Count was delighted to think that it happened because the Emperor was enraptured with the gorgeous furnishings of the palace. He did not notice that the sovereign’s eyes turned to every nook and corner, and if he did see it once or twice he thought the Emperor was looking back at the things he had most admired.
But the Emperor glanced in vain over the sofas and settees occupied by ladies, who, in spite of his incognito, rose and bowed whenever he passed them; in vain he explored all the corners and looked behind all the curtains; from no chair arose the form of the unknown; from no place sparkled the two clear blue eyes for whose sake alone he had started on the journey.
Not finding in the last room the one he was seeking, he decided, as a last resort, to do something which at other times he gladly omitted.
“Do you not intend to introduce me to your daughter?”’ he asked his pleased escort, as they turned back to the dancing hall,
