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146 thin—so thin that, but for its delicacy, the outline would have been harsh;—the transparent temples, from which the hair was put back, as if its weight oppressed them—the wild and sunken eyes—the white lip—the colourless cheek—the sad, shrinking expression of look and manner!—Oh, Beatrice, that moment terribly avenged you!

"It was some time after this that I saw you, Francesca, for the first time. Poor child! yours was a mournful infancy! Though unwilling to let the feeling appear, your grandfather shrunk from your very sight!—you brought all that was so painful immediately to mind. With you for a perpetual memorial, nothing could be forgotten; and even your mother's shame and fear lay with a constant weight on her love,—not a caress but had its pang! The present gave no pleasure, the future no hope; you were linked indelibly with the black and bitter past. There was but one exception, and that was Guide's affection. Some kindly instinct seemed to teach the one child that the other was neglected. He would carry you in his little arms, grow quiet in his noisiest play if you were sleeping; would kiss and soothe you when you cried, and devise, with pretty ingenuity, a thousand methods to amuse you; while Beatrice, as if in secret gratitude, would lavish on