The Princess Elopes | Page 8

out later that he was an old soldier, who lived alone in
the castle as caretaker.)
"Take this gentleman's horse to the stables and feed him," said
Gretchen. "You will find the animal by the gate."
With a questioning glance at me the old fellow bowed and made off.
I sat down, and the two women brought the various plates and placed
them within reach. Their beautiful hands flashed before my eyes and
now and then a sleeve brushed my shoulder.
"Thank you," I murmured. "I will eat first, and then make my
apologies."
This remark caught the fancy of Gretchen. She laughed. It was the
same laughter I had heard while standing in the great hall.
"Will you drink tea, or would you prefer to finish this Bordeaux?" she
asked pleasantly.
"The wine, if you please; otherwise the effect of the meal and the long
hours in the wind will produce sleepiness. And it would be frightfully
discourteous on my part to fall asleep in my chair. I am very hard to
awake."
The English girl poured out the wine and passed the goblet to me. I
touched my lips to the glass, and bent my head politely. Then I
resolutely proceeded to attack the pheasant and ham. I must prove to
these women that at least I was honest in regard to my hunger. I
succeeded in causing a formidable portion of the food to disappear.
And then I noticed that neither of the young women seated herself
while I ate. I understood. There was no hostility in this action; nothing
but formality. They declined to sit in the presence of an unwelcome

stranger, thus denying his equality from a social point of view. I readily
accepted this decision on their part. They didn't know who I was. They
stood together by the fireplace and carried on a conversation in low
tones.
How shall I describe them? The elder of the two, the one who seemed
to possess all the authority, could not have been more than twenty. Her
figure was rather matured, yet it was delicate. Her hair was tawny, her
skin olive in shade and richly tinted at the cheek-bones. Her eyes, half
framed by thick, black-arching brows, reminded me of woodland pools
in the dusk of evening,--depths unknown, cool, refreshing in repose.
The chin was resolute, the mouth was large but shapely and brilliant,
the nose possessed the delicate nostrils characteristic of all sensitive
beings--that is to say, thoroughbreds; altogether a confusing,
bewildering beauty. At one moment I believed her to be Latin, at the
next I was positive that she was Teutonic. I could not discover a single
weak point, unless impulsiveness shall be called weakness; this sign of
impulsiveness was visible in the lips.
The other--well, I couldn't help it. It was Kismet, fate, the turn in the
road, what you will. I fell heels over head in love with her at once. She
was charming, exquisite, one of those delicate creatures who always
appear in enchantments; a Bouguereau child grown into womanhood,
made to fit the protecting frame of a man's arms. Love steals into the
heart when we least expect him; and before we are aware, the sly little
god has unpacked his trunk and taken possession!
Eyes she had as blue as the Aegean Sea on windy days, blue as the
cloud-winnowed sky of a winter's twilight, blue as sapphires--Irish eyes!
Her hair was as dark and silken as a plume from the wings of night.
(Did I not say that I had some poetry in my system?) The shape of her
mouth--Never mind; I can recall only the mad desire to kiss it. A
graceful figure, a proud head, a slender hand, a foot so small that I
wondered if it really poised, balanced or supported her young body.
Tender she must be, and loving, enclitical rather than erect like her
authoritative companion. She was adorable.
All this inventory of feminine charms was taken by furtive glances,

sometimes caught--or were they taking an inventory of myself?
Presently my appetite became singularly submissive. Hunger often is
satisfied by the feeding of the eyes. I dropped my napkin on the table
and pushed back my chair. My hostesses ceased conversing.
"Ladies," said I courteously, "I offer you my sincere apologies for this
innocent intrusion." I looked at my watch. "I believe that you gave me
an hour's respite. So, then, I have thirty minutes to my account."
The women gazed at each other. One laughed, and the other smiled; it
was the English girl who laughed this time. I liked the sound of it better
than any I had yet heard.
(Pardon another parenthesis. I hope you haven't begun to think that I
am the hero of this comedy. Let it be furthest