Page:Saint Theresa of Avila (Gilman 1889).djvu/18

4 the masters, the other of the servants. The first of these, in which no cooking was done, was used like a dining-hall. In it was an enormous fireplace, occupying the whole face of one wall. In winter, a fire was kept perpetually burning there, in which sometimes whole trees were consumed. On either side of the fireplace low benches covered with wool cushions were placed, and doors led from this hall into the dwelling-rooms, which looked out upon a pretty garden. In such a great mansion, situated upon a fashionable street, Theresa spent her girlhood. As the record reads, she was very much like all girls in all countries. She grew up to be pretty and fascinating, fond of the society of young people, and especially susceptible to admiration and flattery. Many descriptions of her personal appearance exist, written by her contemporaries. One of these, probably describing her as she appeared at the age of fifteen, tells us that “She was of middle stature, elegant, and of fair proportions, plump and perfectly well-formed, possessing a kind of beauty which advancing age did not, as it is