ed to
draw a mystical distinction between the beautiful Hermione and the mere
mortals with whom she lived and conversed. In the merry dance she was so
unrivalled in lightness and agility, that her performance seemed that of
an aerial being. She could, without suffering from her exertion, continue
the pleasure till she had tired out the most active revellers; and even
the young Duke of Hochspringen, who was reckoned the most indefatigable at
that exercise in Germany, having been her partner for half an hour, was
compelled to break off the dance and throw himself, totally exhausted,
on a couch, exclaiming he had been dancing not with a woman, but with an
_ignis fatuus_. Other whispers averred, that while she played with her
young companions in the labyrinth and mazes of the castle gardens at
hide-and-seek, or similar games of activity, she became animated with the
same supernatural alertness which was supposed to inspire her in the
dance. She appeared amongst her companions, and vanished from them with
a degree of rapidity which was inconceivable; and hedges, treillage, or
such like obstructions, were surmounted by her in a manner which the most
vigilant eye could not detect; for, after being observed on the other side
of the barrier at one instant, in another she was beheld close beside the
spectator. In such moments, when her eyes sparkled, her cheeks reddened,
and her whole frame became animated, it was pretended that the opal clasp
amid her tresses, the ornament which she never laid aside, shot forth the
little spark, or tongue of flame, which it always displayed, with an
increased vivacity. In the same manner, if in the twilight hall the
conversation of Hermione became unusually animated, it was believed that
the jewel became brilliant, and even displayed a twinkling and flashing
gleam which seemed to be emitted by the gem itself, and not produced in
the usual manner, by the reflection of some external light. Her maidens
were also heard to surmise, that when their mistress was agitated by any
hasty or brief resentment (the only weakness of temper which she was ever
observed to display,) they could observe dark-red sparks flash from the
mystic brooch, as if it sympathized with the wearer's emotions. The women
who attended on her toilette farther reported, that this gem was never
removed but for a few minutes, when the baroness' hair was combed out;
that she was unusually pensive and silent during the time it was laid
as