m on the blue sea; see the sweet pines, swaying in the fresh
sea-breeze; yonder a cypress-wood, and on the waving billows a hundred
white sails; and imagine a child of that South, slender as a gazelle,
leaning on the balustrade, a pair of sparkling dark eyes shining through
a white veil--then you have what I saw daily in those beautiful days.'

"How did it happen? In the midst of this imaginary picture which he had
just drawn for me I saw Anna Maria standing, in her dark dress, her
basket of keys on her arm, and saw her great clear eyes wander in
astonishment over this splendor. I smiled involuntarily; I could never
imagine Anna Maria resting, in sweet indolence, on those cushions. I had
to laugh at this idea, but it was a bitter laugh, and pained me.

"I followed him through several rooms; everywhere luxury, foreign
furnishings; but at least the chairs were sensible. Everywhere a perfume
of roses, costly rugs, a profusion of foreign draperies. In a
one-windowed room was a little table spread for three persons, shining
with glass and silver. Edwin escorted me to the seat of honor. 'Your
little protegee will appear directly,' he said gayly. And kissing my
hand, he assured me again how happy he was to have me here at last. 'I
really do not know why you have not visited my solitary abode long
before,' he said, jokingly.

"'Why have you never told me, Edwin, that you have so many treasures
from the "Thousand and One Nights" here?' I returned.

"'I do not like to seem boastful,' he said, offering me a mayonnaise,
which I declined, taking some cold fowl. 'My acquaintances have looked
at the things _en passant_, and Klaus has been here often. I really
supposed you were not interested in such things at Buetze.'

"Indeed, Klaus had told us nothing about all this; at the most had
mentioned the costly furnishings and various rare articles from foreign
countries; he had himself no fancy for curiosities of that sort. Just
then Edwin Stuermer rose. I thought I saw a faint smile on his lips,
which vexed me, I know not why. But it vanished again at once, and gave
way to a different expression. He opened the door and let Susanna in; he
had probably heard her step. She sat down opposite him at the richly
appointed table; above her dark head waved the fan-shaped leaf of a
great palm, and white blossoms crowded against the back of her chair;
from a group of southern plants in another corner rose the Venus de Milo
in purest marble.

"