to his right and some distance away , there was gabrielle , with her blond hair in a braid down her back and her eyes full of undisguised anguish ; and beside her , louis , unguarded and passive as always , staring at marius mutely as if in scientific inquiry or worship or both ; then came his beloved pandora , her rippling brown hair free over her shoulders and still speckled with the tiny sparkling droplets of melted frost .