to every one, without
distinction of rank or person, informing them that the artist was engaged
in working for His Majesty.

Sophonisba Anguisciola was the only person whom Moor never refused to
see. He had greeted the strange girl on his arrival, as a father meets
his child.

Ulrich had been present when the artist gave her his portrait, and saw
her, overwhelmed with joy and gratitude, cover her face with her hands
and burst into loud sobs.

During Moor's first visit to Madrid, the young girl had come from Cremona
to the king's court with her father and five sisters, and since then the
task of supporting all six had rested on her shoulders.

Old Cavaliere Anguisciola was a nobleman of aristocratic family, who had
squandered his large patrimony, and now, as he was fond of saying, lived
day by day "by trusting God." A large portion of his oldest daughter's
earnings he wasted at the gaming table with dissolute nobles, relying
with happy confidence upon the talent displayed also by his younger
children, and on what he called "trust in God." The gay, clever Italian
was everywhere a welcome guest, and while Sophonisba toiled early and
late, often without knowing how she was to obtain suitable food and
clothing for her sisters and herself, his life was a series of banquets
and festivals. Yet the noble girl retained the joyous courage inherited
from her father, nay, more--even in necessity she did not cease to take a
lofty view of art, and never permitted anything to leave her studio till
she considered it finished.

At first Moor watched her silently, then he invited her to work in his
studio, and avail herself of his advice and assistance.

So she had become his pupil, his friend.

Soon the young girl had no secrets from him, and the glimpses of her
domestic life thus afforded touched him and brought her nearer and nearer
to his heart.

The old Cavaliere praised the lucky accident, and was ready to show
himself obliging, when Moor offered to let him and his daughters occupy a
house he had purchased, that it might be kept in a habitable condition,
and when the artist had induced the king to grant Sophonisba a larger
annual salary, the father instantly bought a second horse.

The young girl, in return for so many benefits, was gratefully devoted to
the artist, but she would have loved him even without them. His society
was her greatest pleasure. To be allowed to stay and paint with him,
become absorbed in conversat