place, in which, if I am not mistaken, the Electoral family of
Saxony had, ever since the days of Augustus the Strong, hired and
furnished the two principal storeys for their own use whenever
they were in Leipzig.

So far as I know, Jeannette Thome really owned the second storey,
of which she inhabited only a modest apartment looking out on the
courtyard. As, however, the King merely occupied the hired rooms
for a few days in the year, Jeannette and her circle generally
made use of his splendid apartments, and one of these staterooms
was made into a bedroom for me.

The decorations and fittings of these rooms also dated from the
days of Augustus the Strong. They were luxurious with heavy silk
and rich rococo furniture, all of which were much soiled with
age. As a matter of fact, I was delighted by these large strange
rooms, looking out upon the bustling Leipzig market-place, where
I loved above all to watch the students in the crowd making their
way along in their old-fashioned 'Club' attire, and filling up
the whole width of the street.

There was only one portion of the decorations of the rooms that I
thoroughly disliked, and this consisted of the various portraits,
but particularly those of high-born dames in hooped petticoats,
with youthful faces and powdered hair. These appeared to me
exactly like ghosts, who, when I was alone in the room, seemed to
come back to life, and filled me with the most abject fear. To
sleep alone in this distant chamber, in that old-fashioned bed of
state, beneath those unearthly pictures, was a constant terror to
me. It is true I tried to hide my fear from my aunt when she