ges thus gained access
to it two or three times in a century. Absorbed in these thoughts Samuel
approached the fireplace, which, as we have said, was directly opposite
the window. Just then, a bright ray of sunlight, piercing the clouds,
shone full upon two large portraits, hung upon either side of the
fireplace, and not before remarked by the Jew. They were painted life
size, and represented one a woman, the other a man. By the sober yet
powerful coloring of these paintings, by the large and vigorous style,
it was easy to recognize a master's hand. It would have been difficult
to find models more fitted to inspire a great painter. The woman
appeared to be from five-and-twenty to thirty years of age. Magnificent
brown hair, with golden tints, crooned a forehead, white, noble, and
lofty. Her head-dress, far from recalling the fashion, which Madame de
Sevigne brought in during the age of Louis XIV., reminded one rather of
some of the portraits of Paul Veronese, in which the hair encircles the
face in broad, undulating bands, surmounted by a thick plait, like a
crown, at the back of the head. The eyebrows, finely pencilled, were
arched over large eyes of bright, sapphire blue. Their gaze at once
proud and mournful, had something fatal about it. The nose, finely
formed, terminated in slight dilated nostrils: a half smile, almost
of pain, contracted the mouth; the face was a long oval, and the
complexion, extremely pale, was hardly shaded on the cheek by a light
rose-color. The position of the head and neck announced a rare mixture
of grace and dignity. A sort of tunic or robe, of glossy black material,
came as high as the commencement of her shoulders, and just marking
her lithe and tall figure, reached down to her feet, which were almost
entirely concealed by the folds of this garment.

The attitude was full of nobleness and simplicity. The head looked white
and luminous, standing out from a dark gray sky, marbled at the horizon
by purple clouds, upon which were visible the bluish summits of distant
hills, in deep shadow. The arrangement of the picture, as well as the
warm tints of the foreground, contrasting strongly with these distant
objects, showed that the woman was placed upon an eminence, from which
she could view the whole horizon. The countenance was deeply pensive and
desponding. There was an expression of supplicating and resigned grief,
particularly in her look, half raised to heaven, which one would have
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