"Eat," bade she who was called Gretchen, shortly.
"And my horse?"
"Where is it?"
"Tied to a tree by the gate."
She struck a Chinese gong. From the kitchen appeared an elderly
servitor who looked to me more fitted to handle a saber than a
carving-knife; at least, the scar on his cheek impressed me with this
idea. (I found 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.