“Then I must have a double. Is she a native of this country?”
“She called herself an Italian, but she understood Dutch, for she has often turned the pages of my books and followed the conversation I had with young artists from our home. I think she is a German lady of noble family.”
“An adventuress then. And her name?”
“Isabella—but I think no one would be justified in calling her an adventuress.”
“Was she married?”
“There was something matronly in her majestic appearance, yet she never spoke of a husband. The old Italian woman, her duenna, always called her Donna Isabella, but she possessed little more knowledge of her past than I.”
“Is that good or evil?”
“Nothing at all, Fraulein.”
“And what led her to Rome?”
“She practised the art of singing, of which she was mistress; but did not cease studying, and made great progress in Rome. I was permitted to instruct her in counterpoint.”