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have dared to do anything so familiar, and he could think
of nothing on earth to say. It would be ungallant to explain
that he was not making an observation, but merely men-
tioning the title of a song.
‘Entschuldigen Sie,’ he said. ‘I beg your pardon.’
‘It does not matter,’ she whispered.
She smiled pleasantly, quietly took his hand and pressed
it, then turned back into the drawing-room.
Next day he was so embarrassed that he could not speak
to her, and in his shyness did all that was possible to avoid
her. When he was asked to go for the usual walk he refused
because, he said, he had work to do. But Fraulein Hedwig
seized an opportunity to speak to him alone.
‘Why are you behaving in this way?’ she said kindly. ‘You
know, I’m not angry with you for what you said last night.
You can’t help it if you love me. I’m flattered. But although
I’m not exactly engaged to Hermann I can never love any-
one else, and I look upon myself as his bride.’
Philip blushed again, but he put on quite the expression
of a rejected lover.
‘I hope you’ll be very happy,’ he said.

1 Of Human Bondage