sistant, Fraeulein
Milch.

She did not express this in words, but in her whole conduct; she
avoided speaking with Fraeulein Milch; and never gave her hand to her.

This was the effect of Fraeulein Perini's teachings, who had withdrawn
her from all connection with Fraeulein Milch before Manna had entered
the convent, as if the modest housekeeper had been a witch who could do
her harm. She used to say to the child:

"The whole life and character of this person are an impropriety."

Manna took regular lessons of the Aunt in harp-playing, and Aunt
Claudine was the only one who seemed to possess her confidence. She
showed her copy-books to her, and particularly the astronomical ones
with the alternate blue leaves and the golden pictures of the stars.

During the clear evenings, she spent several hours with the Aunt upon
the flat roof of the villa, looking at the stars through a telescope.
It was evident that Manna had been thoroughly taught; for the
convent-school made a special point of surpassing the worldly schools
in scientific instruction. Of course, all science was confined within
the bounds which faith prescribes.

With all the dignified loftiness of her demeanor, there was something
charmingly attractive in Aunt Claudine; she seemed to have lost or
renounced something in life, and so there was a gentleness which more
completely won Manna's affection.

In the Professorin, with all her friendliness, there was something
commanding; she was self-contained, and gave without ever receiving.

Aunt Claudine, on the other hand, in spite of the difference of years,
could be a young person's friend, and Manna felt the tranquillizing
effect of this friendship.

Manna's maturity of thought often excited more surprise than even her
actual knowledge. Her emotional nature had been widely developed; her
religious earnestness and her settled religious convictions gave her
serene composure and elevation, which might be mistaken for pride. She
always felt as if she were placed on an invisible height, far above
those who had no living faith. But this was not a boastful feeling of
superiority; it was a sense of being supported, every moment, by all
the great influences and views through whose aid so many holy men and
women had won the battle of life.

Manna took especial delight in the lessons upon the harp; she said to
the Aunt, that it seemed to her as if she had never heard herself
before.

The Aunt explained that this wa