,
bifsteks
—
is
an
irrelevant
and
impertinent
accident
.
"
After
all
,
"
he
says
,
with
a
trembling
in
his
vigorous
,
fresh
voice
,
"
I
do
not
think
that
I
should
much
mind
how
like
a
dog
the
woman
I
loved
treated
me
in
company
,
if
she
were
—
if
she
were
—
as
I
would
have
her
when
we
were
alone
!
"
"
Would
not
you
?
"
replies
Belinda
,
suddenly
changing
colour
at
the
application
that
she
herself
makes
of
this
speech
;
and
then
,
in
fevered
consciousness
of
her
own
untimely
flush
,
she
adds
with
a
callous
,
cold
laugh
:
"
I
think
I
should
agree
with
the
poet
:
"
'
Perhaps
it
was
right
to
dissemble
your
love
,
But
why
need
you
kick
me
downstairs
?
'
"
The
poor
boy
looks
terribly
thrown
back
;
and
indeed
what
ardent
young
lover
would
not
,
at
such
a
turn
given
to
a
tender
speech
?
And
yet
in
her
heart
she
had
felt
as
tender
as
he
,
though
no
human
being
could
have
guessed
it
.
Both
now
lean
their
elbows
on
the
balustrade
,
and
look
down
on
the
garden
grass
,
and
the
stiff
fir-trees
cut
into
prim
yew-shapes
;
so
that
unless
you
look
at
them
very
closely
you
would
swear
that
they
were
yews
.
And
beyond
the
grass
and
the
firs
comes
the
ruffled
blue
water
,
which
like
a
broad
moat
girds
the
Schloss
around
.
The
water
is
running
to-day
into
little
waves
and
ridges
;
and
trees
just
greening
are
verdantly
bordering
its
brim
.
In
the
garden
,
beneath
the
fir-trees
a
pair
of
figures
are
seen
soberly
pacing
.
"
There
they
are
!
"
cries
Belinda
,
pointing
to
them
,
and
thankful
for
a
safe
subject
with
which
to
break
the
strained
silence
;
"
is
it
possible
that
she
has
taken
his
arm
?
No
;
I
thought
it
could
not
be
!
I
wonder
what
progress
she
has
made
towards
telling
him
that
she
does
not
mean
to
marry
him
.
"
"
Is
that
what
she
is
telling
him
?
"
says
Rivers
,
roused
to
interest
by
fellow-feeling
,
and
craning
his
neck
to
look
;
"
unhappy
old
devil
!
"
Belinda
nods
.
"
I
think
so
;
that
is
what
she
meant
to
tell
him
;
and
,
if
I
do
not
mistake
,
his
haggling
over
the
luncheon
gave
him
his
coup
de
grâce
.
"
CHAPTER
IV
.
"
In
every
well-conditioned
stripling
,
as
I
conjecture
,
there
already
blooms
a
certain
prospective
Paradise
,
cheered
by
some
fairest
Eve
.
"
Presently
they
move
,
and
passing
down
the
slabbed
incline
,
and
across
the
water
into
the
King
's
garden
,
tread
very
slowly
the
fine
gravel
of
the
broad
walk
,
as
sentinels
on
either
hand
of
which
stand
heaven-high
firs
,
that
yet
have
been
clipped
out
of
all
fir
semblance
,
and
,
like
their
brothers
round
the
Schloss
,
wear
the
likeness
of
yews
,
cut
into
such
tall
narrow
sugar-loafs
that
their
forest
kin
would
disown
them
.
Silently
they
step
along
.
Perhaps
the
utter
repose
,
the
absence
of
progress
and
hurry
,
the
sober
stillness
of
all
around
,
tells
sleepily
upon
their
young
spirits
.
Perhaps
to
them
speech
is
not
so
easy
as
it
was
a
month
ago
.
It
is
Belinda
who
resumes
the
conversation
.
"
I
suppose
that
it
will
devolve
upon
me
after
all
?
"
she
says
with
a
sigh
.
"
That
what
will
devolve
upon
you
?
"
asks
Rivers
dreamily
.
He
has
forgotten
all
about
Professor
Forth
,
and
is
lost
in
a
sea
of
speculation
as
to
whether
ever
woman
in
this
world
before
had
such
a
short
upper
lip
.
"
To
tell
Professor
Forth
that
I
do
not
think
he
will
be
my
brother-in-law
,
"
she
answers
,
smiling
.
"
You
think
that
Miss
Churchill
will
shirk
it
?
"
absently
.
The
Professor
is
still
a
mist-figure
to
him
.
It
is
her
chin
now
.
Was
there
ever
such
a
ravishing
round
chin
?
"
I
think
so
;
she
generally
does
.
"
"
Generally
!
"
awaked
for
a
moment
from
his
trance
by
shocked
surprise
.
"
Does
it
often
happen
?
"
"
It
was
a
slip
of
the
tongue
,
"
she
answers
,
laughing
;
"
it
has
happened
once
or
twice
before
.
"
"
And
you
?
"
The
bold
wind
has
loosened
a
very
small
strand
of
her
hair
,
and
is
blowing
it
against
her
cheek
.
How
many
years
of
his
life
—
ten
?
fifteen
?
twenty
?
—
would
he
give
to
be
allowed
to
replace
it
behind
her
ear
?
"
And
I
?
Oh
,
I
dry
the
victims
'
eyes
,
and
tell
them
that
there
is
as
good
fish
in
the
sea
as
ever
came
out
of
it
.
"
"
And
yours
?
"
that
little
lock
is
still
frolicking
distractingly
;
ought
he
to
tell
her
of
it
?
"
Who
dries
your
victims
'
eyes
?
"
"
They
have
not
any
eyes
to
dry
,
"
she
answers
precipitately
.
"
I
do
not
mean
that
they
are
blind
,
but
that
there
are
no
such
people
;
they
do
not
exist
.
"
"
You
mean
,
I
suppose
,
"
he
says
,
reddening
,
"
that
I
had
no
business
to
ask
about
them
?
"
"
I
mean
what
I
say
,
neither
more
nor
less
:
they
do
not
exist
!
"
Her
tone
is
cold
and
trenchant
,
as
of
one
who
would
check
a
displeasing
topic
.
In
point
of
fact
it
is
intense
shyness
—
the
shyness
of
hearing
herself
talked
about
,
and
talked
about
by
him
—
that
makes
it
so
;
but
to
a
listener
it
has
all
the
effect
of
a
freezing
haughtiness
,
repressing
impudent
intrusion
.
She
hears
it
herself
with
bitterness
.
"
Is
it
any
wonder
that
no
one
has
ever
loved
me
?
"
she
says
internally
.
It
is
clear
that
he
hears
it
too
.
"
You
are
offended
,
"
he
cries
miserably
.
"
I
wish
to
heaven
that
I
had
never
come
to-day
!
Everything
has
gone
wrong
!
You
let
Professor
Forth
help
you
out
of
the
carriage
!
you
let
him
hand
you
the
potatoes
—
"
She
smiles
involuntarily
.
"
On
the
contrary
:
he
recommended
me
not
to
take
any
;
he
said
they
were
rancid
!
"
"
You
let
him
pick
up
your
pocket-handkerchief
!
"
Again
she
smiles
more
broadly
.
"
He
certainly
did
not
avail
himself
of
the
permission
.
I
think
that
his
knees
are
scarcely
supple
enough
for
him
to
be
very
anxious
to
pick
up
even
Sarah
's
.
"
As
she
speaks
she
puts
up
her
hand
and
carelessly
pushes
back
her
wandering
love-
lock
;
but
one
little
tendril
still
escapes
and
frisks
in
the
breeze
.
He
thrusts
his
hands
hard
down
into
his
pockets
to
resist
the
intense
though
monstrous
temptation
to
aid
her
in
its
recapture
.
"
If
you
knew
,
"
he
says
hurriedly
,
"
what
I
felt
when
you
drove
up
to
the
Gasthof
to-day
;
in
what
an
agony
of
dread
lest
you
should
think
me
presumptuous
for
having
forced
myself
into
your
party
—
lest
you
should
murder
me
with
one
of
those
terrible
frozen
looks
of
yours
—
"
"
One
of
those
terrible
frozen
looks
of
mine
?
"
repeats
she
with
a
puzzled
air
.
"
It
is
very
odd
!
I
wonder
how
I
do
them
?
"
"
You
may
think
me
as
great
an
ass
as
you
please
,
"
pursues
he
rapidly
—
"
and
,
indeed
,
you
would
not
be
human
if
you
did
not
—
but
I
give
you
my
word
of
honour
,
for
the
first
moment
I
dared
not
look
.
I
shut
my
eyes
