The officer who had stopped in front of her and studied her with so much care might have been twenty-five or twenty-six years of age. He was of pale complexion, with clear blue eyes, rather deeply set; his mouth, fine and well cut, remained motionless in its correct lines; his chin, strongly marked, denoted that strength of will which in the ordinary Britannic type denotes mostly nothing but obstinacy; a brow a little receding, as is proper for poets, enthusiasts, and soldiers, was scarcely shaded by short thin hair which, like the beard which covered the lower part of his face, was of a beautiful deep chestnut color.
El official, que se había detenido ante ella y que sigilosamente la había estudiado con tanto cuidado, podía tener entre veinticinco y ventiséis años; era blanco de rostro, con ojos ; azul claro algo sumidos; su boca, fina y bien dibujada, permanecía inmóvil en sus líneas correctas; su mentón, vigorosamente acusado, de notaba esa fuerza de voluntad que en el tipo vulgar británico no es ordinariamente más que cabezonería; una frente algo huidiza, como conviene a los poetas, a los entusiastas y a los soldados, estaba apenas sombreada por una cabellera corta y rala que, como la barba que cubría la parte baja de su rostro, era de un hermoso color castaño oscuro.