uke of Tuscany, some fifteen years older than herself.
The ill-fated connection did not subsist long, as, before twelve months
had elapsed, it was terminated by the violent death of her husband.

When she had reached the age of womanhood, the hand of the young widow
was bestowed, together with the duchies of Parma and Placentia as her
dowry, on Ottavio Farnese, grandson of Paul the Third. The bridegroom
was but twelve years old. Thus again it was Margaret's misfortune that
there should be such disparity between her own age and that of her
husband as to exclude anything like sympathy or similarity in their
tastes. In the present instance, the boyish years of Ottavio inspired
her with a sentiment not very different from contempt, that in later
life settled into an indifference in which both parties appear to have
shared, and which, as a contemporary remarks with _naivete_, was only
softened into a kindlier feeling when the husband and wife had been long
separated from each other.[407] In truth, Margaret was too ambitious of
power to look on her husband in any other light than that of a rival.

In her general demeanor, her air, her gait, she bore great resemblance
to her aunt, the regent. Like her, Margaret was excessively fond of
hunting, and she followed the chase with an intrepidity that might have
daunted the courage of the keenest sportsman. She had but little of the
natural softness that belongs to the sex, but in her whole deportment
was singularly masculine; so that, to render the words of the historian
by a homely phrase, in her woman's dress she seemed like a man in
petticoats.[408] As if to add to the illusion, Nature had given her
somewhat of a beard; and, to crown the whole, the malady to which she
was constitutionally subject was a disease to which women are but rarely
liable,--the gout.[409] It was good evidence of her descent from Charles
the Fifth.

Though masculine in her appearance, Margaret was not destitute of the
kindlier qualities which are the glory of her sex. Her disposition was
good; but she relied much on the advice of others, and her more
objectionable acts may probably be referred rather to their influence
than to any inclination of her own.

Her understanding was excellent, her apprehension quick. She showed much
versatility in accommodating herself to the exigencies of her position,
as well as adroitness in the management of affairs, which she may have
acquired in the schools of Italian p