Chapter 19

“I am a stranger here,” replied von Harben, “and I owe you an apology for intruding upon your privacy. I thought that I was alone in the garden.” “Who are you?” repeated the girl. “I have never seen your face before or one like yours.” “And I,” said von Harben, “have never seen a girl like you. Perhaps I am dreaming. Perhaps you do not exist at all, for it does not seem credible that in the world of realities such a one as you could exist.” The girl blushed. “You are not of Castrum Mare,” she said. “That I can see.…