Mozart, Beethoven, Gluck, Paesiello, Cimarosa, Haydn, and certain
secondary geniuses, developed in their souls a passionate emotion
which never passed beyond the chaste enclosure of their breasts,
though it permeated that other creation through which, in spirit, they
winged their flight. When they had executed some great work in a
manner that their master declared was almost faultless, they embraced
each other in ecstasy and the old man called them his Saint Cecilias.
The two Maries were not taken to a ball until they were sixteen years
of age, and then only four times a year in special houses. They were
not allowed to leave their mother's side without instructions as to
their behavior with their partners; and so severe were those
instructions that they dared say only yes or no during a dance. The
eye of the countess never left them, and she seemed to know from the
mere movement of their lips the words they uttered. Even the
ball-dresses of these poor little things were piously irreproachable;
their muslin gowns came up to their chins with an endless number of
thick ruches, and the sleeves came down to their wrists. Swathing in
this way their natural charms, this costume gave them a vague
resemblance to Egyptian hermae; though from these blocks of muslin
rose enchanting little heads of tender melancholy. They felt
themselves the objects of pity, and inwardly resented it.
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