father and old Hatto, she tapestried the lower part of the bare grim
walls, a great bear's hide covered the neighbourhood of the hearth,
and cushions were made of these skins, and stuffed from Ursel's
stores of feathers. All these embellishments were watched with great
delight by Ermentrude, who had never been made of so much importance,
and was as much surprised as relieved by such attentions. She was
too young and too delicate to reject civilization, and she let
Christina braid her hair, bathe her, and arrange her dress, with
sensations of comfort that were almost like health. To train her
into occupying herself was however, as Christina soon found, in her
present state, impossible. She could spin and sew a little, but
hated both; and her clumsy, listless fingers only soiled and wasted
Christina's needles, silk, and lute strings, and such damage was not
so easily remedied as in the streets of Ulm. She was best provided
for when looking on at her attendant's busy hands, and asking to be
sung to, or to hear tales of the active, busy scenes of the city
life--the dresses, fairs, festivals, and guild processions.

The gentle nursing and the new interests made her improve in health,
so that her father was delighted, and Christina began to hope for a
return home. Sometimes the two girls would take the air, either, on
still days, upon the battlements, where Ermentrude watched the
Debateable Ford, and Christina gazed at the Danube and at Ulm; or
they would find their way to a grassy nook on the mountain-side,
where Christina gathered gentians and saxifrage, trying to teach her
young lady that they were worth looking at, and sighing at the
thought of Master Gottfried's wreath when she met with the asphodel
seed-vessels. Once the quiet mule was brought into requisition; and,
with her brother walking by her, and Sorel and his daughter in
attendance, Ermentrude rode towards the village of Adlerstein. It