his fair and virtuous wife, sent his only daughter Garcinde, then ten
years old, accompanied by her foster-sister Aigleta, to be educated at
the convent of Mont Salvair, and recommenced himself, spite of
grizzling hair, a wandering bachelor life. He was a stately knight, and
popular both with men and women, so he had no lack of invitations to
merry-making tournaments, and banquets at the castles of the wealthy
nobles, far and near. But, however, his delight in military exercises
and minstrelsy grew cool with years, so that he left the palm in both
to be carried off by younger aspirants, developing, at the same time,
an increasing love for wine and dice, and falling from his former
character of a wise manager of himself and of his substance, to that of
a degraded night-reveller, who even occupied the castle of his fathers
as tenant to his creditors, and had nothing left to call his own but
his unstained knightly courage, and the heart of his child. In order
not to grieve that child, Count Hugo took the greatest care to prevent
the rumour of the low state of his finances reaching the convent. He
was in the habit of twice a year visiting his daughter, and the young
girl, who up to this time had devoted all the power of loving she as
yet had to her father, and admired him as the ideal of every human and
knightly virtue and perfection,--did not fail to notice that the eyes
of the fast aging man, had for some time back lost their open and
joyous expression, that his cheeks were sunk, and his lips habitually
compressed. But as she knew the way to cheer him, and for the time to
make him forget the world outside the cloister-walls, she naturally
attributed his depression to his solitude, and lovingly urged him to
take her back, and keep her near him. At which the Count would sigh,
gloomily shake his head and declare that it would not be consistent
with her fair fame to live in a castle inhabited by men only, without
better protection than he could offer. He could not, therefore, remove
her from the cloister until she should exchange the companionship of
the pious sisters for that of some worthy husband. This was not
pleasant hearing to the intelligent girl, for although her life had not
been otherwise than happy with the nuns, who were cheerful and busy,
and though she had had, moreover, the companionship of the bright-eyed
Aigleta--a lively girl and full of whatever fun was possible in a
convent--yet Garcinde yearned to know and