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22 THE CONFESSION OF A FOOL
rose in my mind much later—she found pleasure in the
thought that her beauty confused me. Or, maybe, she
was conscious at that moment of the terrible power she
had acquired over me, a Joseph whose coldness was only
assumed, whose chastity was enforced.
"I’m boring you," she said smilingly ; ’’I’d better call
for reinforcements."
And with a clear voice she called to her husband, who
was in his room upstairs.
The window was thrown open and the Baron appeared,
a friendly smile on his open countenance. A few minutes
later he joined us in the garden. He was wearing the
handsome uniform of the Guards and looked very distin-
guished. With his dark-blue tunic, embroidered in yellow
and silver, his tall, well-knit figure, he formed an ex-
quisite contrast to the slender woman in white who stood
at his side. They were really a strikingly handsome
couple ; the charms of the one served but to heighten
those of the other. The sight of them was an artistic
treat, a brilliant spectacle.
After dinner the Baron proposed that we should accom-
pany his wife on the steamer as far as the last customs
station. This proposal, to Avhich I gladly agreed, seemed
to give the Baroness a great deal of pleasure ; she was
delighted with the prospect of admiring the Stockholm
Archipelago from the deck of a steamer on a beautiful
summer night.
At ten o’clock on the following evening we met on
board the steamer a short time before the hour of starting.
It was a clear night ; the sky was a blaze of brilliant
orange, the sea lay before us, calm and blue.
We slowly steamed past the wooded shores, in a light
which was neither day nor night, but had the qualities
of both^ and impressed the beholder as being sunrise and
sunset at the same time.
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