colors, which were being ground in an adjoining room, reached his
nostrils, he inhaled it no less eagerly than, an hour before, he had
breathed the fresh air, of which he had been so long deprived.

What reception could he expect? The court-artist might easily shrink
from coming in contact with the pupil of Moor, who had now lost the
sovereign's favor. Coello was a very different man from the Master, a
child of the moment, varying every day. Sometimes haughty and repellent,
on other occasions a gay, merry companion, who had jested with his own
children and Ulrich also, as if all were on the same footing. If today
....But Ulrich did not have much time for such reflections; a few minutes
after Pablo left, the door was torn open, and the whole Coello family
rushed joyously to meet him; Isabella first. Sanchez followed close
behind her, then came the artist, next his stout, clumsy wife, whom
Ulrich had rarely seen, because she usually spent the whole day lying
on a couch with her lap-dog. Last of all appeared the duenna Catalina,
a would-be sweet smile hovering around her lips.

The reception given him by the others was all the more joyous and
cordial.

Isabella laid her hands on his arm, as if she wanted to feel that it was
really he; and yet, when she looked at him more closely, she shook her
head as if there was something strange in his appearance. Sanchez
embraced him, whirling him round and round, Coello shook hands, murmuring
many kind words, and the mother turned to the duenna, exclaiming:

"Holy Virgin! what has happened to the pretty boy? How famished he
looks! Go to the kitchen instantly, Catalina, and tell Diego to bring
him food--food and drink."