Page:Karl Gjellerup - Minna, A novel - 1913.djvu/145

 she quickly added: "Remember to call me Miss Jagemann, and if you feel tempted to say something which they are not to hear, then speak Danish; I shall manage to understand it."

"Little pitchers have long ears," I remarked.

Minna laughed heartily, and pointed in front to the eldest of the little girls, who happened to be endowed with large projecting ears which glowed transparently in the sunshine.

How gay and full of spirits Minna was! Though generally she looked older than her age, now she seemed so childlike that I involuntarily said to myself: "Is it possible that this is the girl who loves me as a woman loves, and who, unfortunately, has even loved before?" She wore the hood-shaped garden hat made of black straw, which I knew from 'Sophien Ruhe,' a practical head-gear, as it shaded her face down to the middle of the cheek. From this calm shadow, which caught a green light from the wood, the clear, deep-set eyes looked without a cloud, at nature and at me. Her dress was of some light material, in blue and white stripes; falling in long pleats from the waist, which was tightened by a light blue silk ribbon, instead of the usual belt.

I had already, for several minutes, expressed myself in Danish upon rather indifferent topics, when the catastrophe foreseen by her occurred. I became so overwhelmed by my feelings that I exclaimed: "But, Minna, how well that dress suits you, how sweet you look in it!" As I had already accustomed myself to express my love in German, this little Cupid, on leaving my lips, put on that becoming linguistic garment. Of this I first became aware when Minna violently caught hold of my arm, and I saw that one of the projecting ears in front