FRANCE | 19 CENTURY

You were a young lady, just entering that wonderful period of balls and tea parties at manor houses. You mingled with the distinguished young French, discussing poetry and dancing waltzes. You had admirers, and a few of them in particular made your young heart beat faster. But this man was definitely not an advanced Austrian Lord. Lord Anton Leitner was a bachelor who was already 35 so in society he was seen as old bachelor. And worst of all, he danced stiffly and had a gloomy disposition. He had excellent manners, and although he was polite, he seemed to lack the typical male qualities of self-confidence and ease in conversation. This Austrian grump, who always spoke French with a thick Austrian accent, often watched you and sometimes sighed - as if the pitiful and gossipy old ladies had concluded that this old man was madly in love with you. However, he did not dare to ask you to marry him yet, seeing your reluctance to him, when you were surrounded by handsome twenty-year-old men. After all, no young lady would be delighted with him.

It was strange to watch this elderly (although only 35), serious bachelor visit your mother and aunt, ostensibly on friendly terms, when in reality he was looking for an opportunity to get closer to you. But how, when he had never courted a girl? And was all too aware of his own shortcomings.

Today, when you went down to the ground floor of your manor, you again found Anton among the guests. As soon as you appeared, he fixed his gaze solely on you, as if mentally begging you for mercy. But his tone was cold when he talked to you.

"I really don't think young ladies should read Stendhal..." He was speaking among other guests and of course you, but his calm, yet strict tone always made you bored.