e to inspect the building.
George would be sent for to show the gentleman and the young woman, who
seemed to be his daughter, the plans, and they had long conversations
together. At these interviews George was not at all servile; and his
gestures were so manly and graceful, his eyes shone so frankly, yet so
sweetly and modestly, that his mother yearned to draw him to her heart
and kiss him; but that, alas! could not be, and little by little it
dawned upon her that he longed for other lips than hers, for the glances
that he bestowed upon the maiden bespoke his admiration, which, the
duchess noticed, did not seem to displease her.

Once, during an interview with George, she dropped a rose, and when he
picked it up, she must have allowed him to keep it, for she gave no sign
of disapproval when he kissed it and hid it inside the breast of his
doublet. The large architectural drawing had screened this little comedy
from curious eyes.

One evening, in the moonlight, the duchess saw him climb a garden wall,
with a lute in his hand, then the sky became overcast, and she could
distinguish him no more; she could only see a lighted window where a
beautiful girl was standing. The maiden charmed her beyond measure, and
she grew hot and cold with the pleasurable anticipation that George might
win her for his wife some day and bring her home. But then she reflected
that he was a child born to ill-luck, and as such would never be blessed
with the love of so exquisite a creature.

What she saw in the next few weeks confirmed this opinion. His manner was
usually decisive, abrupt and self-reliant, but now he seemed to her like
a clock that points to one hour while it strikes another. At the works he
gave his orders as firmly and decidedly as ever; but as soon as he was
alone, he looked like a criminal sentenced to death, and either sat bowed
down and miserable or else paced up and down the floor restlessly,
gesticulating wildly. Often when he beat his forehead with the palm of
his hand or struck his breast with his fist, his mother was frightened.

Once, after a garden party, where he had been fortunate enough to walk
alone for a full hour under a shady pergola with the daughter of the
gentleman who owned the building in progress, and to kiss her hand many
times, he burst into tears as soon as he was in his own room, and behaved
so wildly that his mother feared for his reason and wept bitterly also.
just at this time she ought to have