"A little bit; but that is all right."

They looked at each other for the first time, and the lady laughed,
while Wilhelm blushed deeply. She stopped again directly, blushed
also, and dropped her eyes. She was a girl in the first bloom of
youth, of particularly fine and well-made figure, with a beautiful
face; two dimples in her cheeks giving her a roguish expression, and
a pair of lively brown eyes. A healthy color was in her cheeks, and
in the well-cut, seductive little mouth. Her luxuriant, golden-brown
hair, in the fashion of the day, was brushed back in long curls. She
had as her only ornament a pale gold band in her hair, and wore a
simple dress of light-flowered material, the high waistband fitting
close to the girlish figure. Conventionality began to assert its
rights over nature, and the girl too felt confused at finding
herself in the middle of a conversation with a strange man, suddenly
shot down at her very feet. Wilhelm understood and shared her
embarrassment, and bowing, he said:

"As no doubt we are at the same house, allow me to introduce myself.
My name is Wilhelm Eynhardt. I come from Berlin, and took up my
abode an hour ago at the Schloss hotel."

"From Berlin," said the girl quickly; "then we are neighbors. That
is very nice. And where do you live in Berlin, if I may ask?"

"In Dorotheenstrasse."

"Of course you do," and a clear laugh deepened the shadow of her
dimples.