y
nothing that is not practical. Mirabeau's last effort was to give this
colour to the Bourbons, and _he_ failed. Do not tell me, then, that
where Gabriel Riquetti broke down, a Jesuit father will succeed!'

The other shook his head in dissent, but without speaking.

'Remember, baronet, these convictions of mine are all opposed to my
interest. I should be delighted to see your fairy palace made habitable,
and valued for the municipal taxes. Nothing could better please me
than to behold your Excellency Master of the Horse except to see
myself Chancellor of the Exchequer. But here we are, and a fine
princely-looking pile it is!'

They both stopped suddenly, and gazed with wondering admiration at one
noble facade of the palace right in front of them. A wide terrace of
white marble, ornamented with groups or single figures in statuary,
stretched the entire length of the building, beneath which a vast
orangery extended, the trees loaded with fruit or blossom, gave but
slight glimpses of the rockwork grottoes and quaint fountains within.

'This is not the Cardinal's property,' said Purcell. 'Nay, I know well
what I am saying; this belongs, with the entire estate, down to San
Remo, yonder, to the young Countess Ridolfi. Nay more, she is at this
very moment in bargain with Caesare Piombino for the sale of it. Her
price is five hundred thousand Roman scudi, which she means to invest in
this bold scheme.'

'She, at least, has faith in a Stuart,' exclaimed the baronet eagerly.

'What would you have? The girl's in love with your Prince. She has paid
seventy thousand piastres of Albizzi's debts that have hung around his
neck these ten or twelve years back, all to win him over to the cause,
just because his brother-in-law is Spanish Envoy here. She destined some
eight thousand more as a present to Our Lady of Ravenna, who, it would
seem, has a sort of taste for bold enterprises; but Massoni stopped her
zeal, and suggested that instead of candles she should lay it out in
muskets.'

'You scoff unseasonably, sir,' said the baronet, indignant at the tone
he spoke in.

'Nor is that all,' continued Purcell, totally heedless of the rebuke;
'her very jewels, the famous Ridolfi gems, the rubies that once were
among the show objects of Rome, are all packed up and ready to be sent
to Venice, where a company of Jews have contracted to buy them. Is not
this girl's devotion enough to put all your patriotism to the blush?'

A slight stir