so that Blanka was constrained to
suspend her drives to Monte Mario and remain in the house. Every evening
she sat before her open fire with her eyes fixed on the glowing
phoenix with which the back of the fireplace was adorned. It was the
work of Finiguerra, the first of his craft to discard the chisel for the
hammer. The many-hued feathers of the flaming bird were of steel,
copper, brass, Corinthian bronze, silver, and gold. Especially
resplendent was the bird's head, with its gleaming red circle around the
brightly shining eye. This eye glowed and sparkled in the flickering
light of the crackling wood fire until it seemed fairly endowed with
life and vision.

One evening, as the princess was watching this glowing eye, it suddenly
vanished from the bird's head and left a dark hole in its place. Then,
as if not content with this marvellous demonstration, the phoenix next
took flight bodily and disappeared, apparently up the chimney, with a
rattling, rasping sound, as of the creaking of cogged wheels, leaving a
wide opening where it had been. The coals which still glowed on the
hearth presently died with a hissing noise, and only the soft light of
the shaded lamp diffused itself through the room. Out of the mysterious
depths of the fireplace stepped the white-clad form of a woman.

"I am the Marchioness Caldariva," announced the unbidden guest.

The suddenness and the mystery of it all, as well as the name that
greeted her ears, might well have startled the Princess Blanka. The
strange visitor was of tall and slender form, and suggested, in her
closely fitting gown of soft material, a statue of one of the pagan
goddesses. Her thick blond hair was carelessly gathered into a knot
behind; her complexion was pale, her blue eyes were bright and
vivacious, and her coral lips were parted in a coquettish smile. Every
movement was fraught with grace and charm, every pose commanded
admiration. She followed up her self-introduction with a laugh--a laugh
that sounded familiar to her listener. It was the Sappho's tones that
she heard. Blanka gazed in wonder at the mysterious apparition. She
thought she must be dreaming, and that this was but another creation of
her own fancy.

"Ha, ha, ha!" laughed the visitor, "an original way to pay a call, isn't
it?--without warning, right through the back wall of your fireplace, and
in _neglige_, too! But as you wouldn't visit me, I had to come to you,
and this is the readiest communication