Nor, upon learning that the young lady existed, was he particularly impressed; the royal princesses he had been privileged to look upon were not remarkable for their personal attractiveness: he forthwith established Genevra in what he considered to be her proper sphere.
She was visiting in St.Petersburg or Berlin or some other place--he gave it no thought at the time--when he reached his post of duty, and it was toward the end of his fifth month before she returned to her father's palace in Thorberg.

He awoke to the importance of the occasion, and took some slight interest in the return of the royal young lady--even going so far as to follow the crowd to the railway station on the sunny June afternoon.

His companions were two young fellows from the English bank and a rather agreeable attache of the French Government.
He saw the Princess for the first time that afternoon, and he was bowled over, to use the expression of his English friends with whom he dined that night.

She was the first woman that he had ever looked upon that he could describe, for she was the only one who had impressed him to that extent.

This is how he pictured her at the American legation in Paris a few weeks later: "Ever see her?
Well, you've something to live for, gentlemen.