She had often forgot her sorrows in these amusements,

when her mind was too much occupied to derive consolation from books,

and she was assiduous to impart to Emilia and Julia a power so

valuable as that of beguiling the sense of affliction. Emilia's taste

led her to drawing, and she soon made rapid advances in that art.

Julia was uncommonly susceptible of the charms of harmony. She had

feelings which trembled in unison to all its various and enchanting

powers. The instructions of madame she caught with astonishing quickness, and

in a short time attained to a degree of excellence in her favorite

study, which few persons have ever exceeded. Her manner was entirely

her own. It was not in the rapid intricacies of execution, that she

excelled so much in as in that delicacy of taste, and in those

enchanting powers of expression, which seem to breathe a soul through

the sound, and which take captive the heart of the hearer. The lute

was her favorite instrument, and its tender notes accorded well with

the sweet and melting tones of her voice.

The castle of Mazzini was a large irregular fabrick, and seemed suited

to receive a numerous train of followers, such as, in those days,

served the nobility, either in the splendour of peace, or the

turbulence of war. Its present family inhabited only a small part of

it; and even this part appeared forlorn and almost desolate from the

spaciousness of the apartments, and the length of the galleries which

led to them. A melancholy stillness reigned through the halls, and the

silence of the courts, which were shaded by high turrets, was for many

hours together undisturbed by the sound of any foot-step. Julia, who

discovered an early taste for books, loved to retire in an evening to

a small closet in which she had collected her favorite authors. This

room formed the western angle of the castle: one of its windows looked

upon the sea, beyond which was faintly seen, skirting the horizon, the

dark rocky coast of Calabria; the other opened towards a part of the

castle, and afforded a prospect of the neighbouring woods. Her musical

instruments were here deposited, with whatever assisted her favorite

amusements. This spot, which was at once elegant, pleasant, and

retired, was embellished with many little ornaments of her own

invention, and with some drawings executed by her sister. The cioset

was adjoining her chamber, and was separated from the apartments of

madame only by a short gallery. This gallery opened into another, long

and winding, which led to the grand staircase, terminating in the

north hall, with which the chief apartments of the north side of the

edifice communicated.




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