Struebel.
Good heavens! Could I--? I don't believe it! Surely she sits--Well,
I'll make sure right away-- (_Goes up to the telescope and stops._) Oh,
I'll go along with them, anyhow. (_Exit after them._)
Frau Lindemann (_entering_).
Have they all gone--all of them?
Rosa.
All of them.
Frau Lindemann (_looking toward the right_).
There--there--two ladies and a lackey are coming up the footpath. Mercy
me! How my heart is beating!--If I had only had the sofa re-covered
last spring!--What am I going to say to them?--Rosa, don't you know a
poem by heart which you could speak to the princess? (Rosa _shrugs her
shoulders._) They're coming through the court now!--Stop putting your
arms under your apron that way, you stupid thing!--oh dear, oh dear----
(_The door opens_. A Lackey _in plain black livery enters, and remains
standing at the door. He precedes_ The Princess _and_ Frau Von Brook.
The Princess _is a pale, sickly, unassuming young girl, wearing a very
simple walking costume and a medium-sized leghorn hat trimmed with
roses_. Frau Von Brook _is a handsome, stately, stern-looking woman, in
the thirties. She is well dressed, but in accordance with the simple
tastes of the North German nobility._)
Frau v. Brook.
Who is the proprietor of this place?
Frau Lindemann.
At your command, your Highness.
Frau v. Brook (_reprovingly_).