"Comme les fleurs, les âmes ont leur parfum qui ne trompe jamais."--P. SABATIER. _Vie de S. François d'Assise_. The days of St. Clare from the age of eighteen until her death in 1253 were passed within the convent walls of San Damiano, and though peaceful enough, for a mediæval lady, they were full of events and varied interest. She was born on the 10th of July 1194 in Assisi of noble parents, her father being Count Favorino Scifi (spelt also Scefi) the descendant of an ancient Roman family who owned a large palace in the town, and a castle on the slope of Mount Subasio to the east of the ravine where the Carceri lie among the ilex woods. The castle gave the title of Count of Sasso Rosso to its owners, and was the cause of much skirmishing between the Scifi and the Ghislerio who were continually wresting it from each other, until in 1300, during one of these struggles, the walls were razed to the ground and no one sought afterwards to repair its ruins. Of Sasso Rosso a few stones still remain, which, as they catch the morning light, are seen from Assisi like a grey crag projecting from the mountain, high above the road to Spello. When not fighting beneath the walls of his castle Count Favorino was generally away on some skirmishing expedition, and during his absences, his wife, the Lady Ortolana of the noble family of the Fiumi, would depart upon a pilgrimage to the south of Italy or even to the Holy Land.[101] An old writer remarks that her name "Ortolana (market gardener) was very appropriate, because from her, as from a well-tended orchard, sprang most noble plants." After her return from Palestine she one night heard a voice speaking these prophetic words to which she listened with great awe. "Be not afraid Ortolana, for from thee shall arise a light so bright and clear that the darkness of the earth shall be illuminated thereby." So the daughter who was born soon after was called Chiara in memory of the divine message. With so pious a mother it is not surprising that Clare should have grown up thoughtful and fond of praying; we even hear of her seeking solitary corners in the palace where she would be found saying her rosary, using pebbles like the hermits of old instead of beads upon a chain. But her evident inclination for a religious life in no way alarmed Count Favorino, who had made up his mind that she should marry a wealthy young Assisan noble, for even at an early age she showed great promise of beauty. "Her face was oval," says a chronicler, "her forehead spacious, her complexion brilliant, and her eyebrows and hair very fair. A celestial smile played in her eyes and around her mouth; her nose was well-proportioned and slightly aquiline; of good stature she was rather inclined to stoutness, but not to excess." A little while and her fate in life would have been sealed in the ordinary way, and she would have continued to look out upon the world through the barred windows of some old Assisan palace; but great changes were