hose who knew him, as a man of high honor and moral worth. In person he
was tall, dark, and commanding, in manner grave and dignified. The
grandee of Spain is never one with whom you feel inclined to take a
liberty, but the noble Conde was uncommonly reserved and serious, even
sad, in the expression of his countenance. He was a widower, with two
lovely children, daughters, of the ages of sixteen and eighteen. Clara,
the elder, a very handsome girl, strikingly resembled her father in
appearance, save that a bright, hopeful, energetic spirit was displayed
in her face and in almost every motion. Magdalena, the younger, and the
cherished darling of both father and sister, scarcely looked as if she
belonged to the same family: she inherited from her mother the
transparent, delicate complexion, azure eyes, and fair, clustering
curls, sometimes seen in Spain and Italy, and always so highly prized
from their rarity. Gentleness, and an up-looking for love and
protection, were the characteristics both of her face and mind; and
doubtless her timidity and dependence upon others was much fostered by
the loving cares and constant vigilance of her father.

Their ordinary residence was in Madrid, where the Conde was much engaged
in affairs of state; his strict integrity, political wisdom, and
fidelity in the discharge of duty, caused business of the highest moment
to be committed to him by his sovereign. But, as is only too frequently
the case, public cares engrossed him to the detriment of his private
concerns, and some little entanglements in money matters made him
resolve to look more closely into his account books, and see where the
difficulty lay. It was certainly surprising, that the hereditary estates
which brought in so large an income till within fifteen years, had so
unaccountably decreased in value, and that the castellan, or mayordomo,
who managed them, was continually complaining of the difficulty he found
in raising from the peasantry the comparatively small sums he yearly
transmitted to his master. But so it was: and although the Conde carried
his confidence in his dependents, and his easiness of disposition, to
such an extent as almost to become a fault, yet as he examined the
accounts of some years' standing, a strong suspicion arose in his mind
that somehow he had been most egregiously cheated, and that while he
had so skilfully managed the finances of the country as almost to double
her revenues, he himself had been a