electrifying glance and a sweet smile, telling him that he might now
hold his head high like a conqueror, or humble himself with
languishing sentiment, that for her there was only one man in the
room, one man in all the mirrors, the handsome youth in the window
recess between the red silk curtains. In the short pauses she came
over to him and spoke a word or two, always the same sort of thing:
"Ah! how So-and-so worries me. What a pity that you don't dance, it
would be so lovely. Oh! if only you knew how Fraulein S----admires
you, and how angry all the ladies are that you won't be introduced
to them." And Wilhelm thanked her with the same quiet smile, took
her fingers when he could and pressed them, and stayed in his window
corner.

Presently Loulou went toward someone in the room, who looked back at
the same time toward Wilhelm. It was his friend Paul Haber, for whom
he had obtained an invitation. Paul looked at him proudly and gayly.
His short hair was beautifully cut and brushed, his thick blonde
mustache curled in the most approved fashion. In his buttonhole he
wore the decoration of the 1866 war medal, and when he saw himself
in the glass he could say with perfect self-satisfaction, that he
looked just as much like an officer as the men in uniform, not even
excepting those of the Guard. Since the campaign of 1866, in which
Paul had served in the same company as Wilhelm, they had been firm
friends, and on this evening he wished to offer his respects before
the manifest possessor of her heart, to one of the greatest
heiresses in Berlin, also his gratitude for his introduction to this
splendid house, and his tender feelings for his comrade. In spite of
being occupied with his partners he had time to observe Wilhelm, and
the sight of him standing alone in the window recess immediately
cooled the nervous excitement wrought by the crowd of strangers.