might prompt them to utter, with the view of
keeping on good terms with both; but the only result was that when the
flag of truce had been raised, grievances passed over and differences
adjusted, he would have the mortification of finding the whole of the
blame laid on his shoulders, and himself stigmatized as "a
feather-head," "a meddler" and "a spy."

As the years rolled on I grew into womanhood, and became the unwitting
source of constant ill-feeling between the brothers. Eugenio was
handsome, but I distrusted him; Rugiero was nearly as handsome, but I
regarded him as I would have regarded an uncle; Giuseppe was also
handsome, but unstable and entirely wanting in force. Time passed, and
the brothers had separated. Eugenio had married a woman in every way his
inferior. Rugiero had been drawn into a like union that surprised all
those who knew his refined tastes and sensitiveness to the social
amenities. Though a man of honor, his circumstances had become
embarrassed. In his emergencies he had recourse to his old friends,
whose aid was not withheld, but, a crisis arriving, he was declared
bankrupt. Eugenio, instead of assisting his brother, upbraided with
being a disgrace to his own respectability, publicly disowned him, and,
with the view of forcing him to abandon the country, spread injurious
reports concerning him amongst many of the merchants who would otherwise
have been willing to extend a helping hand.

Soon after this Eugenio made a journey to Italy on business. Here he
visited his native place with an equipage designed to astonish the
simple peasants and suggest to them the immensity of his wealth. Never
had the village on the outskirts of which dwelt his widowed sister seen
such magnificence or experienced such munificence. His name was on all
tongues; ovations were made to him; he was almost a king in their eyes.
His sister, Lucretia Mortera, had borne to her husband a large family,
of whom but three survived--a youth named after his uncle Eugenio, and
then being educated for the priesthood; Celestino, a boy of eleven
years; and Virginia, a girl of eight. The little home in which they
resided in quiet retirement had been given to the widow for as long as
she chose to occupy it by a friend of her late husband, as a token of
respect to his memory. Eugenio Noele, ashamed to see a sister of his
living in a way so unsuited to her birth and former expectations,
requested her to dispose of whatever property she m