in a foreign language with a fellow-country-woman without any
necessity would be like acting a charade, and a very uncomfortable
thing."

"I think a charade is very amusing," she answered; "but just as you
like. Opportunities of speaking English are not far to seek. Most of
the visitors at the hotel are English. I dare say you have noticed
it already. But they are not the best sort. They are common city
people, who even drop their h's, but who play at being lords on the
Continent. Of course I have learned already to tell a 'gentleman'
from a 'snob.'"

Wilhelm smiled at the self-conscious importance with which she
spoke. His eyes wandered over her beautiful hair, to the tender
curve of her slender neck and beautiful shoulders, while she,
feeling perfectly secure again, settled herself comfortably. Her
seat was a projecting piece of stone, which had been converted by a
soft covering of moss into a delightful resting-place. An
overhanging bush shaded it pleasantly. In front lay a corner of the
castle; across a smooth piece of turf and through a wide gap in the
wall they caught a view of the mountains, as if painted by some
artist's brush--a perfect composition which would have put the
crowning touch to his fame. The girl had been trying to make a
sketch of the view in a well-worn sketchbook which lay near.

"You have given a sufficient excuse for your sketches by your
feeling for natural beauty," remarked Wilhelm. "May I look at the
page?"

"Oh," she said, somewhat confused, "my will is of the best, but I