Miss von Schwertfeger was sitting over her account books, and scarcely looked up when Lilly entered. But suddenly the gleam of the tinsel in the sunlight attracted her attention. A quiver ran through her body. Her eyes widened, her figure stiffened, as if she were looking at a ghost.
"What"s the matter? What"s the matter?" laughed Lilly.
"I thought I had cleared up thoroughly," she said, shaking herself.
She s.n.a.t.c.hed the garment from Lilly"s hand, wrapped it up in a piece of paper, and carried it to the kitchen, followed by Lilly, who saw a whirl of smoke carry bits of silver thread up the hearth chimney.
Old Maggie stood by looking in bewilderment from one to the other. She seemed to know what the discovery involved, but later, when Lilly tried to extract information from her, she had lost her faculty of speech.
"I didn"t always use to be just where the colonel was," she stuttered.
"Ask Miss von Schwertfeger. She knows. She"ll tell you."
But Miss von Schwertfeger would not tell. She went about with compressed lips, gave short answers when spoken to, and kept her extinct eyes fastened upon empty s.p.a.ce.
One evening at supper, her demeanour, apparently from no external cause, underwent a sudden change. She laughed, chatted, was tender to Lilly, and attentive to her master, pitying him on account of his pain, suggesting new remedies, and obtaining his promise to give up his morning ride.
"By the way," she went on, "as to Lilly"s taking riding lessons, I"ve thought it over carefully, and have come to the conclusion that if we are present--at first, at least--we may entrust her to the young man."
Lilly fetched a deep sigh of joy; but the two pairs of eyes could not have detected the trace of a smile on her face, the faintest glimmer of delight, so well had she learned to keep herself under control.
The next morning the riding lessons began, with the colonel and Miss von Schwertfeger, of course, in attendance.
Walter von Prell appeared in riding boots and a jockey"s cap. The forward inclination of the upper part of his body seemed to signify, "I am awaiting orders," and his respectfulness and obsequiousness kept him shifting from one foot to the other.
For the first essay they had chosen a lamblike grey mare, narrow-chested and somewhat overtrained in the fore-hand, yet a smart, well-fed animal.
Mr. von Prell proceeded very methodically to explain the construction of the saddle and bridle, showed Lilly how the girths are buckled, how the snaffle and curb rein have to lie, and how to keep the curb chain from choking the horse.
Next came learning how to mount. When Lilly for the first time put her foot on his interlaced fingers she felt a warm thrill to the very back of her neck, as if this contact with him were a sign of secret understanding between them.
"One, two, three," he counted, and there she was in the saddle.
The colonel clapped his hands in approval, and Walter von Prell blushed with pride to the roots of his blond hair.
From now on he had the game in his hands.
"Who"d have thought that bl.u.s.terer has such a lot of pedantry in his make-up?" said the colonel turning to Miss von Schwertfeger, who nodded silently and took a deep breath, as if something were oppressing her.
By the time Lilly was ready to dismount, she had learned how to draw in the reins and slacken them and to turn to the right or the left; and she had even ventured a trot about the yard. In short, as the colonel good-humouredly remarked, "She was on the road to becoming the most dashing horsewoman in the army."
The lessons followed in quick succession. Either Miss von Schwertfeger or the colonel was always present, and there was no opportunity for private conversation between Lilly and Von Prell.
Von Prell maintained his stiff, abject obsequiousness, while Lilly burned with the desire to see his waggery flash up in a look or word intelligible to her alone.
One day, it chanced, both guards were absent.
The colonel was busied with the construction of a riding-ring, in which his gout might defy the inclemencies of the weather, and Miss von Schwertfeger was nowhere to be found.
Lilly"s heart beat violently when she met her friend, and the smile with which she held out her hand to him, expressed uneasy triumph.
He responded with a sly thrust of his tongue in the direction of the terrace, where her honour was wont to stand.
"She couldn"t be found anywhere," whispered Lilly.
"_What_ will we do?" he moaned, wringing his hands. "Why, without the worthy dame"s protection we shan"t even be able to mount."
Deep blue heavens arched above. A cool breeze, heavy with the smell of freshly turned soil, blew across the courtyard.
He pointed with a wily look to the open gate.
She laughed and nodded a.s.sent.
The next minute she was galloping at his side along the gra.s.sy wood path, where no Argus eyes could follow her, in utter abandon, inwardly exulting and eagerly expectant of mad pranks to be played.
Von Prell, for his part, seemed indisposed to avail himself of his unhoped for liberty. He held his eyes fixed on the road in front, every now and then caught at her reins, regulated the length of the stirrup, and made her sit better in the saddle. He was the riding master, nothing else.
"How"s Tommy?" she asked at length, bored.
"Tommy sends his regards," he replied, without removing his gaze from the road, "and says we"d better pay attention to nothing but the horses to-day, because if something should happen we"d never be allowed to go out again."
"And I send my regards to Tommy, and tell him he"s a goose."
"I will without fail," he rejoined, and nodded his riding crop.
They now entered a grove of birch trees, where the ground was somewhat boggy and demanded added attention.
But Lilly had eyes for nothing but the silvery gleam of the trunks and the golden webs which quivered in the wind and floated down on her cheeks.
"Oh, see how beautiful!" she said with a blissful sigh.
"Walk your horse, please."
A demon took possession of Lilly. Touching her horse with her crop she went off in a mad gallop that was contrary to all the rules and regulations of horseback riding.
The next instant, however, Von Prell was at her side gripping her reins and pulling up both horses.
They looked at each other with flashing eyes.
Lilly felt she had to throw herself over toward him just to be nearer to him.
"Say, Lilly, what do you mean by that?" he hissed.
She started and showed her white teeth.
"Say, Walter, what do you mean by that?" she retorted.
They turned the horses" heads and rode back home slowly, in silence, without looking at each other.