of Tuscany. This second girl was very ugly, and made such grimaces
that I did not want to finish her picture. She died a few years after
her marriage.

During the Queen's absence I also painted the Prince Royal. The hour
of noon was appointed for the sittings, and in order to attend I was
obliged to follow the Chiaja road in the heat of the day. The houses
on the left, which faced the sea, being painted a lustrous white, the
sun was reflected from them so vividly that I was almost struck blind.
To save my eyes, I put on a green veil, which I had never seen any one
else do, and which must have looked rather peculiar, since only black
or white veils were worn. But a few days after I saw several English
women imitating me, and green veils came into fashion. I also found
great comfort in my green veil at St. Petersburg, where the snow was
so dazzling that it might have killed my eyesight.

One of my greatest pleasures was to go for walks on the lovely slope
of Posilippo. Under it is the grotto of the same name, which is a
splendid piece of work a mile long, and which is recognised as having
been done by the Romans. This slope of Posilippo is covered with
country houses, casinos, meadows, and very fine trees with vines
winding about them in festoons. It is here that Virgil's tomb is to be
found, and it is said that laurels grow upon it, but I must confess
that I saw none. In the evenings I walked on the seashore; I
frequently took my daughter, and we often remained sitting there
together until moonrise, enjoying the salubrious air and the gorgeous
view. This was a rest for my daughter after her daily studies, for I
had resolved to give her the best education possible, and to this
effect I had engaged at Naples masters of writing, geography, Italian,
English, and German. She showed a preference for German above the
others, and evinced a remarkable aptitude in her various studies.
There were some signs in her of a talent for painting, but her
favourite pastime was to compose novels. Returning from evening
parties to which I had gone, I would find her with a pen in her hand
and another in her cap; I would then oblige her to go to bed, but not
infrequently did she secretly get up in the middle of the night to
finish one of her chapters, and I remember very well how, at the age
of nine, at Vienna, she wrote a little romance as remarkable for its
situations as for its style.

[Illustration: PRINCESS CHRISTINE, DAUGHTER OF FERDI