s humiliation in the thought,--and so we went in,
and, crossing the great court, ascended the wide staircase.
How beautiful it all was, those marble statues,--the rich
frescos of the ceilings,--the gorgeous lamps, all emblazoned
with armorial emblems; and yet I thought less of these than
the polished steps which your feet had trodden, and which I
could have kissed for your sake.

"I had not imagined so much magnificence. You will smile,
perhaps, at my simplicity, but so did not that kind old
soldier with the wooden leg, who took such pains to show us
everything. He was evidently pleased to witness our admiring
wonder, and actually laughed at Hanserl's enthusiasm for all
those bright scimitars and shields of Turkish make, the
horse-tailed banners, and other emblems of Austrian victory;
while I stole away silently into a little chamber all hung
with blue damask, over the mantelpiece of which was a
portrait of our own dear Frank. How I felt that the room was
yours, Kate,--how my heart told me each object you had
touched,--and how they all became to my delighted senses
like precious relics, revealing stores of affection laid up
in your bosom, and showing a wealth of love I was not
conscious of till then. Oh, no, dearest sister, I never
knew, till then, how things without life themselves can be
the links between beating hearts! I looked everywhere for a
portrait of yourself, and it was only by asking the old
corporal that I succeeded in finding it. 'The Graefin's
picture is in the Field-Marshal's own room,' said he, with
pride, and led the way towards it. Oh, Kate, how beautiful--
nay, it is Nelly, your own stern Nelly, who never flattered
you herself nor could bear others to do so--it is Nelly, the
same Nelly, unchanged, save in being less trustful, less
impulsive, less forgiving than you knew her, and _she_ tells
you that at sight of such loveliness she stood wonderstruck
and fascinated. Had you been really then before me, such as
the picture represented, I had not dared to approach you;
there was that of nobility and grandeur that had appalled my
poor peasant heart, unused to the glitter of diamonds and
the queenly air of high-born beauty; but, as I gazed on the
likeness, long and steadily, this expression faded away,
and, as t