His wife died when Christine was entering upon her sixth year.
Then the father, who cared only for his daughter and his music, sold his
patch of ground and went to Upsala in search of fame and fortune.
He found nothing but poverty.
He returned to the country, wandering from fair to fair,
strumming his Scandinavian melodies, while his child, who never
left his side, listened to him in ecstasy or sang to his playing.
One day, at Ljimby Fair, Professor Valerius heard them and took
them to Gothenburg. He maintained that the father was the first
violinist in the world and that the daughter had the making of a
great artist. Her education and instruction were provided for.
She made rapid progress and charmed everybody with her prettiness,
her grace of manner and her genuine eagerness to please.
When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France, they took Daae
and Christine with them. "Mamma" Valerius treated Christine as
her daughter. As for Daae, he began to pine away with homesickness.
He never went out of doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream
which he kept up with his violin. For hours at a time, he remained
locked up in his bedroom with his daughter, fiddling and singing,
very, very softly.
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