I leaned over the back of her chair. Once or twice
Elsa glanced at me, timidly but by no means uncheerfully. Behind the
cover of the chair-back I unfastened my box and got out my necklace.
Then I waited for Elsa's next look. It seemed entirely in keeping with
the occasion that I, as well as Bederhof, should have my present for
her, my ornament, my toy.

"Their Majesties' carriage will be drawn by four gray horses," said
Bederhof. The good Duchess laughed, laid her hand on Elsa's, and
whispered, "Their Majesties!" Elsa blushed, laughed, and again glanced
at me. My moment had come. I held up my toy.

"Their Majesties will be dressed in their very best clothes," said I,
"with their hair nicely brushed, and perhaps one of them will be so
charming as to wear a necklace," and I tossed the thing lightly over the
chair-back into Elsa's lap.

She caught it with a little cry, looked at it for a moment, whispered in
her mother's ear, jumped up, and, blushing still, ran round and kissed
me.

"Oh, thank you!" she cried.

I kissed her hand and her cheek. My mother smiled, patiently it seemed
to me; the Duchess was tremulously radiant; Bederhof obviously benign.
It was a pretty group, with the pretty child and her pretty toy for the
centre of it. Suddenly I looked at my mother; she nodded ever so
slightly. I was applauded and commanded to persevere.

Bederhof pursued his description. He went through it all; he rose to
eloquence in describing our departure from Forstadt. This scene ended,
he seemed conscious of a bathos. It was in a dull, rather apologetic
tone that he concluded by remarking:

"Their Majesties will arrive at Artenberg at seven o'clock, and will
partake of dinner."

There appeared to be no desire to dwell on this somewhat inglorious
conclusion to so eventful a day. A touch of haste betrayed itself in my
mother's manner as she asked for the list of the guests. Elsa had
dropped her necklace in her lap, and sat looking before her with an
absent expression. The names of distinguished visitors, however, offered
a welcome diversion. We were all in very good spirits again in a few
minutes. Presently the names bored Elsa; she jumped up, ran to a mirror,
and tried on her necklace. The names bored me also, but I stood where I
was. Soon a glance from her summoned me, and I joined her. The diamonds
were round her neck, squeezed in above the high collar of her morning
gown.

"They'll look lovely in the evening," she said