"I did not know then, nor could I, even now, accurately describe the arrangement of rooms in that farmhouse. There were at least three separate passages, not running at right angles to one another, but seeming to wander about irregularly, now and then turning awkward corners, descending or ascending short flights of steps, or eddying into a little _cul-de-sac_, with, perhaps, only a closet door at the end of it. The consequence was, it was nearly impossible to say whose room adjoined whose. It might be a long distance from one to another, measured along the passage, and yet they might actually be separated only by the thickness of a wall. Where the farmer and his family slept I know not, but I have reason to believe that all our party, including Slurk, were accommodated upon the same floor. "On opening the door of my room, I found someone already there. This person was a comely young woman, the farmer's daughter evidently, busy in the benevolent occupation of putting things in order. She had moved my trunk beneath the window, she had put fresh water in the ewer, she had straightened out the slips of drugget on the rough-board floor, she had placed some flowers in the window, and she was now engaged in tucking a clean sheet on the bed. I said she was comely; on second looks she was better than that. She was positively pretty, with the innocent blonde prettiness of some German peasant-girls. Her fair hair, smoothed compactly over her small head, and wound up in a funny little pug behind, possessed a faint golden lustre; her eyes were of as pure and serene a blue as any I ever looked upon; her smooth cheeks, slightly browned by much sunshine which had rested on them, were tinged with healthful bloom; her mouth might have been smaller, but the full lips were well-shaped, and there were white even teeth behind them. Her figure, like that of most Saxon peasant-girls of her age, was robust and vigorous; she wore a simple bodice and skirt, and her feet and legs were bare. Altogether I thought her a very agreeable apparition. "'Good-morning, honoured Herr Gainsborough,' she said gravely, in German, as I entered. "'Good-morning, pretty maiden,' returned I gallantly. 'You seem to know my name, though I don't know yours: what is it?' "'I am called Christina--Christina Rudolph. It is some time that I have known Herr Gainsborough's name,' she added. "'Really! how comes that?' I asked, by no means displeased. "'The honoured Herr has been kind to a relation of mine--a very near relation,' replied Christina, with the same gravity. "'Have I? I'm glad to hear it! Was she as pretty as thou?' inquired I, venturing upon the familiar form of address. "She blushed, and answered: 'It was not a woman--it was my brother.' "'Oh, thy brother! And where did I meet thy brother?' "'In Paris, Herr Gainsborough.' "'In Paris! Rudolph! What, art thou the sister of Heinrich Rudolph, who lives in the Latin Quarter, and is considered the cleverest jeweller in the city?'