ather tells me he is so eloquent; and I
should like to hear him talk. He looks like such a noble young man.
But with me he will never talk. And yet I am so fond of listening to
brilliant imagery!"

"He is very eloquent," said Gertrude; "but he has no brilliant imagery.
I have heard him talk a great deal. I knew that when they saw us they
would not come over here."

"Ah, he is making la cour, as they say, to your sister? They desire to
be alone?"

"No," said Gertrude, gravely, "they have no such reason as that for
being alone."

"But why does n't he make la cour to Charlotte?" Felix inquired. "She is
so pretty, so gentle, so good."

Gertrude glanced at him, and then she looked at the distantly-seen
couple they were discussing. Mr. Brand and Charlotte were walking side
by side. They might have been a pair of lovers, and yet they might not.
"They think I should not be here," said Gertrude.

"With me? I thought you did n't have those ideas."

"You don't understand. There are a great many things you don't
understand."

"I understand my stupidity. But why, then, do not Charlotte and Mr.
Brand, who, as an elder sister and a clergyman, are free to walk about
together, come over and make me wiser by breaking up the unlawful
interview into which I have lured you?"

"That is the last thing they would do," said Gertrude.

Felix stared at her a moment, with his lifted eyebrows. "Je n'y
comprends rien!" he exclaimed; then his eyes followed for a while the
retreating figures of this critical pair. "You may say what you please,"
he declared; "it is evident to me that your sister is not indifferent
to her clever companion. It is agreeable to her to be walking there with
him. I can see that from here." And in the excitement of observation
Felix rose to his feet.

Gertrude rose also, but she made no attempt to emulate her companion's
discovery; she looked rather in another direction. Felix's words had
struck her; but a certain delicacy checked her. "She is certainly not
indifferent to Mr. Brand; she has the highest opinion of him."

"One can see it--one can see it," said Felix, in a tone of amused
contemplation, with his head on one side. Gertrude turned her back to
the opposite shore; it was disagreeable to her to look, but she hoped
Felix would say something more. "Ah, they have wandered away into the
wood," he added.

Gertrude turned round again. "She is not in love with him," she said; it
seemed her duty to say that.