e to my house, where
they now are in the extremest affliction. You, madama, may well imagine
that I can scarcely maintain my own family at this juncture, and that I
am therefore unable to do for my sister and her children what my heart
dictates. After a sleepless night I came to the conclusion that you,
Madama Melville, whose goodness of heart has so often been put sorely to
the test, would be able to suggest some plan by which to mitigate the
sufferings of my unfortunate sister or bring Eugenio to reason."

"My dear Rugiero, I feel certain that my husband would think as I
do--that for the present they had better stay here with us. We can turn
one floor into sleeping apartments for them, and have one sitting-room
in which your sister can receive callers or remain when she wishes to be
alone. You know that I have so often heard you speak of your sister
Lucretia that I can take the privilege of giving her an invitation to
come and make us a long visit; and so you must tell her."

"God bless you, dear madama, as you deserve to be blessed! This is
indeed a weight off my heart and mind."

The result of this conversation was that on the next morning Rugiero
returned, bringing with him his sister and her children. Signora
Lucretia responded to the welcome of my parents with expressions of
fervent gratitude, calling them the saviors of her family. She was a
short, slender woman, in whose dark eyes, long, finely-cut features, and
pale, thin face one could discern the spirit of asceticism and the
traces of past afflictions. Of the children she had buried, all had
reached their tenth year in apparent health and remarkable for their
physical and moral beauty, but from that age they had rapidly trodden
the pathway to the tomb. None of her children had resembled their father
but Eugenio, who was a well-made youth of wiry constitution, and gave
every promise of attaining the ordinary age allotted to man. Celestino
was destined soon to rejoin the children gone before. How can I describe
the thrill I felt when I saw that child's face as he entered the room?
Never had I seen in picture or in dream a countenance so lovely. But
what can I say of those soul-speaking eyes, the large, dark-brown iris
surrounded by the brilliant azure-white and shaded by long dark lashes?
Finely chiseled features were added to a rounded face of a clear pale
olive, except where a flush like the pink lining of a shell played upon
it. Virginia greatly resembled