musical studies he would give her
the place of singing-mistress to a young girl of noble birth, who had
been educated in a convent at Milan. She was under his guardianship, and
the worthy man took care to provide Anna, before her departure, with
letters to his friends in the eternal city.

Her hasty flight from Rome had been caused by the news, that Don Luis had
found and abducted his son. She could not lose her child, and when she
did not find the boy in Milan, followed and at last discovered him in
Naples. There d'Avila restored the child, after she had declared her
willingness to make over to him the income she still received from her
aunt. The long journey, so full of excitement and fatigue, exhausted her
strength, and she returned to Milan feeble and broken in health.

Her patron had been anxious to keep the place of singing-mistress open
for her, but she could only fulfil for a short time the duties to which
the superior of the convent kindly summoned her, for her sickness was
increasing and a terrible cough spoiled her voice. She now returned to
Lugano, and there sought to compensate her poor honest friend by the sale
of her ornaments, but the time soon came when the generous artist was
forced to submit to be supported by the charity of a servant. Until the
last six months she had not suffered actual want, but when her maid's
husband died, anxiety about the means of procuring daily bread arose, and
now maternal love broke down Anna's pride: she wrote to her father as a
repentant daughter, bowed down by misfortune, but received no reply. At
last, reduced to starvation with her child, she undertook the hardest
possible task, and besought the man, of whom she could only think with
contempt and loathing, not to let his son grow up like a beggar's child.
The letter, which contained this cry of distress, had reached Don Luis
just before his death. No help was to come to her from him. But Belotti
appeared, and now she was once more at home, her friend and sister were
standing beside her bed, and Henrica encouraged her to hope for her
father's forgiveness.

It was past midnight, yet Georg still awaited his friend's return. The
noise and bustle of the camp began to die away and the lantern, which at
first had but feebly lighted the spacious lower-room of the farmhouse,
burned still more dimly. The German shared this apartment with
agricultural implements, harnesses, and many kinds of grain and
vegetables heaped in pile