Behind the piled cushions upon which Nina half reclined, stood four
girls, beautiful as nymphs, with fans of the rarest feathers, and at
her feet lay one older than the rest, whose lute, though now silent,
attested her legitimate occupation.

But, had the room in itself seemed somewhat too fantastic and
overcharged in its prodigal ornaments, the form and face of Nina would
at once have rendered all appropriate; so completely did she seem the
natural Spirit of the Place; so wonderfully did her beauty, elated as it
now was with contented love, gratified vanity, exultant hope, body forth
the brightest vision that ever floated before the eyes of Tasso, when
he wrought into one immortal shape the glory of the Enchantress with the
allurements of the Woman.

Nina half rose as she saw Ursula, whose sedate and mournful features
involuntarily testified her surprise and admiration at a loveliness
so rare and striking, but who, undazzled by the splendour around, soon
recovered her wonted self-composure, and seated herself on the cushion
to which Nina pointed, while the young visitor remained standing, and
spell-bound by childish wonder, in the centre of the apartment. Nina
recognised him with a smile.

"Ah, my pretty boy, whose quick eye and bold air caught my fancy
yesterday! Have you come to accept my offer? Is it you, madam, who claim
this fair child?"

"Lady," replied Ursula, "my business here is brief: by a train of
events, needless to weary you with narrating, this boy from his infancy
fell to my charge--a weighty and anxious trust to one whose thoughts
are beyond the barrier of life. I have reared him as became a youth of