"If it lead to the goal! You are quite right, that is my idea too; but
ladies generally cherish other opinions. They prefer to be carried
quietly over all the rough places."

"Not all! You err there; many women much prefer going alone, without
submitting to watch and ward, as though they were children."

"Well, perhaps there are exceptions. I prize the accident which has
afforded me the opportunity of seeing so charming--"

Hartmut, who was on the point of uttering a very florid compliment,
stopped suddenly, for the cold blue eyes met his with such a look of
surprise and hauteur that the words died on his lips.

At this moment the lady's veil caught once more in the branch of an
overhanging thorn, which held it fast. She stopped, and her attentive
companion reached out his hand to free the delicate tissue, when she
suddenly tore it from her hat, with a quick motion, and left it
fluttering on the branch.

Rojanow bit his lips in vexation; the adventure was not at all what he
had expected. He had thought to find this young woman a dependent, timid
creature, who would be very grateful and would turn to him for
protection, just like many another with whom he had come in contact in
his rovings; but this pale girl made it very clear to him by a glance,
that he was nothing but a guide and must conduct himself as such. Who,
and what was she? Still in her teens, and yet acting with all the
reserve and self-possession of a great lady, knowing full well how to
make herself unapproachable. He resolved to enlighten himself on this