Jamison never talked of herself, and though appearing
perfectly friendly, seemed to devote all her spare time to the
companionship of the little French girl, Louisa.

CHAPTER IX

"_Life's Little Ironies_"

ONE afternoon the Countess Charlotta was alone in her room walking up
and down in a restless fashion for a girl who had been so recently
injured. Her forehead was still bandaged and her arm in a plaster cast,
but otherwise she was apparently well. Nevertheless, she showed the
results of the strain of her accident and perhaps of her personal
problem.

She looked older than one would have supposed from her half-joking and
half-serious conversations with Bianca Zoli and the other Red Cross
girls.

In spite of her natural gayety and the warmth and color of her nature,
which she had inherited from her French ancestry, the girl faced a
difficult future.

All her life it seemed to her she had been in opposition to her
surroundings, throwing herself powerlessly against ideas and conditions
she could not alter. Everything that belonged to the old German order of
existence she had always hated. From the time of her babyhood her father
had appeared to her as a narrow tyrant insisting that she should spend
her days in a routine which pleased him, without consulting either her
wishes or her talents. As a matter of fact, the small countess had a
will of her own and resented dictation.

Never would the little Charlotta even in her earliest youth do what
might naturally have been expected of her! From the first her
wilfulness, her entire lack of interest in ladylike pursuits had been a
source of trouble and anxiety to her governesses.

One characteristic of the small Charlotta was that she never seemed able
to remain still long enough to learn the things which were required of
her. Her one desire was to be outdoors riding on horseback over the
fields, or playing with the children in the village, or in the small
cottages on her father's estate.

The dignity and importance of her own social position never seemed to
enter Charlotta's mind, even after her family had devoted long hours to
bringing the fact before her attention.

Reaching sixteen it had become her duty to play a small part in the
little court of her cousin, the Grand Duchess. But although the court
life was simple and far less formal than in countries of greater wealth
and size than the little duchy of Luxemburg, nevertheless Charlotta
found even the