e two young ladies grew
up without a mother. You have heard that their father would even attack
them, yet he doubtless loved them and would never resolve to place them
in a convent. True, he often felt--at least he freely admitted it in
conversations with her excellenza--that there were more suitable places
for young girls than his castle, where matters went badly enough, and so
he at last sent his oldest daughter to us. My mistress usually could not
endure the society of young girls, but Fraulein Anna was one of her
nearest relatives, and I know she invited her of her own accord. I can
still see in memory the signorina at sixteen; a sweeter creature, Herr
Wilhelm, my eyes have never beheld before or since, and yet she never
remained the same. I have seen her as soft as Flemish velvet, but at
other times she could rage like a November storm in your country. She was
always beautiful as a rose and, as her mother's old cameriera--she was a
native of Lugano--had brought her up, and the priest who taught her came
from Pisa and was acknowledged to be an excellent musician, she spoke my
language like a child of Tuscany and was perfectly familiar with music.
You have doubtless heard her singing, her harp and lute-playing, but you
should know that all the ladies of the Hoogstraten family, with the
exception of my mistress, possess a special talent for your art. In
summer we lived in the beautiful country-house, that was torn down before
the siege by your friends--with little justice I think. Many a stately
guest rode out to visit us. We kept open house, and where there is a good
table and a beautiful young lady like our signorina, the gallants are not
far off. Among them was a very aristocratic gentleman of middle age, the
Marquis d'Avennes, whom her excellenza had expressly invited. We had
never received any prince with so much attention; but this was a matter
of course, for his mother was a relative of her excellenza. You must know
that my mistress; on her mother's side, is descended from a family in
Normandy. The Marquis d'Avennes was certainly an elegant cavalier, but
rather dainty than manly. He was soon madly in love with Fraulein Anna,
and asked in due form for her hand. Her excellenza favored the match, and
the father said simply: 'You will take him!' He would listen to no
opposition. Other gentlemen don't consult their daughters when a suitable
lover appears. So the signorina became the marquis's betrothed wife, but
the p