“Good morning,” he greeted her, “I hope you slept well and dreamed of your charmer? Mistress Mary, quite contrary⁠—or whatever her name is! Upon my word, one has only to speak of her to make you blush! You have completely lost your head over her⁠—you can’t deny it.”

And the schoolmistress, who really had blushed and tucked her head down over her cup, would mumble out of the left-hand corner of her mouth: “Shame on you, Herr Castorp! It really is too bad of you to embarrass me like this. Everyone can see we are talking about her and that you have said something to make me get red.”