es at Bayreuth, received monosyllabic, hesitating
replies, while he talked eloquently to the lady on his right, the
hostess, upon the influence of modern nervousness upon social forms.

He paid little heed to the guests, and had only glanced at them
carelessly two or three times, bowing to acquaintances, and hastily
obtaining a general impression of the strangers. At each of these
surveys his eyes had remained fixed upon a lady who sat directly
opposite to him, and whose beauty was remarkable, peculiar, and
fascinating. So far as her figure could be seen, while seated, it
appeared slight and delicate, without fragility, girlishly immature,
yet not lean in form. The small head, supported by a slender,
snow-white neck, was a marvel of grace and elegance, instantly
recalling the bust of Clytie in the British Museum. One involuntarily
looked for the sunflower from whose calyx it really ought to bloom.
The brow was narrow and dazzlingly fair, the nose uncommonly delicate,
slightly arched at the root, with mobile nostrils, so delicate that one
might believe them transparent; the mouth not very small, but
exquisitely shaped, with thin lips, curving obstinately, which curled
sometimes sternly, sometimes scornfully, sometimes bitterly, but could
also smile with infinite sweetness and charm; the chin round and
statuesque, the cheeks neither plump nor hollow, with a delightful play
of tender lights and soft, almost imperceptible shadows over their
bright surfaces. But the most remarkable characteristics of this head
were the large blue eyes, deep as the sea, beneath long lashes and
nobly-formed brows, and the luxuriant, almost golden-red hair, whose
silken wealth of naturally waving locks rested above the brow in two
bands, like the gleaming wings of some bright-hued tropical bird, while
the light of the candles, shining on the braids, struck out strange,
satiny, metallic reflections, and a powdery, glimmering sparkle, as
though the hair was dusted with gold or ruby powder. Her sole
ornaments were a diamond star in the hair and an antique gold circlet
on one of her bare arms. The white dress, trimmed on one side of the
bosom to the opposite side of the waist with a garland of artificial
flowers, looked simple, yet very elegant. The eye of the most critical
woman could find no fault in the harmony of the toilette, the coldest
man could not avert his gaze from the head, which constantly called
forth the two comparisons to a