rm in returning frequently to the
garden of the convent. As he passed, he each time cast a glance
on the old flower-pot. The six stems at first shot up, each
equally verdant. The spotted seeds soon grew the longest, to
his great surprise. He was about to accuse the old monk of
having lost his wits; but what was afterwards his sorrow, when
he saw his three plants gradually fading away in their
spring-time! With each setting sun a leaf fell and dried up,
while the leaves of the other stems thrived more and more with
every breeze, every ray of the sun, every drop of dew. He went
to dream every day before his dear plants, with exceeding
sadness. He soon saw them wither away, even to the last leaf.
On the same day the others were in flower.

"This accident of nature was a cruel horoscope. Thirty years
afterward poor Gretry saw three other flowers alike fated, fade
and fall under the wintry wind of death. He had forgotten the
name of the flowers of the Roman convent, but in dying he still
repeated the names of the others. They were his three
daughters, Jenny, Lucile, and Antoinette. 'Ah!' exclaimed the
poor musician, in relating the death of his three daughters,
'I have violated the laws of nature to obtain genius. I have
watered with my blood the most frivolous of my operas, I have
nourished my old mother, I have seized on reputation by
exhausting my heart and my soul; Nature has avenged herself on
my children! My poor children, I foredoomed them to death!'

"Gretry's daughters all died at the age of sixteen. There is
something strange in their life and in their death, which
strikes the dreamer and the poet. This sport of destiny, this
freak of death, this vengeance of Nature, appears here invested
with all the charms of romance. You will see.

"Jenny had the pale, sweet countenance of a virgin. On seeing
her, Greuze said one day, 'If I ever paint Purity, I shall
paint Jenny.' 'Make haste!' murmured Gretry, already a prey to
sad presentiments. 'Then she is going to be married?' said
Greuze. Gretry did not answer. Soon, however, seeking to blind
himself, he continued: 'She will be the staff of my old age;
like Antigone, she will lead her father into the sun at the
decline of life.'

"The next day Gretry came unexpectedly upon Jenny, l