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 'snew 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 'ssister .  " 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 'sface deepens , and even in Belinda 'seyes 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 'sgaze towards them , awkwardly aims at them a tiny bunch of not particularly fresh violets .  It falls into his betrothed 'slap , 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 'stribute , 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 'sfretful 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 'sexuberant 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 'splaints ; 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 'slap .  " 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 'seyes , 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 'sdamaged 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 'skness ; " 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 'swords 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 'slame 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 'slight mind is still on the track of her lover 'slost 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 'sname .  " 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 'sroving eyes are despondently fastened on the white earthenware stove , and Belinda 'slarge 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 'smirth .  " 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 'sblandishments .  " 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 'slap .  " Now if the cases were reversed , " says Sarah , kneeling down at her senior 'selbow , 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 'sattractions ; " 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 'sknees , " 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 'slittle 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 'sprocedure , 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 'sposition , 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 'ssarcastic 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 'sname 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 'sback .  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 'smischances ; 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 'sgarden , 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 !  "  At that she smiles subtilely .  " How , in Heaven 'sname , have you managed to make me so much afraid of you ?  " continues the lad , with gathering agitation .  " You are never rude ; you are not sarcastic ; nothing makes you angry ; you speak most softly ; and yet — "  " And yet , " she says , finishing his sentence for him with a rather bitter smile , " and yet you shake in your shoes before me !  I know you all do .  Ever since I grew up — nay , before ; I think that at fourteen I began to inspire dread — I have always been hearing how frightened people are of me .  It is so pleasant !  No doubt you had been told it before you came to know me , had not you ?  "  In the eagerness of that query she has stopped and faced him , the colour hurrying up to her cheeks , and her eyes fastened in imperative asking on his .  He does not answer for a moment .  He is dizzily marvelling whether blood of so wondrous a tint had ever flooded lily cheek before .  She repeats her question with emphasis :  " Had not you ?  "  " I — I — had heard that you snubbed people !  "  " Have you found it true ?  " she says , in a low and rather anxious voice .  " Have I — have I — " hesitating , " snubbed you ?  "  To this question she has honestly expected a reply in the negative , and is proportionately startled by the virile energy of the affirmative that instead follows .  " That you have — times out of mind !  "  " Have I ?  " she says , in a key of genuine bewilderment .  " How ?  when ?  where ?  What is it that I do ?  "  He does not answer .  " Is it , " she goes on diffidently , Sarah 'sdictum as to the one unforgivable sin committible by women against men flashing across her mind , sinister and appropriate — " is it that I make you feel small ?  "  " Small !  Yes , " assents he , with pungent emphasis ; " I should think you did !  invisibly , imperceptibly small .  But that is not the worst .  I was prepared for that .  I had heard it was your way !  "  She laughs grimly .  " What a pleasant way !  "  " There are days on which — I do not know how you do it — you make me feel as aloof from you as if — "  " As if what ?  "  " As if I were down here , and you were — "  " And I were what ?  " with an accent of sincere and puzzled curiosity .  " And you were — and you were — one of the heavenly host up there !  " ends the young man , baldly and stammering .  But love is no brightener of the wits .  " One of the heavenly host ?  " repeats she , justly infuriate at this stale comparison .  " An angel , in short !  Must I always be an angle , or a goddess ?  If anyone knew how sick I am of being a goddess !  I declare I should be thankful to be called a Fury , or even a Ghoul , for a change !  "  So saying , she turns her shoulder peevishly to him ; and leaving the garden , begins to walk quickly along the road by the water , as if to make up for her late loitering .  He keeps pace with her , dumb in snubbed contrition , stupefied by love and , unhappily for himself , fully conscious of it ; burningly aware of the hopeless flatness of his last simile , and rendered by his situation quite incapable of redeeming it by any brighter sally .  Presently they leave the water and all its rioting wavelets , and pace through the fir-wood towards the little Schloss — the big one 'squaint baby-brother .  Beneath the fir-trees the blue hepaticas flower plentiful and late , and the young stitchworts open their fresh eyes to the spring .  Regardless of ten-groschen penalties , Belinda leaves the road , and stoops to pick the little blossoms .  Docilely following her motions , he stoops and picks too .  He picks to more purpose than she , indeed ; for when , by-and-by , they straighten themselves again and compare results , his is by far the largest nosegay .  " Will you take them ?  " he says , timidly proffering them , for her tart speech has robbed him of his last barleycorn of courage ; " or shall I — shall I — carry them for you ?  "  What would not he carry for her ?  A newspaper parcel down St. James 'sStreet ; a bulging carpet-bag through Rotten Row !  " Thank you , I will carry them myself , " she answers , stretching out her pretty , bare hand for them .  " They shall make up to me , " smiling , " for the gardenias of which I was deprived by — an accident .  Do you know that I was not allowed even to smell them ?  Did not I bear my loss like a Trojan ?  " Then , hesitating a little , she steps a pace or so nearer to him , and , half shyly holding out her own little bunch , " Exchange is no robbery , " she says with a soft look .  " Will you , " gently mocking his frightened tone , " will you take them ?  or shall I — shall I — carry them for you ?  "  He makes her no answer ; he is quite unable .  The tears have sprung to his eyes .  He is very young , has never loved before ; and it seems to him that at that fair hand holding out its little blue bunch Heaven opens to him .  There are days on which Heaven opens to us all , but to most of us next day it shuts again .  Above them the pines lay their dark heads stilly together against the fair sky , that looks austere , yet not unkind .  Here the loud wind is kept at bay , and whispers scarcely more noisily than they themselves are doing in their safe retreat .  With what halting words of lame ecstasy he would have thanked her will never now be known .  Dumbly he has received her gift , refraining , by what iron constraint put upon himself , from any least detention of those cool , pale fingers that just unintentionally touch his , and then innocently withdraw .  The labouring syllables that are struggling to his lips are for ever driven thence by the sound of a high- pitched young voice calling clearly through the still wood :  " Where are you ?  What has become of you ?  We have been searching high and low for you .  Have you been searching high and low for us ?  Ah !  evidently you have !  " laughing ironically .  " Well , now you have had the good fortune to find us !  "  Ere the end of this sentence , Sarah has frisked up to them , and , for the time , Heaven 'sdoor shuts in their faces , and Earth 'sdull portals reopen for them .  " Are you aware that there is a fine of ten groschen for leaving the road ?  " calls out the Professor from the distance , but nobody heeds him .  " Are you picking flowers ?  " asks Sarah demurely .  " How nice !  Pick me some .  " Then , turning to Rivers , she adds maliciously : " I am not greedy ; I shall be quite content with that miserable little bunch that you are clutching so tightly .  Give it me !  "  But at that he finds his tongue again .  " Not if you were to go down on your knees to me for it !  " he cries tragically , lifting his right hand and holding his poor little prize high above her restless , small head .  " Not if I were to go down on my knees ?  " repeats she in accents of the deepest incredulity .  " Come , that is trop fort !  It is worth putting to the test .  "  As she speaks , she sinks at once upon her knees on the crushed herbage , and , joining her hands as in prayer , looks up at him , and says , in a small , childish voice , whose alluring properties she has tested on many a hard-fought field , " Please !  "  She might as well have knelt to and allured one of the solemn straight pines .  He does not even avert his eyes from her , as though , if he saw her , he must yield .  He looks her full in the face , and says doggedly :  " Not if you knelt there till the Day of Judgment !  "  " What are you about , Sarah ?  " comes the Professor 'svoice again , from the road , where the ten-groschen penalty still keeps him .  " Are not you aware that although the grass may appear dry on the surface , the ground still contains a great deal of latent moisture !  "  But a second time he speaks to the wind .  " Not if I knelt here till the Day of Judgment ?  " repeats Sarah , still hardly believing her own ears ; then , wisely taking the only course left open to her , with as good a grace as may be : " If that is the case , of course I will get up again at once !  "  So saying she rises , apparently not at all put out of countenance , and flicks the bits of grass from the knees that had bent in vain .  " Do not you wish to see the King 'sboars fed ?  I understood you to say that you wished to see the King 'sboars fed !  " shouts the Professor , striking in snappishly the third time , the contumely with which his remarks have been treated beginning to tell very perceptibly upon his tone .  " The King 'sboars ?  " repeats Sarah , sotto voce , descending to a degrading pun , and accompanying it with a wink that is worthy of it .  " Do you think the King has room for one more in his menagerie ?  if so , I might be permitted to offer him mine !  Yes , " raising her voice , and beginning to trip back towards her betrothed , " of course we are coming !  "  She has not gone two steps , however , before she bethinks herself ; and , turning back , tucks her arm determinately under her sister 's.  " Belinda , " she says resolutely , " you have not seen the Little Schloss !  you have not seen the lighthouse !  you have not seen the pheasantries !  you shall see the boars !  "  So saying she sweeps her off hurriedly ahead ; and Rivers , cursing fearfully , is compelled to follow with the Professor , with whom he has about as much in common as a non-reading , hard-rowing , foot-balling , cricketing undergraduate mostly has with an exceptionally stiff-backed and donnish Don .  Nor is the Professor , whose contempt for undergraduates in general is not to be equalled save by his aversion , very much better pleased with the arrangement .  However , it does not last long .  A few minutes of brisk walking brings them to the clear space in midwood — the sandy spot railed round with palings where his Majesty of Saxony 'spigs have their daily rations dealt out to them .  There the girls sit down on the wooden bench provided for the accommodation of admiring spectators .  Many dark forms have already arrived , and are rooting and grubbing hither and thither .  They have immensely long noses , long dark hair large dark ears ; hind-quarters that run away like hyænas , and a general air of absurdity and unpiglike pigness .  Amongst them are several fierce-looking old gentlemen with their ugly lips lifted over formidable tusks , shaggy as bears , and with their long grey hair wet and shiny , as if they had been rolling in some muddy place .  Every moment there is an arrival ; a fresh pig , two fresh pigs emerging from the wood and trotting hastily , with ears anxiously erect , to the rendezvous , afraid of having arrived too late .  About the whole family , when united , there is a general unamiability ; a spiteful biting and nipping at each other ; a squeaking and angrily grunting ; a wrathful pursuit and hasty flight .  The little piglets , tawny-coloured and striped like tiny tigers , toddle sweetly about in their artless babyhood .  Irresistibly attracted by the childlike graces of one of these latter , yet smaller , more striped , weirder than its brethren , Sarah has run after it , and is now scampering in pursuit round the arena .  The Professor , relieved at having found a sandy spot , is standing , stork-like , at a little distance off , poised on one leg , and cautiously seeking for traces of moisture on the sole of the other boot .  Once more Rivers and Belinda are alone .  " I will be the death of her !  " says the boy , with an angry smile , shaking his fist in the direction of the sportive Sarah .  But apparently the latter 'sears are nearly as long as those of the objects of her chase .  " Whom will you be the death of ?  " she cries , desisting suddenly .  " The mischief is in the pig !  I cannot catch it ; and I am sure I do not know what I should have done with it if I had .  Well , " having by this time come up to them again , " of whom will you be the death ?  "  " Of you , " replies the young fellow stoutly , though in his heart he is a little scared at the unexpected distance to which his threat has carried .  " Yes , of you , " looking full at her with his straightforward , handsome , angry eyes ; " at least , if I am not the death of you , as I should like to be , I will be even with you some fine day — see if I am not !  "  She looks back at him , coolly pondering , but does not answer .  A flash of almost compassionate astonishment is darting across her mind that any man in the possession of sight , health , and vigour — any man , more especially at the most inflammable of all ages , can look at her with the unsimulated indifference , slightly coloured with dislike , that this Rivers is doing !  At once he rises in her esteem .  Turning away , she walks thoughtfully back to the pigs .  By-and-by , as through the long , light evening the girls bowl smoothly homewards , before the shy white stars look out , Sarah suddenly breaks the silence that , for several quiet miles , has lain upon both .  " Belinda !  " she says abruptly ; " by all laws , human and divine , that bouquet was yours !  The gardenias are now the colour of old leather , and smell rather nastily than otherwise ; but , such as they are , they are yours !  "  And even on these terms , poor Belinda is glad and thankful to have her nosegay again !  CHAPTER V.  " He knew whose gentle hand was at the latch Before the door had given her to his eyes ; And from her chamber window he would catch Her beauty farther than the falcon spies . And constant as her vespers would he watch , Because her face was turned to the same skies ; And with sick longing all the night outwear To hear her morning step upon the stair . "  Upon the fair town of Dresden a new morning has opened — opened in sunshine , joy , and lusty growth .  For one blossom-bunch that swung fragilely on the pear-tree yesterday , there are twenty to-day .  The slow small leaves are beginning to break less timorously from their outgrown sheaths .  I do not suppose that Belinda can have grown in the night ; but about her , too , this morning there is a look of expansion and spring : as if she also were uncurling her leaves and disclosing her shy buds to her sun .  The two girls are sitting together in the pretty be-hyacinthed , be-china 'd, Anglicised salon that looks to the street .  The morning sun does not shine on that side of the house , and it makes the room dark ; but so it is , that all the blinds are drawn to the bottom ; nor does either , as would seem natural , make any attempt to pull them up again .  " So you never did it after all yesterday ?  " Belinda is saying in a tone of disapproving surprise .  Sarah shakes her head .  " No ; Love 'schain still binds us !  " she answers , making a face .  " You will do it to-day ?  "  " No !  "  " To-morrow ?  "  " I think not .  "  " The day after ?  "  " It is improbable .  "  " If you are waiting , " says Belinda , stopping in mid-row of the stocking she is knitting to look severely at her sister , and speaking with an extremely clear and decided accent , " for me to do it for you , you will wait , as I told you yesterday , a very long time .  "  " I am aware of it , " replies Sarah calmly .  " Since I realised that you are engaged in a little pursuit of your own , I have abandoned the idea .  "  " Pursuit !  " cries Belinda , with a shocked start , and crimsoning .  " You are the first person who ever dared to say that I pursued anyone !  "  " You would have been much pleasanter if you had , " rejoins Sarah coolly .  " Well , do not let us quarrel over a word !  I did not say what part you took in the pursuit — whether you were the hunter or the hare !  "  But Belinda has stooped her angry , blonde head over her stocking , and is speechlessly knitting her resentment into it .  " After all , " says Sarah , discourteously jerking the slumbering pug off the sofa , and throwing herself down on it , " it is very unselfish of me .  Nobody gives me the credit for any virtues , but in point of fact it is almost entirely in your interest that I am acting !  " She pauses for a moment , expecting to be asked for an explanation , but Belinda deigns no syllable .  " Supposing that I did give my Solomon the sack — by-the-bye , what a neat alliteration !  Swinburne might have made it , " continues Sarah , yawning — " what would become of me during all those rural excursions that I see stretching ahead of us in long perspective ?  We could not let you and young Rivers set off upon them tête-à-tête !  we really could not !  It would pass even Granny 'sand my latitude !  I search the horizon in vain for a sail !  — I mean for anyone else to pair off with !  My life would be spent in trying to look the other way , and in intercepting fond glances that were not meant for me !  "  " And so , " says Belinda , lifting a head whose cheeks still blaze , and speaking in a withering voice , " and so he is to wriggle on the hook a little longer ?  How much longer , pray ?  "  " How much longer ?  " repeats Sarah , with a malicious look ; " why , you can answer that better than I !  As long as young Rivers wriggles on yours !  "  Belinda winces .  Who — high-strung and palpitating in young love 'sfirst ecstasy — would not wince at such a phrase ?  " Come , now , " says Sarah , sliding off the sofa again , assuming her cajoling voice , and sitting down on the parquet at her sister 'sfeet , " tell me a little about him !  I have confided to you so many touching traits about my beloved , and if you are good I will tell you plenty more ; but confidence should be reciprocal : what is he doing here ?  Why has he come to Dresden ?  "  " He is learning German , " replies Belinda reluctantly .  " H 'm!  I wonder how much he has learnt ?  " with a dry laugh .  Belinda 'ssole response to this pleasantry is to push her chair back very decidedly , and isolate her sister on the floor .  " What does he do when he is at home ?  " continues Sarah , taking no notice of this evidence of displeasure , and obstinately pursuing her catechism .  " He has just left Oxbridge , " rather sulkily .  " Where , no doubt , he took several Double Firsts !  " with an ironical smile .  " He rowed stroke in the University Eight last year , " very precipitately , and reddening under this fleer .  " Is he his own father , or has he a father ?  "  " He has a father .  "  " And what is the father — what does the father do ?  "  " I believe — he is in business , " grudgingly .  " In business ?  " with raised eyebrows , and an accent of surprise and dissatisfaction .  " Well , " more cheerfully , " there is business and business !  Have you any idea what sort of business it is ?  "  " Not the slightest , " very curtly .  " It is a liberal age , " says Sarah philosophically , " but one must draw the line somewhere .  I draw the line at artificial manure !  Come , now , have you any reason for supposing that it is artificial manure ?  "  Belinda laughs a little , but most unwillingly .  " I dare say it is .  I never asked .  "  " Do you remember , " says Sarah , " the little Frenchman , covered with orders — Legions of Honour and Saint Esprits by the gross — that we met at the ball at Cannes , who told me that he was 'dans le commerce , ' and when I inquired what branch , and suggested that perhaps he was 'dans les vins ?  ' answered grandiosely , ' Non , mademoiselle ; le suis dans les bougies !  ' "  A pause .  The pug has arisen from the cold par quet , and , with her tail still half-mast high in the enervation of slumber , has stepped delicately on to Sarah , and cast herself with a deep , slow sigh upon her warm lap .  " Your friend does not look as if he were 'dans les bougies , ' " says Sarah presently , with an air of thoughtful generosity ; " still less dans le — I declare I do not know what is the French for artificial manure !  How Granny has neglected our educations !  "  But Belinda is not attending .  Belinda 'shead is raised , and upon her face has come a look of blissful listening .  Her fine ear has detected a footfall in the anteroom outside — a footfall that not even Slutty , the pug , has yet suspected ; a step that she has discriminated from that of the flat foot Gustel .  " It is you , is it ?  " says Sarah , in a not particularly exhilarated voice , scrambling to her feet as Rivers , ushered in by an infant English page who divides the cares of the ménage with Gustel , enters .  She gives him two contemptuous fingers .  Of what use to give more to a man who holds them as if they were a bundle of sticks .  She might have given him ten , or twenty , or none , for all he knows .  His eyes have strayed away over her , to him , totally irrelevant head , and have fastened on his mistress , asking eagerly if this can indeed be she , alive and real , whom all night long he has pursued through his radiant dreams .  " Perhaps you can help us , " says Sarah , with an innocent look .  " We have just been wondering what the French for artificial manure is ?  "  He does not hear .  Belinda 'shand in his is making summer in his veins , and his happy eyes are drowned in hers as happy .  But Belinda hears .  " Sarah is speaking to you !  " she says , low and hurriedly .  He turns round reluctantly with a start .  " I beg your pardon !  I — I — did not quite catch what you were saying .  "  " I was only asking you if you knew the French for artificial manure ?  " she answers demurely .  " For artificial manure !  " repeats he , astounded .  " Of course I do not !  Why should I ?  Why do you want to know what is the French for artificial manure ?  Is it a riddle ?  "  Even for his explanation he has turned again to Belinda , as inevitably as the sunflower to the sun .  " We were only talking of — of — agriculture ; were not we , Belinda ?  " replies the other , smiling malevolently at her sister 'sobvious , and to Rivers incomprehensible , discomfiture .  That his Egeria could look foolish , as she is indisputably doing , would never , indeed , occur to him ; but nothing short of total blindness could prevent his seeing the sudden cascade of scarlet which has poured over her .  For one instant , indeed , the blest idea has darted across his mind that this lovely flag may be hung out for him ; but his humility — for real love is ever most humble — at once dismisses the scarcely formed thought as too good to be true .  Perhaps it is his scrutiny , silent and intense , that embarrasses her .  Of course he ought to say something .  On a morning visit one must say something .  " Why are you sitting in the dark ?  " he asks , glancing at the carefully drawn-down blinds .  " The sun is not on this side of the house , and there is no glare anywhere to-day .  "  " It is very gloomy , is not it ?  " replies Belinda , who is slowly recovering her countenance ; " and we are so fond of light and air , too .  But it cannot be helped ; we are obliged to have them down because of Miss Watson .  "  " Because of Miss Watson ?  I do not understand .  "  " She lives on the other side of the street , a little farther down , and she has lately set up a spy-glass or telescope of some kind in her window , with which she rakes us fore and aft .  She told us triumphantly on Tuesday that she could see everything we did .  I believe that she can tell by the movement of our lips what we are saying .  "  " If I thought so , " said Sarah viciously , " what things I would say about her !  "  " It will end in our being forced to leave the apartment , " says Belinda with a shrug .  " A friend of ours was .  She has now taken one that looks upon a blank wall as being her only real security .