the presence of an eagle," the narrator went on after a pause, "I felt
I know not what indefinable impression from the Count's appearance,
which, however, I can now account for. Artists of genius" (and he
bowed gracefully to the Ambassador, the distinguished lady, and the
two Frenchmen), "real statesmen, poets, a general who has commanded
armies--in short, all really great minds are simple, and their
simplicity places you on a level with themselves.--You who are all of
superior minds," he said, addressing his guests, "have perhaps
observed how feeling can bridge over the distances created by society.
If we are inferior to you in intellect, we can be your equals in
devoted friendship. By the temperature--allow me the word--of our
hearts I felt myself as near my patron as I was far below him in rank.
In short, the soul has its clairvoyance; it has presentiments of
suffering, grief, joy, antagonism, or hatred in others.

"I vaguely discerned the symptoms of a mystery, from recognizing in
the Count the same effects of physiognomy as I had observed in my
uncle. The exercise of virtue, serenity of conscience, and purity of
mind had transfigured my uncle, who from being ugly had become quite
beautiful. I detected a metamorphosis of a reverse kind in the Count's
face; at the first glance I thought he was about fifty-five, but after
an attentive examination I found youth entombed under the ice of a
great sorrow, under the fatigue of persistent study, under the glowing
hues of some suppressed passion. At a word from my uncle the Count's
eyes recovered for a moment the softness of the periwinkle flower, and
he had an admiring smile, which revealed what I believed to be his
real age, about forty. These observations I made, not then but
afterwards, as I recalled the circumstances of my visit.

"The man-servant came in carrying a tray with his master's breakfast