r, she seemed to rest on it as lightly and safely as a
linnet, when it has dropped from the sky on the tendril of a rose-bud. The
first beam of the rising sun, falling through a window directly opposite
to the pedestal, increased the effect of this beautiful figure, which
remained as motionless as if it had been carved in marble. She only
expressed her sense of the Baron of Arnheim's presence by something of a
quicker respiration, and a deep blush, accompanied by a slight smile.

"The Baron of Arnheim, for an instant, stood without breath or motion.
At once, however, he seemed to recollect that it was his duty to welcome
the fair stranger to his castle, and to relieve her from her precarious
situation. He stepped forward accordingly with the words of welcome on his
tongue, and was extending his arms to lift her from the pedestal, which
was nearly six feet high; but the light and active stranger merely
accepted the support of his hand, and descended on the floor as light and
as safe as if she had been formed of gossamer. It was, indeed, only by the
momentary pressure of her little hand, that the Baron of Arnheim was made
sensible that he had to do with a being of flesh and blood. 'I am come as
I have been commanded,' she said, looking around her: 'you must expect a
strict and diligent mistress, and I hope for the credit of an attentive
pupil.' After the arrival of this singular and interesting being in the
castle of Arnheim, various alterations took place within the interior of
the household. A lady of high rank and small fortune, the respectable
widow of a count of the empire, who was the baron's blood relation,
received and accepted an invitation to preside over her kinsman's domestic
affairs, and remove, by her countenance, any suspicions which might arise
from the presence of Hermione, as the beautiful Persian was generally
called. The countess Waldstetten carried her complaisance so far, as to
be present on almost all occasions, whether in the laboratory or library,
when the Baron of Arnheim received lessons from, or pursued studies with,
the young and lovely tutor, who had been thus strangely substituted for
the aged Magus. If this lady's report was to be trusted, their pursuits
were of a most extraordinary nature, and the results which she sometimes
witnessed were such as to create fear as well as surprise. But she
accordingly vindicated them from practising unlawful arts, or overstepping
the boundaries of natural s