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.