Read "Martin Birck's Youth" by Hjalmar Soderberg online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
She stood at her dressing table, where two narrow candles burned before the mirror. She had just arranged her rich brown hair, and before she finished her toilet she touched her face with a powder puff to subdue the color. He sat behind her in a corner of the sofa, but their glances met in the mirror and were fixed on each other in a long smile. The trembling of the candle flames and the distance, which the mirror lengthened, made this smile dark and mysterious. And far within the dusky depth behind the glass danced a green spark from the emerald on her finger.
"Shall you be ready soon? " he asked. "It's half-past seven. I'm afraid we shall miss the ghost."