Walker-My_Musical_Ex.. - Walter Cosand

i6o MY MUSICAL EXPERIENCES
We soon reached the Villa von Henselt—a one-
storied and unpretending, though very cosy and
homelike dwelling—with a jutting-out veranda in
front, up which the roses climbed in luxuriant
festoons. It was with a feeling of relief that I heard
the servant say to my friend, ' The gnadige Frau is
alone, for his Excellency is spending the afternoon at
a whist-party given by some friends.' We went in,
and Frau von Henselt came forward and received me
with much kindness, and even cordiality. We sat
down to coffee, and I took many a glance round at
the room and the portraits on the walls. After an
hour or more of pleasant chat with Frau von Henselt,
—
,
her niece and I set off once more in search of rooms
and after looking at several in different directions, we
finally decided on some very homely quarters, con-
sisting of a sitting-room which opened into a tiny
sleeping-room. They had the great advantage of
being in a simple but very clean Gasthaus, where I
could have all my meals either served to me in my
own room, or else in the open air, under a large
covered veranda which ran along the front of the
house. There .was the still further advantage of
being in the country, and quite among the fields,
which were smiling in all the beauty of summer ; it
was, moreover, not five minutes' walk from the Villa
von Henselt. After taking the rooms we went at
once to the post, where I had left my boxes ; and I
remember my amused surprise when the porter