The others left the room, but Yolanda held back and detained me by a
gesture.
"You would have knelt to me," she said almost angrily.
"Yes, mademoiselle," I replied, "the movement was involuntary."
"I once warned you, Sir Karl, not to try to learn anything concerning
me. I told you that useless knowledge was dangerous. You have been
guessing, and probably are very far wrong in your conclusion. But
whatever your surmises are, don't let me know them. Above all, say
nothing to Sir Max; I warn you! Unless you would see no more of me, bear
this warning in mind. Yolanda is a burgher girl. Treat her accordingly,
and impress the fact on Sir Max. Were I as great as the ill-tempered
Princess of Burgundy, whose estates you came to woo, I should still
despise adulation. Bah! I hate it all," she continued, stamping her
foot. "I hate princes and princesses, and do not understand how they can
endure to have men kneel and grovel before them. This fine Princess of
Burgundy, I am told, looks--" She paused and then went on: "I sometimes
hate her most of all. I am a burgher girl, I tell you, and I am proud of
it. I warn you not to make me other."
"Your warning, my lady, is--"
"Fraeulein!" interrupted Yolanda, angrily stamping her foot, "or
Yolanda--call me either. If I give you the privilege, you should value
it sufficiently to use it."
"Yolanda, I will sin no more," I responded. Her face broke into a smile,
and she took my arm, laughing contentedly.
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